CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Nearly 20,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students were assigned to magnet programs during the first student-assignment lottery. Families will begin receiving notification letters this week. The letters inform parents of the school their child was placed in through the lottery process and how to ask for reassignment.
Questions to common student-assignment lottery questions.
How many families participated in the lottery?
CMS received more than 11,100 individual lottery applications through the online process, including 1,400 kindergarten lottery applications. After the lottery was finished, a total of 19,542 students were assigned to magnet programs – about 500 more than last year. That includes students who were already assigned to magnet schools and automatically continue in those programs. Click here to see the list of magnet programs by school, the number of seats filled, and the number of students in the wait pools.
What were the most popular programs this year?
Families showed strong interest in Montessori, International Baccalaureate, math and science, language and the Traditional programs. The five schools with the largest wait pools are: Piedmont IB Middle (361 students), Park Road Montessori (359 students), Myers Park Traditional (353 students), Elizabeth Traditional (343 students), and Morehead Elementary (294 students).
Why didn’t my child get any of her choices?
Placement through the lottery is not guaranteed. Some magnet programs have far more applicants than seats available. Students who do not receive their first choice for a magnet program are automatically placed in that program’s wait pool.
How does the wait pool work?
Right now, 3,438 students are assigned to magnet-school wait pools. When more students apply to magnet programs than there are available seats, the lottery establishes a wait pool made up of the remaining first-choice applicants. Schools can access their wait pools in July. If a seat becomes available, the school will contact the next person in the wait pool and offer them a seat. Students may accept or decline the placement. The school will continue to contact students until all available seats are filled.
What should I do if I’m not happy with my child’s assignment?
Families who are unhappy with their child’s placement have two options: request reassignment or apply to a magnet school with space (open-seat option). The reassignment period is open until March 26. New this year: the reassignment process is paperless. Families should fill out the request online.
Requests are considered for four reasons:
The student wishes to attend his/her home school (placement is guaranteed)
Child of CMS staff member (placement is not guaranteed)
Student’s medical and/or health condition (families must complete the CMS medical packet)
Extreme hardship, which are circumstances that affect a family’s ability to support the student’s educational success. Hardship requests require a written explanation and supporting documents.
The open-seat option is open to any current CMS student, including those who participated in the first lottery. The open-seat option is an opportunity to fill seats that are still available in magnet programs; click here for a list of those programs. The open-seat option begins on March 15 and runs through June 4. Families will be notified of their placement in June.
CMS will provide free computer access at the Family Application Center (700 Marsh Rd.) and at all learning-community offices. Computers at these locations will be available from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The CMS information hotline is open to handle calls and questions about the student-assignment lottery. The phone number is 980-343-5335. Customer-service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Bilingual customer-service representatives are also available. The hotline will be open until March 12.
For more information about the lottery, or student placement in general, click here.
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we really want to go classical but we did not get in!!!!!! please try to get open seats for us we really need a magnet school!!!!!! our kids reallly need it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!