Why do you hold a lottery?
- As a public charter school, if we have more applicants than spaces available, we are mandated to hold a public lottery.
- California Charter Law says that a lottery must be fair, equitable & non-discriminatory.
- Allowable preferences currently include:
- Employee children
- Siblings
- In-District applicants
Do we have to go through the lottery every year?
- Continuously enrolled students are guaranteed a spot each year if all re-enrollment requirements are met.
- Once a child is placed on a wait list, he/she may remain on the wait list for the academic school year for which they are applying until the following year’s lottery, which typically takes place in the month of March. The school reserves the right to change wait list policies and procedures at any time.
- If you are offered a space in a class and you decline the spot, your child will be removed from the wait list.
- Wait lists do not carry over from year to year. All wait-listed applicants must complete a new application each year if they wish to apply for subsequent years.
What determines which grade my child will be placed in?
- Journey School adheres to a strict age-based model for determining a child’s grade placement, and therefore, children are placed in grades automatically based on their date of birth. Since Journey’s age guidelines are different than traditional schools, a child may need to repeat a grade in order to align with Journey’s developmentally-based educational model. Click here for the 2024-2025 Grade Placement by Date of Birth Guidelines.
What happens if my child is offered space following the lottery?
- If offered a seat, you must secure the seat within 5 days of the offer or beginning August 1st, offered seats must be secured within 48 hours of the offer. To secure a seat, you must visit your online parent portal, confirm your acceptance, and complete all of the required online forms and steps.
- Once your spot is confirmed, you will be invited to an orientation meeting prior to the start of the school year. Orientation meetings vary depending on a child’s grade.
- You must attend your orientation meeting in order for your child to maintain their enrollment status.
If my child is placed in a class, when will I find out which class he/she will be placed in?
- Families will be contacted with class and teacher information during the month of August.
If my child is attending one of Journey School’s programs and I apply for a sibling, will the sibling be guaranteed a spot?
- Siblings of currently attending students receive enrollment preference within the program that the current student attends. If a grade is at capacity, sibling wait lists are formed and the students receive highest priority for placement when a seat becomes available.
If my child currently attends Journey School, does my child’s sibling have preference into a different program?
- Sibling preference is only offered within each program and does not apply to siblings who are applying to a separate program within the school. For example, if a student is attending the Seatbased program and has a sibling applying for the Hybrid program, the hybrid applicant would not receive the sibling preference.
