Evergreen Community Charter School
Application and Enrollment Policy and Procedures
Student Body:
Evergreen Community Charter School (Evergreen) is a public, tuition-free charter school that welcomes students of any race, ethnicity or national origin. All students who are eligible for enrollment in a North Carolina public school are eligible for enrollment at Evergreen. Research shows that a diverse student body enriches the learning experience for all students by improving cognitive skills, critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills. Learning within a diverse student body prepares students for living and working in a diverse world.
Application Process:
The application period is January 1 through March 31 at 5 pm. Applications for the upcoming year will be available on our website and available at the school by the first week of January. Parents/guardians may submit applications online or mail, fax, or drop off printed applications at the school. Applications must be submitted online or “in hand” by March 31 at 5:00pm. At that time, it will be determined if we have more applications than seats available for each grade. If there are more applicants than seats available, a lottery will be held to determine admission and the waiting list. The lottery will be held during the first week of April, unless the school is closed during that time. In that case, the lottery would be held during the second week of April. This is an open meeting and everyone is welcome. Any applications that are received after the March 31 deadline, will be added to the waiting list in the order that they are received.
Applications will include boxes for applicants to indicate whether they qualify for any of the enrollment priorities listed below. Applicants may choose not to indicate if they qualify and be placed, instead, in the general lottery. Qualification will be verified by Evergreen prior to the lottery.
Enrollment Priorities:
Evergreen will follow all rules and regulations regarding enrollment priority as specified in charter school law. The following groups will have enrollment priority at Evergreen in this order:
Children of full time Evergreen employees (not to exceed 15% of total school population).
a. Verification will be done via birth certificate.
Siblings of currently enrolled students. The law defines a sibling to include any of the following who reside in the same household: half siblings, step-siblings, and children residing in a family foster home.
a. Verification will be done via birth certificate, proof of place of residence, and/or foster home placement records.
Children of active board members in good standing who have served on the board at least one year (not to exceed 15% of total school population).
a. Verification will be done via birth certificate.
Children whose families are economically disadvantaged. (See rationale .) Evergreen’s Board of Directors will determine the number of open seats per grade level to be reserved in the next lottery for students who are economically disadvantaged. This will be based on the current number of students in each grade who are economically disadvantaged and the goal of 30-50% of all students in each grade qualifying.
a. Verification will be done via documentation showing eligibility for or participation in at least one of the following:
i. SNAP (EBT card)
ii. Housing Authority resident or on waiting list (notice from HACA)
iii. Free and Reduced Lunch Program (paycheck stubs and any other income verification from most recent 6 months and most recent federal tax return)
iv. Work First, North Carolina’s Temporary Assistance for the Needy Families (TANF) programSiblings who apply to the charter school for admission beginning in the same school year, such as when a sibling was not initially admitted due to grade level capacity. The law defines a sibling to include any of the following who reside in the same household: half siblings, step-siblings, and children residing in a family foster home.
a. Verification will be done via birth certificate, proof of place of residence, and/or foster home placement records.
Multiple Birth Siblings. If multiple birth siblings apply for admission and a lottery is needed one surname shall be entered into the lottery to represent all of the multiple birth siblings applying at the same time. If that surname of the multiple birth siblings is selected, then all of the multiple birth siblings shall be admitted.
a. Verification will be done via birth certificate.
Verification of eligibility can be 1) submitted upon completion of a registration form or, 2) parents/guardians can seek assistance from the school in securing and producing eligibility documents or, 3) the school will contact the parent/guardian to request and/or assist in securing the eligibility documents.
Parents/guardians are not required to indicate eligibility for any of the above enrollment priorities. If no eligibility is indicated on the registration form, the student will be included in the general lottery without preference or weight.
Lottery Process:
A computerized lottery will be held for each grade level at which the number of applicants exceeds the number of openings.
The lottery will be conducted in the following manner:
The lottery will take place in April and the time and place will be posted on our website by April 1st . All applicants have the right to be present and witness the drawing.
The official lists of all applicants by grade will be open to inspection by the applicants for a 30-minute period prior to the scheduled drawing. The names on each list will be consecutively numbered, beginning with the number “1”.
The lottery will be conducted by an independent Certified Public Accountant or by an elected official.
The lottery official will activate the lottery via the online lottery program, which will generate and record results.
The order of entry will determine the order in which openings will be filled in each grade. When a class is full, the order of entry will form a waiting list.
Lottery Results
The results of the lottery will be sent out on the day of the lottery via email and/or text message to all applicants. Applicants will be informed whether or not the child got a space or what number on the waiting list they are.
Evergreen Community Charter School’s Right to Refuse Enrollment
Evergreen reserves the right to refuse to enroll any student currently under a term of expulsion or suspension by his or her school until that term is over.
Evergreen reserves the right to refuse to enroll a student if a parent willingly and knowingly provided incorrect information on the application.
Acceptance of Offer of Enrollment
In April, parents/guardians will have seven calendar days after the student is selected for admission to accept or decline enrollment. If the student is selected for admission in May or June, parents/guardians will have five calendar days to accept or decline enrollment. If the student is selected for admission on or after July 1, parents/guardians will have three calendar days to accept or decline enrollment. The school will make reasonable attempts to contact the parent/guardian during these time periods. If there is no response, the school reserves the right to withdraw the offer of enrollment.
Submission of Enrollment Forms
Once the offer of enrollment has been accepted, the parent/guardian must submit completed enrollment forms to secure enrollment. For seats accepted before July 1, forms are due within seven calendar days of acceptance. For seats accepted July 1 or later, forms are due within two calendar days of acceptance. The school will make reasonable attempts to contact the parent/guardian during these time periods. If there is no response, the school reserves the right to withdraw the offer of enrollment.
First Day Attendance
If a student has accepted enrollment at the school, but does not appear at the school on the first day, the school will make reasonable attempts to contact the parent. If there is no response from the parent within 24 hours, the school reserves the right to remove the student from their enrollment roster.
Admission of Retained Students
If a student is admitted to the school for a given grade level but, after admission, is retained by his or her current school, Evergreen will honor the decision of the current school regarding appropriate grade placement. If a space is not available in the grade in which the student is retained, that student shall be put on the waiting list directly behind any children qualifying for the priorities named above who may be on that waiting list.
Approved by Evergreen Community Charter School Board of Directors 11.18.2021
Early Admission to Kindergarten at Evergreen Community Charter School
Evergreen Community Charter School strongly discourages the enrollment of students prior to age five. It is our experience and belief that children benefit from the stimulation and preparation of a preschool or less structured educational environment in their preparation for school readiness and academic/social success. If a parent chooses to apply for early admission to kindergarten, all criteria in the following policy must be met. This policy is aligned with the NC State Board of Education Policy 16 NCAC 6E.0105, delineates the standards for early admission to kindergarten, and is stated below.
To determine the eligibility of a four-year-old child to enter kindergarten, the executive director or associate director shall confer with a committee of professional educators to consider for each child the following factors:
Student Aptitude. The child shall be precocious in academic and social development and shall score at the 98th percentile on a standard individual test of intelligence on either the Stanford-Binet or The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence administered by a licensed psychologist.
Achievement. The child shall be functioning from two to three years beyond the child's peers. The child shall score at the 98th percentile on either reading or mathematics on one or more of the following standard tests of achievement: the Woodcock-Johnson, the Test of Early Mathematics Ability (TEMA), and/or the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA). The test must be administered by a licensed psychologist, a member of the psychologist's professional staff, or a professional educator who is trained in the use of the instrument and who has no conflict of interest in the outcome of the assessment.
Performance. The child shall be able to perform tasks well above age peers as evidenced by behaviors in one or more areas such as independent reading, problem solving skills, advanced vocabulary, and some writing fluency. The parent shall submit a sample of the child's work that shows outstanding examples of ability in any area including, but not limited to, art, mathematics, writing, dramatic play, creative productions, science, or social interactions. The executive director or associate director may also require an Evergreen Community Charter School teacher to complete an informal reading assessment of the child.
Observable Student Behavior/Student Interest. The child shall demonstrate social and developmental maturity sufficient to participate in a structured setting for a full school day. The child shall be capable of following verbal instructions and functioning independently within a group. The parent shall provide two recommendation letters with specific documentation of physical and social maturity from preschool teachers, child care workers, pediatricians, or others who have direct knowledge of the child. Useful documentation checklists include the California Preschool Competency Scale, the Harrison Scale, or any other comparable scale of early social development.
Motivation/Student Interest. The executive director or associate director shall conduct an informal interview with the child, which may include observing the student in an Evergreen Community Charter School kindergarten classroom at Evergreen, and a more structured interview with the parent to determine if the child displays a thirst for knowledge and seeks new and challenging learning situations.
Should the student be accepted through the lottery, the executive director or associate director may conditionally enroll the child for up to ninety days in order to determine whether the child is able to adjust to the school setting. The parent shall present the information required to the executive director or associate director within the first 30 calendar days of the school’s instructional year. All testing shall be administered after the April 16th that follows the child's fourth birthday. If the executive director or associate director determines that the child is not adjusting to the school setting during the first two weeks, the executive director or associate director shall invite the parent to assist in the development of intervention strategies for the child. If those strategies are not successful within the next 5 school days, the executive director may deny the request for enrollment. However, the executive director shall provide the parent at least 10 days notice before exiting the child from school so the parent may arrange child care, if needed.
Early admission to kindergarten shall not automatically result in the placement of the child in the Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Program. By the time the child has been enrolled for 90 calendar days, or at any earlier time that school officials determine that the child has adjusted satisfactorily and shall be allowed to remain in school, the AIG coordinator shall review the child's information to determine if the child shall receive gifted services. If the team determines that the child shall receive gifted services, it shall develop a differentiated education plan for the child.
Approved by Evergreen Community Charter School Board of Directors 3/12/15. Revised and approved 4/11/19