Public Charter Schools

Our Charter School Admissions Process

Our Kindergarten through eighth grades are part of our public charter school and are tuition-free. We offer Kindergarten programs at our Sunnyside and Westside campuses. Our Switzer campus houses our first through sixth grade students, and our Cedar campus serves the seventh and eight graders.

We encourage you to reach out directly to the campus you are interested in and schedule a tour. Prospective students are also welcome to spend the day with us and shadow a current student.

General

The registration process for the charter school operates according to the contract between the state and the charter school, according to A.R.S. paragraph 15-184 (A).

• Students are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Enrollment preference may be granted only as the law permits.
• Enrollment in the private preschool does not grant a student enrollment preference into the charter kindergarten class.

Registration for Returning (Currently Enrolled) Students

• We enroll students for the fall from our existing roster beginning on the Wednesday after President’s Day (in February). Links to online registration are generally sent home the previous Wednesday.
• Parents of existing students have one week to register for the next grade; they have until dismissal time on the following Monday to register, at which time open registration begins.

Registration for New Students

• Assuming there are still openings, registration for nonreturning students begins on Tuesday morning after the close of registration for returning students.
• Students on the Prospective Students list are enrolled in the order of their place on the list.
• Those with legal preference (such as siblings) are enrolled first.
• Parents may place their student on a Prospective Students List for the following academic year at any time during the current year. A new Prospective Students list begins on October 1st or closest following school day of the current school year.
• To be placed on a Prospective Students list, call the specific school (preschool, elementary, middle school, children’s house) directly.

A.R.S. 15-184(A)
A charter school shall enroll all eligible pupils who submit a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level or building. A charter school shall give enrollment preference to pupils returning to the charter school in the second or any subsequent year of its operation and to siblings of pupils already enrolled in the charter school. A charter school that is sponsored by a school district governing board shall give enrollment preference to eligible pupils who reside within the boundaries of the school district where the charter school is physically located. If capacity is insufficient to enroll all pupils who submit a timely application, the charter school shall select pupils through an equitable selection process such as a lottery except that preference shall be given to siblings of a pupil selected through an equitable selection process such as a lottery.” (The Montessori Charter School of Flagstaff requested and received permission to select its students based on the mechanism of a first-come, first-served waiting list.