The Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School ENROLLMENT POLICY AND APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION The Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (AMSA) is a public charter school and is open to all Massachusetts students on a space available basis. AMSA enrolls students in grades six through twelve and accepts applications for students in grades six through eight. M.G.L., c. 71, 89 (m); CMR 1.06 (1)(8) AMSA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental or physical disability, age, ancestry, athletic performance, special need, proficiency in the English language or a foreign language, or prior academic achievement when recruiting or admitting students as described in M.G.L., c. 71, 89 (m) and 603 CMR 1.06 (1). AMSA implements a student recruitment and retention plan as outlined in M.G.L., c. 71, 89 (f) and CMR 603 1.05 (f) that is updated annually and included in the AMSA Annual Report. DEFINITIONS To provide a clear understanding of the enrollment policy, terms in this document will have the following meanings: Enrollment Policy: The document that clearly communicates the AMSA s adherence to applicable laws and regulations with the objective of creating a transparent and fair enrollment process. Application: The primary document/form used to make a request for admission to AMSA; available on the AMSA website www.amsacs.org. Families who do not have access to a computer should contact the Registrar s office by calling the school at 508-597-2400 Applicant: Someone who formally asks (applies) for admission to AMSA. Siblings: Children who share a common biological or legal guardian as opposed to children who live in the same household but do not share a common parent. Charter schools may require proof of sibling status. Children Who Receive Sibling Status Children who live in different households but share a common biological or legal parent Sibling of students who are attending AMSA at the time of application and lottery. Siblings of students who are due to graduate at the end of the school year in which the lottery is held If a student moves out of the local city or town but remains enrolled, that student s siblings have preference in admission even though they are non-residents at the time of application Children Who Do Not Receive Sibling Preference Children who live in the same household but do not share a common biological or legal parent Foster children Siblings and children of alumni/alumnae 1
Siblings of applicants who have been accepted for admission but are not yet attending (including twins) Residents: Students who live in AMSA s region of service (Marlborough, Clinton, Hudson, and Maynard). Residents enrolled in district, charter, private, or parochial schools get equal preference for Commonwealth charter schools. Residency is determined by where the child actually lives, irrespective of guardianship, custody, and domicile. Students must be a resident at the time of application and enrollment and will be asked to demonstrate proof of residency. Examples of proof of residency include a current proof of residency card or letter from the Town/City Clerk s office (this is the preferred document), copy of current town census form, any two bills, such as a utility bill or a lease, with the name and address of the applicant s parent/guardian on the bill, except in the case of homeless students. Non-residents: Students who live within Massachusetts but outside of the school districts specified in the school s charter (Marlborough, Clinton, Hudson, and Maynard). All applicants must be residents of Massachusetts to apply for admission to and to attend a Commonwealth charter school. A student must be a resident of Massachusetts at the time of application and enrollment and will be asked to demonstrate proof of residency. Admitted: To accept an offer of admission. Currently attending: A student who is currently participating in classes at the school. Attending: A student is considered to be attending AMSA if they go to school. Enrollment: A student is considered to be enrolled at AMSA when their registration form is submitted, all applicable documentation has been verified in accordance with AMSA s enrollment policy (proof of residency and proof of successful completion of the appropriate prior grade) an offer of admission is made and an acceptance is received. DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS AND ELIGIBILITY FOR ENROLLMENT AMSA begins accepting applications on October 1 for the following school year. AMSA will give reasonable public notice, of at least thirty days, of all application windows and deadlines. Applications for admission will be accepted until mid December, the deadline will be announced on the website and in the local newspapers. Applications are available online on the AMSA website, www.amsacs.org, (click on About AMSA, click on Admissions). Applications do not carry over from year to year, applicants must reapply each year if not selected. Families who do not have access to a computer should contact the Registrar s office by calling the school at 508-597-2400. AMSA strongly encourages parents/guardians and students to take a school tour prior to applying for admission. The school also provides a Parent Information Night for parents/guardians of students who are offered admission. However, AMSA does not require potential students or their families to attend school tours, interviews or informational meetings as a condition of enrollment. AMSA publicizes its fall and spring school tour schedule on the AMSA website www.amsacs.org. (Select About AMSA and then select Tours). 2
AMSA does not administer tests to potential applicants or base enrollment on results from any test of ability or achievement, 603 CMR 1.06 (2). AMSA will not: Give preference to children of staff members or Board of Trustees members Give preference to siblings of students accepted to the school but not yet attending (attending is defined as being present for the first day of school); or Make statements in meetings intended to discourage, or that have the effect of discouraging, parents/guardians of students with disabilities, students with limited English proficiency, or any other protected group of students from submitting an application. M.G.L., c. 71 89 (1) An applicant must be a resident of Massachusetts at the time they submit an application and at the time they are offered admission through the enrollment process. Proof of residency must be provided to be eligible to apply to AMSA. Proof of residency must also be provided at the time of enrollment. Examples of proof of residency include a current proof of residency card or letter from the Town/City Clerk s office (this is the preferred document), copy of current town census form, any two bills, such as a utility bill or a lease, with the name and address of the applicant s parent/guardian on the bill except in the case of homeless students. The bills must reflect the place where the child and parent/guardian actually reside. It cannot reflect an alternate address such as a vacation home, relative s address, business or rental property. The lottery is based on the current residence of the child and any falsification of documentation will result in the loss of enrollment status. The application does not require dual parent/guardian signatures. In general, students entering grade six must have successfully completed grade five, students entering grade seven must have successfully completed grade six, and students entering grade eight must have successfully completed grade seven. DESCRIPTION OF LOTTERY PROCESS AMSA will determine the number of spaces available each year by grade level. All lotteries are conducted in public at the school, located at 201 Forest Street, Marlborough, Massachusetts, with a disinterested party conducting an electronically generated lottery which corresponds to the identification number of each applicant. The parent or guardian of each applicant is entitled to know their child s identification number in advance of the drawing to ensure the transparency and fairness of the process. Reasonable public notice is given at least one week prior to the lottery date held in mid January. Important: Spaces will only be given to those families who have completed an application. If there is no application, a child will not be considered for admission or be eligible to be included on a wait list. (Please note that siblings of currently attending AMSA students will only be given first preference if they have completed an application by the deadline.) Once the application window is closed, applicants will be placed in one of three categories, in the order of preference as follows, with Siblings having first preference: 3
Siblings of attending students Residents of Marlborough, Clinton, Hudson and Maynard Non-residents Sibling preference is only given if the sibling is attending AMSA. Being on the waitlist or making the lottery does not qualify other siblings for preference. The sibling must be attending, not just enrolled or given the option to enroll, to get preference for the other siblings. In such cases where there are fewer seats than eligible applicants who reside in the region of service, or who are siblings of students already attending AMSA, the charter school shall hold a lottery for all such applicants. If there are more seats available than eligible applicants from the region of service and who are siblings of current students, and there are more eligible applicants from outside the region of service than spaces available, the charter school shall hold a lottery. If the lottery process fails to produce an adequate number of enrolled students, AMSA may repeat the process more than once, if a waiting list does not exist, providing notice at least one week prior to the application and lottery deadlines. As spaces become available during the school year, AMSA may repeat the lottery process to fill these vacancies and to meet the requirements of M.G.L. c. 70, 89 (n). No student entering a lottery process may be admitted ahead of other eligible students who were previously placed on a waiting list during a prior lottery process within a given school year, except in cases described in to 603 CMR 1.06 (4)(e). DESCRIPTION OF THE WAITING LIST Three waiting lists for each grade level will be created if the number of applicants in any enrollment cycle exceeds the number of available seats; one for siblings, one for residents and one for nonresidents. If a seat becomes available, the seat will be offered to the student at the top of the waiting list in the order the names were selected. The student at the top of the waiting list will be notified by phone and/or email. The student will have five school calendar days to respond. If no response is received or the student declines an offer of admission, the student may be permanently removed from the waiting list and the next student on the list may be offered the seat. In cases where the enrollment of a student, who is not a sibling of another previously enrolled student, from the waiting list would exceed the district charter tuition cap, the student should be skipped over but kept on the waiting list. In cases where the enrollment of a student who is a sibling of a student already attending a charter school would exceed the district charter school tuition cap, the sibling may be enrolled with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts providing tuition for said sibling, subject to appropriation. If a student stops attending AMSA or declines admission, the next available student on the waitlist for that grade (six through eight) will be offered admission until the vacant seat is filled up to February 15th. A vacancy not filled after February 15 th moves into the subsequent grade, to be filled the following September if such grade is not in the last half of the grades offered which are grades nine through 4
twelve. Seats for students who have accepted an offer of admission in the charter school but have never attended are exempt from backfilling. Every year, AMSA will keep accurate record of the waiting list containing the names, home addresses, telephone numbers and grade levels of students who entered the lottery but did not gain admission in accordance with 603 CMR 1.06 (4)(d). AMSA does not maintain a waiting list from year-to-year. The application and lottery process starts over each consecutive year. DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCEPTANCE PROCESS Once a student has been notified of acceptance by phone and/or email, they will have five school calendar days from the time they receive notification to accept a seat at AMSA. Upon acceptance, parents will be asked to submit an acceptance form along with all applicable documentation (birth certificate, proof of residency, and current report card. (In the case of homeschooling, a standardized test or alternative form of assessment consisting of progress reports, portfolio review, assessment by a certified teacher of the parent s choice or another method agreed upon between the parents and the Executive Director and/or Principal). Parents/guardians and students will be directed to the AMSA website to read the AMSA Student-Parent Handbook that outlines school rules and policies. Parent/guardians and students will be asked to read and understand the expectations of the school and agree to comply with the code of conduct and other school rules and policies as indicated on the Admission Acceptance Form. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENROLLMENT PROCESS All newly enrolled students take a placement test to determine their level of ability which determines their class schedule. Parents/guardians will be asked to complete, sign, and submit the registration form along with all medical documents requested by the school nurse in order to attend school. All information requested in the application and enrollment registration form, such as language spoken at home or race/ethnicity is not intended and will not be used to discriminate, M.G.L. c. 71, 89 (m); 603 CMR 1.06 (2). Final enrollment is complete upon verification of all documentation including proof of residency. AMSA reserves the right to rescind enrollment if documentation and/or proof of residency is determined to be fraudulent. The enrollment may be rescinded at any time if attempts are made to influence the admissions process through the offer of gifts and/or gratuities in accordance with M.G. L. c. 268A. THIRD-PARTY MAIL HOUSE To ensure that a commonwealth charter school shall fulfill its obligations under its recruitment and retention plan, the school district or districts from which the commonwealth charter school is expected to enroll students shall annually provide, at the request of a commonwealth charter school, to a third party mail house authorized by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the address for all students in the district eligible to enroll in the school, unless a student s parent or guardian requests that the district withhold that student s information; provided, however, the department may require the charter school to send the mailing in the most prevalent languages of the district or districts that the charter school is authorized to serve. M.G.L., c. 71, 89 (g) 5
The AMSA Student-Parent Handbook includes a form whereby a parent or guardian may choose to request the school to withhold distribution of student information to a third party mail house. 6