Policy 302 - Enrollment, Admission and Lottery

Policy Statement: Students are admitted to TTCS through the enrollment and lottery processes described below.  Any student living in New Mexico may apply to attend TTCS.  TTCS does not discriminate against any student or family based on race, gender, religious affiliation, national origin, ethnicity, physical or mental disability, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other classification of individuals as recognized by state or federal law. 

Class Size Limitations: Each year TTCS will announce the total number of classes by grade and the total number of students accepted into those classes for each of its locations.  At no time will TTCS’s total enrollment for K-8 exceed the PEC approved enrollment cap, currently 840 students.  TTCS Governing Council may adjust the number of classes and students accepted per class, if enrollment trends necessitate an adjustment to accommodate staffing or enrollment demand.  In no event shall an adjustment result in the disenrollment of any student. 

Enrollment Preferences: TTCS shall grant enrollment preferences as follows:

·         First: Students who have been enrolled in the charter school and who remain in attendance through subsequent grades;

·         Second: Priority by date of application for enrollment:

o   Children in legal custody of members of faculty and/or staff at Turquoise Trail Charter Schools

o   Siblings of students who are already enrolled in or are attending TTCS

All other students shall be awarded a space on a first-come, first-serve basis or through a lottery process when the number for students applying for TTCS for any grade level exceeds the number of spaces available after the preferences are applied.  Students must both complete an application during the Lottery Application Window, and be registered during the Registration Window. See process for each described below. 

 Lottery Application Window:

TTCS’s Lottery Application Window shall be at least 60 days, which dates shall be posted on TTCS’s website.  During this period, students currently enrolled and new applicants must each complete the following applicable process:

Students Currently Enrolled

During this Lottery Application Window families of enrolled students must complete a “Returning Student Form” to return for the next school year.  Forms will be distributed through email during the Lottery Application Window.  The Returning Student Form must be returned by no later than 14 calendar days from the distribution date.  TTCS will send 2 reminders to parents before the due date.  If after the second documented attempt the Returning Student Form is not completed and returned, TTCS will identify that student’s space as vacant for purpose of the lottery.  Any student forfeiting a space because the Returning Student Form was not timely returned, must reapply and is subject to the lottery process.  Families should be aware that failure to timely return a Returning Student Form will jeopardize a student’s sibling’s enrollment preference.

New Students

Students wishing to apply to attend TTCS for the following school year must complete TTCS’s online application found at the “Lottery Link” on TTCS’s website during the Lottery Application Window.  Families who do not have access to the Internet may use a computer at TTCS or contact the school for assistance (505) 986-4000.  All Applicants must provide a valid physical address.  If a student’s family lives within the Preference Zone, they will need to provide two documents with the same address as proof of residency like those required for a NM Driver’s License (see www.mvd.newmexico.gov) to receive the preference, with the exception of documents from another educational institution.

Lottery Process

After the Lottery Application Window has closed and the time period for existing students to return the Returning Student Form has expired (see above), TTCS will determine the number of open spaces available for admission to TTCS in the next school year.  TTCS will use a computer-based, random selection process to conduct a lottery for each grade level to fill the open spaces from applications received during the Lottery Application Window.  Once all open spaces are filled, students will be placed on a Wait List in the order selected by the random selection process.   The date for the lottery will be announced on TTCS’s website as well as within the Lottery application webpage.

Notice

Within two business days of the lottery, TTCS administration shall post a list of students in the front lobby of the School.  In addition, families will be notified by email and/or text message that a space is available for the student(s).  Returning students and new students must complete the Registration process described below.  Failure to complete Registration by the deadline will result in a forfeiture of the space for the ensuing school year.   

Registration Window

Registration Window for Returning Students

Returning students must complete the Returning Student Form.  The Returning Student Form will be via email sometime during the Lottery Application Window each year and must be completed and returned to TTCS within two (2) weeks of its distribution date, and the Registration Deadline will be clearly stated in the email and on the form.  Missing the Registration Deadline will result in forfeiture of the student’s space for the next school year.  The following documents must be completed and returned to TTCS by the Registration Deadline:

·         Returning Student Form

Registration Window for New Students

Students who have been offered a space MUST attend a registration session or call the school to make a registration appointment.   Missing the registration session or appointment will result in forfeiture of the student’s space for the next school year. The following documents must be provided to TTCS at the registration session or appointment:

·         Immunization Record or completed State Approved Certificate of Exemption

·         Original Birth Certificate

·         Short Cycle Assessment data (MAPs, STARS, Discovery) from current or prior year

·         Any relevant court documents

·         Any IEP, 504, SAT data

Wait List

Students will be placed on the Wait List in the order drawn during the lottery.  TTCS will notify families when open a space become available.  Families will have four (4) business days to respond to the School whether the student will accept the open space.  Registration must be completed within three (3) business days of the family’s response to accept the space.  If either deadline is missed, the offer for an open space will be rescinded and the next student on the Wait List will be offered the open space.  The Wait List for the current school year will be honored until June 1 of that year, thereafter, it will be renewed using the list generated by the lottery for the ensuing school year.  In other words, the Wait List will not roll over to a new school year and a student on the Wait List should reapply during the Lottery Application Window every year.

First-Come First Served

If an open space becomes available during the school year and there are no students on the Wait List, students will be enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis, until the beginning of the Lottery Application Window.  If there are open spaces after the lottery is complete  and Registration Window has expired, students will be enrolled, but only if filling the open space  will not exclude a student selected by preference or the lottery process for the next school year.  

Amended, July 26, 2021