We use a lottery system to fairly and transparently allocate available seats to students when there are more applicants than spots available.

Here's how our lottery works:

Application Process: The application period opens in February and will be made available both online and at the school. Parents/guardians can apply for the lottery.

Application Deadline: Once the application deadline passes, the school gathers all the applications from eligible students.

Random Selection: To ensure fairness and avoid any form of bias, a lottery is conducted. Each student's name or application is assigned a unique identifier and these identifiers are randomly drawn.

Seat Allocation: As names or identifiers are drawn, students are assigned seats in the school until all available spots are filled.

Waitlist: Students who are not selected in the lottery are placed on a waitlist in the order their names were drawn. If a student who was initially selected decides not to attend the school or withdraws, the next student on the waitlist is offered the seat.

Important dates:

Lottery for ‘24-’25 school year opens February 1, 2024.

Deadline for lottery applications, April 12th, 2024.

Lottery will be held April 16, 2024 at Taos Charter school.

Mailed Applications must be postmarked no later than April 9, 2024.

The lottery will be held Wednesday, April 19, 2024 in the Taos Charter School cafeteria at 9am. The lottery is open to the public.

Lottery applicants will be notified via email regarding their placement as a result of the lottery process.

Contact us to discuss waiting lists and enrollment for your student.

Students who are not initially selected for enrollment in the lottery will be placed on the waiting list according to grade and in the order drawn from the lottery.

Applicants will be notified via email in regards to their number on the waiting list.

If an applicant from the waiting list is offered a position mid-year, a meeting with the director is recommended.

Enrollment closes after the 120th day of school of the current school year.

If an applicant from the waiting list is offered a position and does not accept the position offered, they will then be placed at the bottom of the waiting list, or if requested, dropped from the waiting list.

Separate waiting lists will be maintained for each grade.

Enrollment applications received after the lottery will be stamped and signed by the enrollment coordinator as verification of when he/she received the application. If applications are received on the same date, the enrollment coordinator will assign a number (01, 02, 03. . .) after the date to indicate the order in which they were received on that day.

The lottery process is absolutely random. No preference is given based on religion, sex, race, etc. The only enrollment preference allowed is for returning students, siblings of returning students and retained students.

Siblings of currently enrolled students are given sibling priority and are placed in their own lottery during the spring lottery process.

Having an enrolled sibling does not automatically guarantee enrollment into the school for the following year.

If there are several siblings applying for one grade level, there will be a sibling lottery to determine who will be accepted into any available spots and their order at the top of the waiting list.

It is the parent’s responsibility to notify the school and fill out an enrollment application for siblings applying for the lottery by the deadline announced.

Applications received after the deadline/lottery process will automatically be placed on the waiting list after any other siblings already on the list.

Who counts as a sibling?

Students living in the same residence at least fifty percent (50%) of the time in a permanent or semi-permanent situation, such as long-term foster care placements;

Students related to each other by blood, marriage or co-habitation.

Acceptable proof of co-habitation shall be an affidavit signed by both cohabitants that the sibling of the enrolled student is living with the cohabitant at least 50% of the time or relevant court order describing same, or marriage license.