Application Process

D’Arbonne Woods Charter School

Open Enrollment/Lottery Policy and Procedures

The DWCS Board of Directors will adhere to the following adopted BESE student enrollment process.

Non-Discrimination & Disabilities Policy

DWCS is a public charter school authorized by BESE and is open to all students eligible for enrollment in a public school. DWCS will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, age, ancestry, athletic performance, special need, proficiency in the English Language or in a foreign language, or academic achievement in admitting students, nor may DWCS set criteria that are intended to discriminate or that have the effect of discriminating on any of these basis. DWCS will enroll students with disabilities in compliance with all applicable law.

Enrollment Process

To initiate the enrollment period, DWCS will:

• Determine the spaces available in each grade based on the school’s designated charter capacity;
• Set a deadline for accepting student applications. Pursuant to the Louisiana Charter School Law, an application period shall not be less than one month nor more than three months;
• Publicize the application deadline in multiple venues with reasonable notice of at least one month before the deadline;
• Set a date for the lottery with reasonable public notice given at least one week prior to the lottery; and
• Set a final date for student to accept enrollment and the actual date of enrollment.

DWCS Application Requirements:

• A completed enrollment application (It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure all information is entered on the application. Incomplete applications will not be processed in or after the lottery; therefore, the student will not be entered into the school or placed on the waiting list)
• Students must successfully complete the grade preceding the grade the student plans to enter (Applicants will supply the school with a final report card for acceptance)
• DWCS will make the application available at the school office and on the school’s website.

Conducting the Lottery:

• The drawing will be conducted at the school building by a “disinterested” party.

The order of the names accepted or placed on the waiting list is as follows:

1. Legacy students who register during open enrollment.
2. Other students who register during open enrollment.
3. Students who register after open enrollment (listed in chronological order).

*In the event that DWCS does not meet the Economically Disadvantaged (ED) and/or Students with Disabilities (SWD) required percentages, the order of the names accepted or placed on the waiting list will be as follows:

Kindergarten:

1. ED and/or SWD students who register during open enrollment.
2. Legacy students who register during open enrollment.
3. Other students who register during open enrollment.
4. Students who register after open enrollment (listed in chronological order).

Grades 1-12:

1. Legacy students who register during open enrollment.
2. Other students who register during open enrollment.
3. Students who register after open enrollment (listed in chronological order).

Waiting List Process:

After all slots in the school are filled through a lottery, DWCS must continue to draw the names of students not selected for an available space on a waiting list.

Student names will be added to the waiting list in the order outlined above.

Throughout the school year, new student applications will be added to the existing waiting list. Students will be placed on the waiting list in the order outlined above AFTER all students that took place in the lottery.

Students from the current year waiting list will not be added to the school during the open enrollment process.

Notification Process:

• A parent is required to accept admission to the charter school by notifying the school of his or her intent to attend.
• The school is only required to hold a slot for a child whose parent has not accepted admission for two weeks. Thus, if an admitted student does not attend school for two consecutive weeks, that slot may be released to the next student on the waiting list.
• The school will notify the parent/guardian after five days of missing school to discuss their intent to send their child to the school
• In order for the slot to be held, the student must attend school within the next five days. (Per state attendance laws, a student must be enrolled in their district or charter school. Students are only allowed 5 unexcused absences a semester.)
• If the student does not attend within those five days, the school may release that particular slot and fill it with a child from the waiting list (if no waiting list exists, the school may receive applications for that slot).

Please see school office personnel or administration if you have any questions about the above policies and procedures approved by the DWCS Board of Directors.

Addendum to D’Arbonne Woods Charter School’s Enrollment Policy:

Charter law requires one enrollment period per school year. Timely submissions of applications are accepted for the lottery in grades K-12. Applicants applying to grades with zero open seats are entered into the lottery and placed on a waiting list. The wait list will remain active after open enrollment until the last day of the respective school year.

Once the official enrollment window closes, we no longer accept applications for seniors. The only exceptions occur when the student is a sibling of a current student or the child of a staff member. The length of the enrollment period cannot be shorter than one month nor longer than three months per LDOE Act 467 Guidance: Recruitment and Enrollment.

Updated 11.7.2023