Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012

Time to choose a school in Wake

Visit website to rank schools

Wake County's new student-assignment plan has gone live for most families.

Families can go online to assignment.wcpss.net to rank which schools they want to attend for the 2012-13 school year. Here's an overview of what you'll need to know to participate.

Q. Who has to participate? Families of students new to the school system for the 2012-13 school year must participate, unless they received a magnet seat. Most will be the 12,000 students expected to enroll in kindergarten, but others include students leaving charter schools or private schools and those new to Wake County.

Q. What if I have a child already enrolled in the school system?

Current students should have received a notice in November telling them their preliminary assignment for the 2012-13 school year. If you're fine with that assignment, you don't have to do anything. But if you want to go to a different school, you can apply.

Q. What do I need before I can participate in the selection process? You'll need to know your NC WISE student identification number. Current students can contact their schools for their number.

New students will need to enroll to get an ID number. You can enroll at the school system's Central Services Building at 5625 Dillard Drive in Cary, where hours will be extended until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Feb. 23. You can also enroll at a school that covers the grade your child will attend, such as registering at an elementary school if you're enrolling in kindergarten.

Q. How do I pick a school?

Once you plug in your address and student ID number, you'll get a list of choices. Most of the elementary schools will be the ones closest to your address. Next to each elementary school is the middle school and high school at which you are guaranteed a seat. The schools have various codes next to them: T for traditional calendar, Y for year-round calendar, M for modified calendar and RC for regional choice.

Some regional-choice schools were chosen because they're high performing and others were chosen because they have empty seats. You can click on each school to find more information about them.

Q. Do I have to rank every choice?

If you're new to the school district, you're required to rank all of the available choices. If you're currently enrolled in the district, only rank the choices you're interested in.

Once you're accepted, you will get that seat and lose your old one. If you change your mind, you can apply in the second round of the application process to seek a different school.

Q. How will the school system determine which school I get?

If there are fewer applicants than available seats, everyone gets accepted. If that's not the case, schools will be filled in this order. First priority will go to applicants who have an older sibling at the school. Second is a student who lives within 1.5 miles of the school and third is students applying to their closest school.

Then comes applicants from low-performing areas who want to attend high-performing, regional-choice schools. School administrators say they will try to give as many people as they can their first choices.

If you don't get your first choice, you'll be placed on a waiting list.

Q. Does it matter when I participate?

This first round of the selection process runs through Feb. 24. It's not first-come, first-served, so it doesn't matter when you apply as long as you do it by Feb. 24.

Round two of the selection process will run from March 19 to April 3, but you're less likely to get the school you want then because some might be filled in the first round.

Q. How does participating in the magnet school application process in December affect me?

If you got a magnet seat, you'll lose it if you participate and receive a seat in the choice round starting today.

But if you were put on a magnet school waiting list, you won't lose that spot even if you get a seat in this new choice selection round.

Q. Where do I go for more information?

You can find a lot of information online at assignment.wcpss.net.

You also can attend an information session. Go to assignment.wcpss.net/calendar/category/information_sessions/ for a list of meetings.