The 2008-2009 Enrollment Cycle is now closed. Abby Kelley Foster is NOT accepting applications for the 2008-2009 school year.

Applications for the 2009-2010 school year will be available in the fall. For more information, please contact AnnMarie Little, Director of Government Relations, by phone at 508.854.8400, ext. 3625, or by e-mail at amlittle@akfcs.org

ATTENTION Current Students and Familes:

Please notify Dianne Crosbie or AnnMarie Little by June 30 if you plan to transfer your child to a new school for the 2008-2009 school year. All records will be forwarded to the new school once we receive a signed permission to release records form by the parent/guardian. All requests for student records must be submitted in writing after June 30. Please note that records will not be available without written notification. If you have any questions, please contact Dianne Crosbie at extension 3644 or AnnMarie Little at extension 3625.

The Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School, located in the Greendale neighborhood of Worcester, is a public school open to all students that offers students a tuition-free, classical liberal arts public education. New students may enroll in Kindergarten through Grade 12. Preference is given to siblings of currently enrolled students and students residing in the towns designated in the charter: Auburn, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Sutton, West Boylston and Worcester. Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School is open to all Massachusetts residents.

Charter schools may 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 charter schools set admissions criteria that are intended to discriminate or that have the effect of discriminating on any of these bases. M.G.L. c. 71, § 89(l); 603 CMR 1.06(1).

Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School may accept applications for students in kindergarten through grade twelve. The School will determine the number of seats available by grade each year. All applications must be received by the applications dates scheduled during the school year. Students entering kindergarten must be 5 years of age by September 1. Abby Kelley Foster reserves the right to determine the academic placement of a student at each grade level. All applicants will receive written notification stating the time, date and location of the lottery, if necessary.

All applicants must provide the school at the time of application, a copy of the student’s birth certificate must be provided, along with proof of residency (utility bill, driver’s license).  Applications will not be processed without all information on file.

The school will place all applicants without proof of residency or sibling preference into the Non-Resident applicant pool. In cases of outstanding circumstances, such as homelessness, the school may waive the proof of residency requirement.
Applicants that do not meet the age requirements for kindergarten will be contacted and given the option to apply for the next academic year. The school will keep the application on file. Applicants that exceed the grade level restrictions will be notified that they are ineligible to apply for admission.

ADMISSION
Each year, Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School determines the number of spaces available for new students based on the number of returning students and the cap for each respective grade level; Abby Kelley Foster must:

1. Give preference to siblings* (*only for grades being accepted) of students already attending Abby Kelley Foster , defined as attending in that current school year.
2. Give preference to resident students as defined in 603 CMR 1.06(4);

Under current law, charter schools may:

• Require students to complete the grade preceding the grade the student plans to enter;
• Strongly encourage parents/guardians to attend informational sessions; and
• Ask students and parents/guardians to sign compacts or memorandums of understanding that demonstrates their agreement with the school's mission.

Siblings are students who currently have siblings actually attending the charter school at the time of the lottery. Siblings are children who share a common biological or legal parent as opposed to children who may live in the same household but do not share a common parent. For example, foster children are not considered to be siblings unless they share a common parent even though they may live in the same household. On the other hand, children who live in different households but share a common parent are siblings for purposes of the sibling preference. If the sibling is no longer attending the school, the application will be placed in the Resident or Non-Resident applicant pool.

Residents are students who live in the city or the town in which the charter school is located. Residents enrolled in district, charter, private or parochial schools get equal preference. Regional charter school residents are students who live in the school districts specified in the school’s charter. Students residing in Auburn, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Sutton, West Boylston and Worcester receive enrollment preference.

Non-residents are students who live outside the city or town in which the charter school is located. For regional charter schools, non-resident students are those students who live outside of the school districts specified in the school’s charter.

THE PROCESS FOR ACCEPTING STUDENTS
Abby Kelley Foster will determine the number of spaces available based on the number of returning students and grade level capacity.

• Set a deadline for accepting student applications for the available new spaces, with reasonable public notice of at least one month.  

• Publicize the application deadline and the fact that there will be a lottery if there are more eligible applicants than there are available spaces.

• Set a date for the lottery, with reasonable notice of at least one week before the lottery date. 603 CMR 1.06(6).

• Set a final date for students to accept enrollment.

• Parents or guardians are requested to notify the school by phone or email within 48 hours if they accept admission.

• Parents or guardians declining admission to the school must notify the school in writing.

After the application deadline passes, all applications are divided into three categories; Siblings, Residents and Non-Residents. 603 CMR 1.06(4) All applicants will receive written notification that the school is in receipt of their application including the time and date of the lottery.

The School will not accept applications after the scheduled deadline.

ADMISSION

1. Students who currently attend the Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School will be admitted first for enrollment. Students do not need to reapply each academic year.  

2. Parents must complete a Sibling Intent to Enroll application in order for a sibling of a current student to be considered for enrollment.

3. If there are more siblings than spots available, those names will be entered into the lottery to establish their order on the waitlist.

4. Siblings who are not selected for admission from the lottery will be added to the waitlist and given a number in the order that they are selected. 

5. As openings become available siblings will be admitted in the order the names were drawn in the lottery.

6. All siblings on the waitlist will maintain their positions until an opening occurs or they decline admission to the School.

7. If the School has not reached capacity after admitting all eligible siblings then the school may admit Resident applicants.  

8. The lottery process will be repeated for Resident applications if there are more applications then available seats.

9. If the School has not reached capacity after admitting all eligible Siblings and Resident applicants the school may admit Non-Resident applicants. 603 CMR 1.06(4)(b).

10. The lottery process will be repeated for Non-Resident applications if there are more applications then available seats.

ACADEMIC PLACEMENT
Under current law, Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School may require students to complete the grade preceding the grade the student plans to enter. Once the student has formally accepted admission to Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School, the School will forward a records release request to the sending district. All new students entering our School are required to attend registration. Parents/guardians will be notified in writing of the dates, times and documentation they will need to bring in order to begin the registration process. Registration includes meeting with your building principal, completing required paperwork and academic placement testing. Students will be assessed in order for the School to complete class schedules and assign students to their academically appropriate grade level.

Students are placed in their academically appropriate grade level based on current reports, progress reports and English and Math placement tests administered during the registration process. All parents are notified in writing if their child is required to complete the grade preceding the grade the student plans to enter for the upcoming school year within 7-10 days of registration. Parents/guardians have the right to appeal the grade level placement of their child to the building principal and the superintendent.

LOTTERY
All applications are divided into three categories; Siblings, Residents and Non-

Residents.
Public notice of the lottery is given at least one week before the deadline. Public notices are sent to all local newspapers and radio stations, and posted on the school website www.akfcs.org.

Individual Student Request to Attend applications are transferred to 3 x 5 index cards.

Index cards include the student name, grade and city/town of residence.

All index cards are placed in the lottery drum.

An impartial person will administer the lottery. Representatives from the St Gobain/Norton Company Human Resources Department administer the lottery each year.

As a card is drawn the grade and name(s) will be announced, assigned a lottery number and written on the appropriate grade level chart.

When a card is drawn the individual student will be accepted for enrollment or placed on a waitlist.
The card drawn from the drum will be given a lottery number as it is drawn.

Students and families will be notified of their admission for the coming academic year or of their position on the waitlist in writing within one week.

WAITLIST
The waitlist is created according to the procedures mentioned under the section Lottery.
A student maintains his/her position on the waitlist until offered admission to the School or until the student declines to remain on the waitlist .
The school will maintain a waitlist for Siblings, Residents and Non-Residents.
Students placed on the waitlist will receive written notification stating their waitlist number within one week.
Parents or guardians will be contacted by phone as openings become available.
The parent or guardian must submit a notice in writing that they have declined the position on waitlist.
No student can be assigned a waitlist number for enrollment except via lottery.
LIMITATIONS
Charter schools must ensure they do not enroll too many students from a sending district and cause the student’s sending district to exceed its net school spending cap as specified in G.L. c. 71, §89(i). If the enrollment of a student would cause the sending district to exceed its tuition cap, then the charter school must skip over the student and keep him/her on the school’s waiting list. 603 CMR 1.06(4)(d). However, siblings of enrolled students are exempt from the provisions of G.L. c. 71, §89(i). A sibling of an enrolled student may enroll in the school regardless of the school district tuition cap. In such cases, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall provide the school with the tuition payment which is subject to appropriation.

Once a student is admitted to Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School, that student has a right to continue attending the charter school. This right to continued attendance exists even if the student’s district of residence changes. The only exception to this rule would be if the new district of residence was at or above its net school spending cap and, for that reason, the school would not receive a per pupil tuition for that student.

Withdrawals and Transfers
Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School may accept applications for students entering Kindergarten through Grade 12. The School will determine the number of seats available by grade each year. Any student that is withdrawn from the School may apply for re-admittance.

Parents/guardians must notify and meet with the Enrollment Director concerning the transfer of their child to another school. Parents must complete a permission to release records form at Abby Kelley Foster before any student records can be forwarded to another school. All books and other School property must be returned to the School; any outstanding balances must be settled.

We will consider it a withdrawal if a student does not attend class during the first five days of the school year. This applies specifically in cases where a parent has been unresponsive in signing a withdrawal form and where we have credible information that the child is enrolled in another school or not living in the area.

ABBY KELLEY FOSTER CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOL CONSIDERS A STUDENT WITHDRAWN FROM THE SCHOOL ONCE THE PARENT/GUARDIAN HAS COMPLETED AND SIGNED A WITHDRAWAL FORM.

INFORMATION SESSIONS
Parent information sessions will be posted according to an annual schedule.

Contact Information
For more information, please contact AnnMarie Litte, Director of Government Relations, by phone at 508.854.8400, ext. 3625, or by e-mail at amlittle@akfcs.org