APPLICATION FOR 2024/25 SCHOOL YEAR

2024-2025 Waitlist Application


Don’t want to complete the Lottery Application online?

You have the following options:

1. Print this form and complete it by hand with a pen, mail or deliver in person.

2. Stop by the school for a paper form.

3. Call 503-244-1697 for an application to be mailed.

 

Our address is:

The Cottonwood School – Lottery Application

640 S Bancroft St., Portland, OR 97239

 


Please be sure to attend our Open House or Information Sessions to tour the school and to receive important information.


All applications received after our lottery closing date of April 1st, 11:59pm, will be added to our waitlist. 

 

Admission is limited to a maximum of 22 students for our incoming Kindergarten class and any openings in our 1st-8th grades. Please read about our program and if you want further information, attend one of our Information Sessions and the Open House. If The Cottonwood School of Civics and Science looks like a good fit for your family the next step is to submit an application.

 

Student acceptance is based on a lottery.

 

There is no preference given to those who apply early, but you must submit the application by the deadline, April 1, 2024. Our lottery will be conducted on April 13th at 10am at the school and the results will be emailed to families the following week.

 

Siblings of currently enrolled students bypass the general lottery process and are offered an automatic spot, when there is a spot to offer or are entered in a sibling lottery by grade to determine order and move to the top of the waitlist. Per Oregon State Law, priority must be given to applicants who reside within the PPS boundaries. Out of district applicants will only be considered after we have gone through our entire waitlist (by grade) of in district applicants. Students residing outside of Oregon are not eligible for admission.

 

With the passage of State Bill 2954, Cottonwood will be implementing a weighted lottery to give enrollment preference to historically underserved students in the category of race and ethnicity.

 

Our lottery will be held on April 13th at 10:00am at the school. Families are welcome to attend, but are not required. Results will be emailed to families.

 

Please note, we do not have on site parking. Please park in metered parking on the street. Enter through the side door on the east side of the building. Door will open at 10:00am.

 

At the lottery meeting, we will draw names randomly to fill any available spots in our classes and to form our waiting lists. The lottery meeting is a public meeting, but you are not required to be present.

 

Being Notified

 

After the lottery meeting, results will be emailed to families by April 22nd. If you don’t hear from us by then please call.

 

We will offer you no more than one week to make a decision about taking the spot in the school. As we work our way through waiting lists, we may notify you during the summer. If that happens, you will have to make the decision without a visit to the school, so please make use of the Open House and/or In-school Information Sessions described above to inform yourself about our school. Be prepared to make a quick decision! Beginning in August and through the next school year, we will shorten the time for a decision to just two weekdays.

 

School Visits

 

If school is in session when you are offered a spot at the school, we can arrange for you and/or your child to visit the class. Please call the school to make these arrangements as soon as you can after you have been notified of an enrollment offer. There are no visits available during the summer, so again, please take advantage of our Open House and/or In-school Information Sessions.  We do not offer visits to students on the waitlist until they have been offered a spot.

 

Waitlists

 

Our waitlist stays in effect through the school year for which you applied. We will fill open spots in all classrooms and grades until the last day of school before Winter break. Open spots will only be filled after Winter Break if:

  • Individual grade or classroom has 3 or more openings.
  • Cottonwood as a whole has 11 or more openings. If this is the case then the Director can prioritize grades and/or classrooms for reopening.

 

The waitlist does not roll over from year to year. If you were on our waitlist for a previous year and would like to be considered for a spot for the following school year, you must go through the application and lottery process again.

 

Available Spots

 

The Kindergarten class typically has the most openings, but we do not know yet how many. Siblings of existing students will fill some of the spaces. In other classes, there may be few to no spots available at the time of the lottery.

 

Siblings

 

Siblings of existing students get the top priority in the enrollment process. For newly applying students, if a sibling accepts a spot, we will move the other siblings up on the waiting list after all enrollment forms are complete and submitted for the first student.

 

DEI Mission Statement and Non-Discrimination Policy

 

The Cottonwood School believes that the full education of a student depends and relies upon a diverse, equitable and inclusive school environment. We value different lived experiences and integrate the voices of our school-community members, while also inviting insight from our larger community. We apply a culturally responsive approach to our teaching and our decision-making. We incorporate the histories, perspectives, and experiences of different groups of people who are traditionally left out of school curricula.

 

Every student at the Cottonwood School will be given equal educational opportunities regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, color, national origin, and disability. The Cottonwood School will not limit student admission based on ethnicity, national origin, race, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, income level, proficiency in English language or athletic ability, but may limit admission to students within a given age group or grade level.

 

Thank you for considering The Cottonwood School of Civics & Science, we are looking forward to receiving your child’s application!

 

Applications are due by Monday, April 1, 2024 by 11:59pm.

 

Lottery will be held Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 10:00am.

 

Results will be sent on or before Monday, April 22, 2024.

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