Admission Criteria
Alpha shall be open to all students at the appropriate grade levels who wish to attend within the minimum and maximum age requirements specified in applicable law. Alpha shall be open to all students without regard for the place of residence of students or parents within California except as provided in Education Code Section 47605(d)(2). If oversubscribed by the application deadline, admission to Alpha, except for existing students, shall be determined by a public random drawing in accordance with the preferences given in the next section.
The only enrollment requirement is that students wishing to attend Alpha must follow the school’s admission procedures with respect to completing registration forms by the announced deadlines. Application deadlines, which will normally be in the winter for admission the following September, shall be coordinated with local public schools to give students and their parents opportunity to consider the full range of educational opportunities available to them.
There shall be no admission testing or other evaluation required of any applicant. Alpha shall not charge an application fee nor shall it charge tuition [California Education Code Section 47605(d)(1)]. Alpha will neither solicit nor require parent contributions to help fund Alpha’s educational programs nor shall it require any monetary contribution as a condition for application, admission, enrollment, or participation in any of the school’s required educational activities.
Alpha shall be nonsectarian in its admission and enrollment policies and shall not discriminate against any student on the basis of the characteristics listed in Education Code Section 220 (actual or perceived disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code or association with an individual who has any of the aforementioned characteristics). [Education Code Section 47605(d)(1)].
Public Random Drawing and Preferences
Alpha will annually establish an enrollment window and a deadline by which applications must be submitted. If the number of students who apply to attend Alpha within each grade level by the application deadline exceeds the school’s capacity, attendance, except for existing students shall be determined by a public random drawing for each grade level conducted in advance of the start of summer school. During any period of Public Charter School‘s Grant Program (“PCSGP”) funding, the public random drawing shall be handled as a single weighted drawing. In accordance with Education Code Section 47605(d)(2), preference in the public random drawing shall be provided in the following order of descending priority:
- Siblings of currently enrolled students (During any PCSGP funding, siblings will be considered an “exception” to the single weighted drawing.)
- Students residing within the boundaries of the District
- All other students who wish to attend the School
At the conclusion of the public random drawing, all students who were not granted admission due to capacity shall be given the option to put their name on a wait-list according to their draw in the public random drawing. This wait-list will allow students the option of enrollment in the case of an opening during the current school year. In no circumstance will a wait-list carry over to the following school year. The order of admission of students at any time during the year shall be based solely on the order of applicants on the admission wait-list. Applications received after the application deadline will be added to the wait-list in the order received.
Alpha and the District mutually agree that the preferences in the public random drawing as listed above are consistent with Education Code Section 47605(d)(2) and applicable federal law and non-regulatory guidance; however, should the preferences require modification in order to meet requirements of the PCSGP, such modifications may be made at the Charter School’s discretion without any need to materially revise the charter as long as such modifications are consistent with the law and written notice is provided by the Charter School to the District.
Conditions of Enrollment
Conditions for enrollment at Alpha are communicated in writing to parents throughout the application and enrollment process. The enrollment information guide, registration form, and FAQ are included in Appendix R.
Non-Discrimination
The means by which the school will achieve a racial and ethnic balance among its pupils that is reflective of the general population residing within the territorial jurisdiction of the school district to which the charter petition is submitted. – California Education Code Section 47605(b)(5)(G)
Alpha will make attempts to recruit a student population that will be reflective of the school age population of ARUSD. Alpha will engage in a variety of means and strategies to try to achieve a racially and ethnically diverse student population. These strategies will include:
- Enrollment timeline and process that allow for a broad-based recruiting and application process
- Outreach efforts via elementary schools, neighborhood groups, community organizations, churches, and local businesses (See Outreach Plan in Appendix R)
- Each year the School shall review its racial and ethnic balance and these policies to determine which policies and practices are the most effective in achieving a diverse student population