Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day Welcome! To the Brandywine School District School Choice Information Session Thursday, October 23, 2014

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day Delaware’s School Choice Law The Delaware School Choice Program is intended to "increase access to educational opportunity for all children throughout the state regardless of where they may live," and to "maximize parental choice in obtaining access to educational opportunities for their children." According to the law, a parent residing in Delaware may enroll his or her child in a public school in any school district in accordance with the law and if space is available.

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day Choice Open Enrollment Open Enrollment for the school year begins November 3, 2014 and runs through January 14, For incoming kindergarten students, the open enrollment period will open on November 3, 2014, and will close on the first day of school in August 2015.

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day BSD Choice Capacity School Choice capacity will be determined for each school based on: 1. Classroom/homeroom size 2. The number of returning feeder pattern and Choice students 3. The number of classrooms/homerooms needed by grade level based on returning students

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day How are applications sorted? All eligible applications are grouped by their first-choice school, then sorted by the student’s priority, and then randomly selected through a lottery process.

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day Choice Priorities 1.Siblings of students enrolled in the requested Choice School for the CURRENT School Year ( ) and who will continue to attend the same school for the NEXT School Year ( ) 2.K-8 students who reside in the District and submit a Choice application for daycare reasons 3.Students who reside in the District and attend a District school but do not fall into either of the above categories 4.Students who reside in the District but do not attend a District school in the current year 5.Students who reside outside of the District

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day How does a student qualify for the Choice Program? Each student’s academics, attendance, and behavior must been in good standing in order to qualify.

What information must be provided? Students who are not currently enrolled in BSD must provide the following documentation by January 28, 2015: Students Entering the 1 st Grade: Information submitted must be from the current school year’s 1 st semester/trimester: 1.Report Card ( SY) 2.Attendance Record ¹ ( SY) 3.Discipline Record² ( SY) Students Entering Grades 2-12: Information submitted must be from the current school year’s 1 st semester/trimester AND the final information from the previous school year: 1.Report Card ( SY) 2.Report Card ( SY) 3.Attendance Record¹ ( SY) 4.Attendance Record¹ ( SY) 5.Discipline Record² ( SY) 6.Discipline Record² ( SY) ¹ If attendance is not listed on a report card, your student’s school may print out an attendance record from their school computer system (such as “eSchool”), or write a letter on school letterhead in regards to any absences and/or tardies. ² Your student’s school may either print a discipline report from their school computer system (such as “eSchool”), or write a letter on school letterhead in regards to any suspensions and/or detentions, or a lack thereof. Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day If you receive an invitation: Parents must decide whether to accept or decline an invitation by the third Friday in March. If you receive an invitation to a school that is not your first choice: Per state law, each student may receive a maximum of one invitation per district per year. If you decline the invitation for any reason, your child will be automatically enrolled in their feeder school.

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day If you are placed on a wait list: You will be able to call the Choice Office to see where your child falls on the wait list. The wait lists are sorted differently, according to grade level, as follows: Grades K-8Grades 9-12 School Grade Priority Lottery School Priority Lottery All wait lists will be closed out the week prior to the start of the school year in August, 2015.

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day Can parents withdraw a Choice application? Yes, via written notification to the Choice Office.

Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day What happens if my child does not get an invitation to any Choice school? Unfortunately, Choice is not a guarantee. If a student does not receive an invitation, he or she will be automatically enrolled in their feeder school. If parents do not wish to enroll their child in their feeder school, we recommend that parents have alternate plans in the event they do not receive any Choice invitations.

Brandywine School District School Choice Office Contact Information: Kate Shinn, Administrative Assistant For questions regarding the School Choice Application process, or about any information in this presentation, please contact Kate Shinn via one of the methods below: Phone: (302) Fax: (302) Mailing: Attn: Choice Office 1311 Brandywine Blvd. Wilmington, DE School Choice applications may be submitted to the Brandywine School District Choice Office via one of the methods listed above. Parents may also apply online at Embrace, Inspire, and Challenge Every Student Every Day