Enrollment Guidelines

Eligibility
All students who reside in the state of California are eligible for admission to the Novato Charter School.

Application Procedure
Parents of prospective students shall:

1. Attend a school tour prior to the lottery date.
2. Complete and submit a written application by the established deadline.
3. Sign an acknowledgement of parent involvement/expectations.

Applications will be accepted during an open enrollment period from the first Monday in August to the last working day in February.

Lottery
If there are more applications than spaces available in any grade level, NCS will hold a lottery at the completion of the open enrollment period.

NCS will contact every applicant on the prior year wait list to determine their interest in keeping their enrollment application active. Those who confirm their interest by completing a new application will be exempt from participating in the new lottery and placed on the wait list in the order they had before. Applicants who do not confirm their interest within the established deadline will be permanently removed from the wait list. All applications shall be separated by grade level and enrollment priority as follows:

1. Children of NCS employees on the prior year wait list.
2. Children of NCS employees not on the prior year wait list.
3. Siblings of currently enrolled NCS students on the prior year wait list.
4. Siblings of currently enrolled NCS students not on the prior year wait list.
5. Novato Unified School District (NUSD) residents on the prior year wait list.
6. New applicants residing in the NUSD.
7. Out of NUSD residents on the prior year wait list.
8. New applicants residing outside of the NUSD.

NCS follows a developmental approach and therefore has different requirements for minimum age in each grade level. Concerns about grade level placement must be indicated in written form and attached to a student’s application. Grades are determined by the ages and dates listed below.

 

    Kindergarten A:

  

5 years old by December 2nd of the school year for which the applicant is seeking enrollment

    Kindergarten B:

  

5 years or older by June 1st, prior to the school year for which the applicant is seeking enrollment

    First Grade:

  

6 years or older by June 1 prior

    Second Grade:

  

7 years or older by June 1 prior

    Third Grade:

  

8 years or older by June 1 prior

    Fourth Grade:

  

9 years or older by June 1 prior

    Fifth Grade:

  

10 years or older by June 1 prior

    Sixth Grade:

  

11 years or older by June 1 prior

    Seventh Grade:

  

12 years or older by June 1 prior

    Eighth Grade:

  

13 years or older by June 1 prior

 

Students with Special Needs

NCS complies with all applicable state and federal laws in serving students with disabilities including but not limited to Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. The Charter School intends to function as a “public school of the local education agency (LEA) that granted the charter” for purposes of providing special education and related services pursuant to Education Code Section 47641 (b).

 

NCS complies with all applicable federal law in regard to services and the education of English Language Learner (ELL) students. NCS develops, implements, and maintains policies and procedures for the provision of services to ELL students in accordance with state and federal mandates.