Seattle Schools Open Enrollment Starts Today
Enrollment page.
Page that has EVERY form.
I have to say this all looks very involved so read carefully and good luck.
2014–15 School Choice Forms
From SPS:
Here's how the Open Enrollment process works:
1. All current students, and all new students for 2014-15 who completed early enrollment by January 31, 2014, will get an assignment letter mid-February (right before Open Enrollment begins on February 24, 2014).
Assignment letters will confirm continuing assignments or provide notification of new assignments for 2014-15. These are initial assignments, and nothing further is required if the family wishes to keep the initial assignment. These families will know by mid-February where the student will attend school in September 2014.
2. If a student wishes to attend a school other than the school listed in the initial assignment letter, or apply for an optional program such as Montessori, Spectrum, or APP, then they need to submit a choice application during Open Enrollment. Students may list several choice schools in order of preference. Students may apply for any combination of attendance area schools and/or option schools.
Open Enrollment is February 24, 2014 - March 07, 2014. Applications may be submitted at any time during that period, there is no benefit to submitting an application either earlier or later during Open Enrollment. All applications received during Open Enrollment are processed together after March 07, 2014.
3. Students who submit a choice application during Open Enrollment will receive a new assignment letter around the end of April. This letter will inform the student of which school they are assigned to for the 2014-15 school year, and which waiting list (if any) they are placed on for the 2014-15 school year.
4. Waiting lists are monitored continually throughout the summer and continuing until September 30. If space becomes available, then families are contacted to confirm reassignment to the waitlisted school. All waiting lists are dissolved after September 30.
Page that has EVERY form.
I have to say this all looks very involved so read carefully and good luck.
2014–15 School Choice Forms
- Pre-K (South Shore Only)
- Kindergarten
- Elementary
- Middle School
- High School
| Enrollment Information Line: 06-252-0410 |
|---|
| Transportation Office: 206-252-0900 |
| SPS Service Center and Bilingual Assistance: 206-252-0760 |
From SPS:
Here's how the Open Enrollment process works:
1. All current students, and all new students for 2014-15 who completed early enrollment by January 31, 2014, will get an assignment letter mid-February (right before Open Enrollment begins on February 24, 2014).
Assignment letters will confirm continuing assignments or provide notification of new assignments for 2014-15. These are initial assignments, and nothing further is required if the family wishes to keep the initial assignment. These families will know by mid-February where the student will attend school in September 2014.
2. If a student wishes to attend a school other than the school listed in the initial assignment letter, or apply for an optional program such as Montessori, Spectrum, or APP, then they need to submit a choice application during Open Enrollment. Students may list several choice schools in order of preference. Students may apply for any combination of attendance area schools and/or option schools.
Open Enrollment is February 24, 2014 - March 07, 2014. Applications may be submitted at any time during that period, there is no benefit to submitting an application either earlier or later during Open Enrollment. All applications received during Open Enrollment are processed together after March 07, 2014.
3. Students who submit a choice application during Open Enrollment will receive a new assignment letter around the end of April. This letter will inform the student of which school they are assigned to for the 2014-15 school year, and which waiting list (if any) they are placed on for the 2014-15 school year.
4. Waiting lists are monitored continually throughout the summer and continuing until September 30. If space becomes available, then families are contacted to confirm reassignment to the waitlisted school. All waiting lists are dissolved after September 30.
Comments
trying
What's not working for me, however, is next year's grade. On the MS form I can enter a 6, but as soon as I go to the next blank it changes the 6 to a zero. Same thing if I try to print my completed form to fill out that way, since the email button isn't working for me either.
Gosh, would have been nice to release these earlier so the community could do some QA testing, no?
HIMSmom
SPS has also announced it will be starting a new Research Effort funded by Gates Foundation to document whether Families Who Use Macs have students who fail to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress on Common Core Tests. It promises the results in 2015-16, but only if the copiers downtown are working at that time. Because all research results will be produced in paper format only.
(Yes, I am joking - but not too much.)
Techie
trying
HIMSmom
I downloaded the form and tried to fill it in electronically. Clicking on the school choice to fill in section 4 is not working. I tried multiple browsers and Acrobat Pro. I finally gave up and printed the application, signed, scanned and emailed it. Anyone else having problems?
commuter
I found this form tricky the first time around. To fill in section 4 with your choice(s), you have to click on the numbers next to the fields. Then it jumps you to the schools and you click the box next to the one you want.
makingitwork
applier
NE Kindergarten Mom
Not only should you deliver it in person, you should MAKE the person behind the counter give you a copy of the top form, which they will timestamp if they deem your documentation "complete". They won't want to do it, but if you insist on it they will.
Not once, not twice, but THREE times having this timestamp has saved the bacon of myself and friends in enrollment disputes.
DO NOT EMAIL OR SUBMIT VIA WEBFORM OR POSTAL MAIL IMPORTANT DOCS TO THIS DISTRICT. Deliver them in person. Get a signature. You have been warned.
DistrictWatcher
This does not appear to be the case, however, as my student was assigned not to Spectrum but to general education. A call to the enrollment office produced a claim this was expected, that a spot in Spectrum was indeed guaranteed as long as we now submitted a school choice form.
I know for a fact that at least some of last year's 5th graders were automatically assigned to Spectrum as expected but that at least one other 5th grader this year was, like my student, not.
My question: should I just take them at their word, despite the contradictions, and submit a new school choice form? Or is this a mistake of some kind that can be fixed otherwise?
Thanks for any insight.
- 5th Grade Bryant Parent
-StepJ
Our child was placed at the right school, wrong program, and it took weeks to straighten it, even with the bleeping time stamped form.
Forewarned is forearmed.
-been there
Luckily, thanks to a call just now with a helpful enrollment specialist and the timestamping of emails, we are all set. Phew!
makingitwork
5th Grade parent, do not take them at their word. Make sure, in person, it is true.
We did that with all our of forms and never had a problem. Now we're getting no response asking if they've received the one form that I decided not to drop off downtown. I wont' make that mistake again.
Anyone else waiting for APP scores to decide which school to enroll in?
Starting to stress...
-diane
Either way, someone from Advanced Learning should be replying back to emails/calls from those families to tell them that even if testing occurred, the results don't matter for purposes of 2014-2015 enrollment, unless I'm wrong about that.
-Seattle parent
You are correct that the second grade testing in the Southeast Region does not qualify children for advanced learning. They were not given the full CogAT - but a shorter (less expensive) screening test that is meant to find students who are likely to do well on the CogAT.
Universal screening of all first or second grade students is something many districts do as a first step in the identification process. SPS isn't considering doing it - the point of the exercise this year was to find out if the students in underrepresented groups who are likely to do well on the CogAT are being nominated by parents or teachers for testing. (Considering that achievement scores are necessary for qualification, I don't know why they didn't just review MAP test scores in those schools.)
I think it's great to try to identify kids who could qualify for advanced learning but aren't being nominated by parents or teachers. However, as you mentioned, spring MAP test scores could also be used for this purpose, and letters could be sent to parents to encourage them to submit applications in the fall. I think that already happens, since we've received such letters. With that process, the kids could possibly qualify to enroll for the following year.
The way the current program has been implemented, the kids are being tested but can't qualify by virtue of the results, and have to wait until the following year to apply/test again. Also, it sounds like some parents may not have been alerted to the testing (based on comments on other posts in the late fall), and/or may be under the understandable assumption that qualifying test scores would enable their kids to enroll in a Spectrum or APP program for 2014-2015 (again, based on some comments on this post and others).
-Seattle parent
My child's application went in on time. We were given an initial weekend testing date (with a very small number of days' notice) that conflicted with existing plans. When we notified the department that he would not be able to attend, we were told we would get a makeup date, likely to happen at school.
Beyond Frustrated
hi there
We're moving to Seattle and potentially buying a house in Salmon bay's "neighborhood area" (or whatever they call it for priority). However we won't be able to close until after the March deadline. Does anyone know if applying after the march deadline we still would fall into the neighborhood priority? Do we go to the bottom of the list? We'll have a K and a 3rd grader so hopefully they would have openings at the higher grades?
Does Salmon bay usually have huge waiting lists? how far down do they go during the summer?
I want my incoming kindergartener to go to a school other than our reference school. If she is accepted to our 3rd choice, will she still be on the waiting list for our 1st choice?
Any insight would be helpful!
LH Mom
If you apply to Salmon Bay after Open enrollment has ended you will go to the end of the wait list for Salmon Bay and be enrolled in your attendance area elementary.
Anonymous,
You will be wait listed at the school you list as first choice - even if you get into another school listed lower on your choice form.
-StepJ
Also, if you haven't received info about APP qualification, you can submit your choice form choosing the APP program, and if your child ends up not qualifying they will automatically remove that from your choice.
aha
I'll still be calling in to verify the form was received - but if you email be sure to look for a confirmation and use the other address if needed.
- makingitwork