E-1.0 ENROLLMENT AND WITHDRAWAL

Chapter E - School Operations

Part 1.0 Enrollment and Withdrawal

Section 1.1 Lottery and Enrollment

Policy Statement:

School Entrance Requirements
All pupils entering kindergarten must have reached their fifth (5th) birthday in the year of their entrance on or before September 1. Pupils entering first grade must have reached their sixth (6th) birthday in the year of their entrance on or before September 1. Birth certificates, immunization records, and proof of Utah residency must be presented at the time of registration. Students transferring from other schools who have completed kindergarten but do not meet the above birthday deadline may be admitted into first grade at the discretion of the School Director.

Ongoing Enrollment
The Intent to Enroll and the Acceptance of Policy constitute an application for enrollment. Applications are completed online.   Applications will be placed in the General Applicant Pool.
In the event of a vacancy, the vacancy will be filled by students from the following priority enrollment classes before placing students drawn in the lottery.

Section 9 - Admissions and Enrollment
Students who have successfully completed the steps to enrollment will be given priority enrollment status based on the categories below, in order, and up to State-mandated or American Prep designated caps for each category:

  1. Currently enrolled students;
  2. Children of staff members;
  3. A child or grandchild of American Prep Academy founders;
  4. A child or grandchild of governing board members;
  5. Students matriculating between American Prep Academy campuses;
  6. Siblings of current students or alumni;
  7. Students that live within a .25-mile radius of the APA campus they will attend and whose school of residence is at capacity;
  8. A child of a military service member.
  9. For the 2022-2023 school year, a student who withdrew from the school to attend an online school or home school for the 2020-2021 or 2021-2022 school years due to the COVID-19 emergency.

When all students that qualify for priority enrollment have been enrolled and if space is still available, students will be selected in random drawings to receive priority enrollment. Students from Title I schools designated "in need of improvement" may be given weighted lottery preference. In the instance that multiple grades have space available, random drawings will be first performed in the grade where the most seats are currently available.
The above policy is in compliance with Utah State Code 53G-6-502.
 
School Enrollment Status:
American Preparatory Academy of Draper 1 - Not receiving Title I Funding
American Preparatory Academy of Draper 2-3 - Not receiving Title I Funding
American Preparatory Academy - School for New Americans - Receiving Title I Funding
American Preparatory Academy - The Accelerated School - Receiving Title I Funding
American Preparatory Academy - Salem -  Not receiving Title I Funding

Vacancies
Year-End Vacancies:  If a vacancy occurs in a class, it will be filled by offering placement to the first student on the priority lists 1-6 (above). If there are no students on the priority lists 1-6, a lottery will be conducted which will include all names for that grade that are in the General Applicant Pool.

Lottery Procedure: All applicants in the General Applicant Pool for the grade that has a vacancy are entered onto an Excel spreadsheet. Each applicant is randomly assigned a number through the randomization function in Excel. A .pdf version of the assignment indicating the applicant's name and random number they have been assigned is saved. The applicants are then sorted by number with the lowest number being the first on the lottery list.
For each open seat, up to five students on the lottery list (in rank order) will be contacted and told that their name has been selected in the lottery along with instructions on how to register the student in the school.

EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
Students that will be absent for 10-31 days for an administrator-approved extenuating circumstance will retain their enrollment. An example of an extenuating circumstance would be a student with a medical condition requiring them to be absent for ten or more days.

PERSISTENTLY DANGEROUS SCHOOL
If an American Preparatory Academy school becomes classified as "persistently dangerous," as determined by the State, students would be allowed to transfer to another school within the charter district. If a student who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense, as determined by State law, while in or on the grounds of a public school that the student attends, shall be allowed to attend a safe public elementary school or secondary school within the district.

Legal References:
UT Code 53G-6-502
ESEA Section 8532

Updated: 2022.05.24