Enrollment Lottery

Applying for New Dawn Charter School is easy, but please read the instructions carefully. As per the approved charter application, New Dawn Charter High School is a transfer school and thus does not accept students coming out of 8th grade. Students must have attended at least one other high school and be between the ages of 15 and 21. 

New Dawn has a rolling application period and we accept applications 12 months out of the year for admission in September and February. However, those students who apply by April 1st will be included in a lottery and if picked, will be guaranteed enrollment in the following September. To ensure access to transfer students, students may complete the lottery application for enrollment in February. These students will be added to the wait list and will be enrolled if there is available space. Finally, New Dawn has two lotteries as approved in the charter application. One lottery is for those students with 0 to 10 credits and the other lottery is for students with 11 or more credits.

You can apply in three ways:

Admitted students are also required to complete and submit the following as part of the enrollment process:
• Birth Certificate
• Proof of residence: This can be a utility bill (but not a cable bill), lease, HRA application, or any government issued ID.
• Enrollment Form: This form is used to record all basic information about the student and the family, including home, work, and emergency telephone numbers. 
• Parent/Guardian Consent to Attend:  It is extremely important that a parent or guardian sign this form.
• Free and Reduced Price Meals Application: This form must be completed for all students and will be held in strict confidence.
• Immunization Records
• Medical Forms:  This set of forms must be submitted for all students within the first 30 days of attendance. It is the responsibility of each parent to keep their child’s medical information, including food allergies, up to date.
• Record Release: This form gives the school permission to obtain all records pertaining to a given student from his or her previous school. It must be completed and should include the telephone number and address of the previous school, as well as the signature of a parent or legal guardian.
• Transcripts from All Schools Attended Prior to New Dawn
• IEP or 504 Modifications

It is critical that the school be notified immediately of any changes in a student’s name, address, phone number, responsible parent, or any other information provided at the time of registration. Such changes should be communicated in writing and sent to the Principal.

Placement of Incoming Students

Once admitted to New Dawn Charter High School, students must provide transcripts from their previous academic institutions. New Dawn then reviews these transcripts and determines placement in classes based on the number of accumulated credits and classes needed for graduation. At New Dawn students are “ungraded” in the sense that they are able to take the classes necessary for them to graduate and this is not based on what “grade” the student is in.  The chart on the  next page is simply for placement into the special programs (intensive 9th grade, Internship, and College Now). New Dawn officials often contact students’ transferring schools with questions regarding their transcripts. 

Grade Credits
9th     0-10
10th    11-20
11th    21-32
12th    33+

Students also take a series of assessments during orientation that help New Dawn staff determine grade and classroom placement. 

Transfer Credits

Whenever possible, incoming students’ report cards and/or progress reports are reviewed for course placement and credit.  If a student has made satisfactory progress at his/her transferring school in a course, then he/she may be able to get full credit for the equivalent course at New Dawn, given that he/she completes all stated requirements by the end of the term. The degree of partial credit granted hinges on consultations between the Principal and respective instructors.

Privacy

New Dawn complies with all confidentiality laws protecting the privacy of its students and their families. Information regarding a student’s progress will be shared only with parents or guardians, appropriate members of the school’s faculty and staff, and any professional consultants retained for the purpose of measuring and/or improving instructional quality. When information regarding student performance is made public, it will be presented in such a way as to avoid the identification of specific, individual students.