Friday Is Deadline To Apply For Christa McAuliffe Charter School Lottery

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Friday is the deadline to submit an application for the Christa McAuliffe Charter School.

The Framingham-based, public middle school is anticipating twice as many applicants for its admissions lottery than the 140 slots it has for grade 6 for the 2016-17 school year.

The annual admissions lottery is scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, at 6 p.m. at the school’s campus at 139 Newbury Street in Framingham. The public can attend. Jill Schindler, Director of Marketing and Operations at the Metrowest Chamber of Commerce, will be the neutral party who will conduct the school’s high‐stakes lottery.

Families can submit an online lottery application through midnight on Friday, February 26 at www.mcauliffecharter.org/apply.

“We expect to have twice as many applicants as spots open in this year’s lottery. There are typically about 20‐30 families with current scholars, whose siblings will have preference in the lottery,” said Admission Coordinator Jocelyn Bergeron.

After the 140 students have been accepted, the school will continue to draw names to establish an ordered wait list for sixth grade.

The school will also conduct a lottery to establish an ordered wait list for seventh and eighth grades.

The school’s enrollment policy outlines a lottery and admissions process that follows the state charter school laws and regulations that call for a blind lottery:

● First preference goes to students, who have siblings currently attending the school.

● Next, students who are residents of Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Marlborough, Natick, Southborough, and Sudbury are drawn through the random electronic lottery tool.

● Students who live outside of the eight‐town region may also apply to the lottery; the school draws from the non‐regional pool after all sibling and regional student names have been drawn.

Students selected in the lottery and those accepted off of the waitlist have 10 business days to submit forms to enroll in the charter school.

As spots open up, the school will invite students off of the ordered waitlists.

“We encourage families who find themselves on a waitlist to be patient as the enrollment process sorts itself out through the spring and the summer,” said McAuliffe Executive Director Kristin Harrison. “It is not unusual for families to be invited to enroll their child even during the summer months. Our Admissions Team will keep the wait list information updated on our website so that families can stay in the loop easily and be prepared for the invitation to join our community!”

The Christa McAuliffe Charter School is a diverse Expeditionary Learning public school for students in grades 6 to 8. The school’s hands‐on curriculum cultivates high levels of student engagement, responsibility for learning, and enduring character growth. There is no tuition.