At the virtual open house I attended, the administration mentioned that they decided to offer less 5th grade spots for the first year because (1) they recognized that 6th grade is the more traditional entry year for middle school and wanted to be able to offer more 6th grade seats than usual both this year and next year; and (2) they wanted to begin developing a school culture with a smaller number of 5th grade students who can then help the new 6th graders acclimate next year.

Does anyone know the WHY of Cooper offering more 6th grade seats than 5th? I thought their goal originally was to capture kids at 5th to get them school ready. Adding together regular and equitable access matches (ignoring the unmatched EA seat), they offered :
5th: 56
6th: 95


I thought key to mission was getting 5th graders in to establish good executive functioning, etc. This does meet their target of 150 kids in year one.

Also, does anyone know what this did to Capital Village, the newish charter? Isn't it literally right there? I can imagine this gutted the campus.

Anonymous wrote:Would we expect entry year to move quicker? E.g. 5th grade at BASIS and Latin II?

That would be my assumption because they will know as of May 2 whether people who matched enroll (whereas some charters schools have another 2 weeks for current students to reenroll). The related expectation is that entry years in other schools that are losing kids to Latin and Basis should also move faster since those spots will be open as soon as the departing kids enroll at Basis and Latin.

Anonymous wrote:How much time are you given to decide if you get a WL offer?

I do not believe there is a proscribed period under the common rules. The best practice if you are way down the list is to reach out and let them know you intend to enroll and you are headed out of town and make sure they have your contact info. Some schools may give you 24 hours.

Anonymous wrote:How much time are you given to decide if you get a WL offer?

Usually a week if it's early in the summer, but it may be only a few days or even just 24 hours if the school year has already started.

How much time are you given to decide if you get a WL offer?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since everyone has to commit to schools today will the WL start moving tomorrow or does it take a few days/a week?

Our charter still has another 2 weeks for returning families to re-enroll, so non-PK3 lists won't move right away. Not sure if this is a common practice or not.

Typically a school knows that some of their families won't be returning. Families often disclose this if they are moving out of the area. Or sometimes class sizes go up (often between PK4 and K for example) so they know for sure they have a few spots for new kids.

Would we expect entry year to move quicker? E.g. 5th grade at BASIS and Latin II?

The waitlist started moving for me last week. At least for the schools at the very end of our list.

Anonymous wrote:Since everyone has to commit to schools today will the WL start moving tomorrow or does it take a few days/a week?

Our charter still has another 2 weeks for returning families to re-enroll, so non-PK3 lists won't move right away. Not sure if this is a common practice or not.

Really depends on the school, though in general you won't see nearly as much movement this early as you will later in the summer. If you are in a decent waitlist spot (look at historical data to get a sense) and eager to see movement, don't get discouraged if lists don't move much now or even next month. If you are really interested in a school and far enough up the waitlist for it to be a reasonable shot, just assume you will need to wait until August to know if you got in. Or even September or October, though you have to decide for yourself if you'd be willing to move that late.

A lot of people get frustrated when they don't see waitlists move at all this time of year but if you are near the top of a waitlist and schools typically make at least as many offers as your waitlist number, don't let lack of movement now discourage you. We've done the lottery several times for multiple kids and we ALWAYS get offers in August and September. We've never received a waitlist offer earlier than July, and that was the year that we had a pretty good master number, too. It's just very normal for lists not to move much until after June 15.

Anonymous wrote:Also interested in this. Will they start to move this week?

Yes, but it just depends on how fast the registrar of each school gets the offers out, and how fast people decide.

Also interested in this. Will they start to move this week?

Offers may go out tomorrow but you wouldn't see much movement until the offer is accepted or declined. You may move backwards as siblings jump into to Sibling Offered category.

Since everyone has to commit to schools today will the WL start moving tomorrow or does it take a few days/a week?