Application and Enrollment at Canyon Rim Academy
These updated guidelines are intended to explain the procedures that Canyon Rim Academy follows to handle applications from children interested in enrolling in the school, and what steps need to be taken by parents to have their children enrolled. Please review these guidelines carefully. If you have any questions regarding application and enrollment at Canyon Rim Academy, please send an email to lottery@canyonrimacademy.org, rather than contact the front office of the school. Note that these guidelines are for informational purposes only and may be modified at any time by the school.
Class Size
In its charter with the State of Utah, Canyon Rim Academy is authorized to receive state funding for a total of 525 students. This equates to 75 students per grade, kindergarten through sixth grade. The school attempts to place 18 to 20 students in each kindergarten class, and 25 students in each class in grades one through six. There are four kindergarten classes (two in the afternoon and two in the morning), and three classes in each of the other grades. While Canyon Rim Academy reserves the right to exceed the projected class size in any class in order to ensure that the school enrollment reaches the 525-student mark needed to secure the full allotment of state funding, we have been largely successful in maintaining our target class size.
Nondiscrimination Enrollment Policy
Canyon Rim Academy is a public school and is governed by the same no-fee and nondiscrimination policies that apply to other public schools in the State of Utah. Canyon Rim Academy does not discriminate in its enrollment of students on the basis of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, or disability.
Application and Enrollment by Lottery
As a public charter school, Canyon Rim Academy is required by state and federal law to conduct its application and enrollment procedures using a random lottery when the total applicants for a class or grade exceed the available student openings. Lottery enrollment enables charter schools to cap enrollment at the population size authorized by the charter with the State Board of Education. This is important because charter schools are unable to receive any per-student funding beyond their charter’s target enrollment, which at Canyon Rim Academy is 525 students.
Enrollment Preferences
In the order listed below, the following categories of prospective students receive an enrollment preference at Canyon Rim Academy, in accordance with law and the Canyon Rim Academy charter:
1. Students enrolled at Canyon Rim Academy for the previous year.
2. Siblings of students enrolled at Canyon Rim Academy.
3. Children of employees of Canyon Rim Academy.
Extra volunteer hours, service, special favors, donations, and the like are not accepted in exchange for any kind of enrollment preference.
All students enrolled at the school the previous year will be ensured a position at Canyon Rim Academy the following year. Siblings and employee children, however, are not ensured of enrollment. For example, if the number of sibling applicants exceeds the number of available positions for a given class or grade, then a lottery will be held from among those sibling applicants for that class or grade. The same rule applies for children of employees who have not previously been enrolled in the school.
Existing students and the siblings of those students need not participate in any of the application periods described below for the upcoming school year. Rather, they shall notify the school of their intent to enroll by filling out the intent to enroll forms distributed in January (as described below) and filling out necessary enrollment paperwork when directed by the school. If intent to enroll forms are not returned as directed, those students will risk their placement at CRA for the next year.
If any positions are available in a class or grade after granting the above enrollment preferences, then those positions shall be filled according to the lottery procedures detailed below.
Applying for Enrollment
Typically beginning in September or October, Canyon Rim Academy begins accepting applications to enroll for the following school year at an open house evening scheduled by the Board of Trustees and Administration. The school then conducts successive application periods that are typically one month in length. At present, Canyon Rim Academy does not accept online applications. You can pick up an application to enroll at Canyon Rim Academy by visiting the school during an application period, and need to deliver the completed application forms to the front office of the school during an application period.
Prospective students cannot enroll for the upcoming school year prior to the first application period, which is typically scheduled in September or October of the previous school year. Applicants cannot apply any earlier than the first application period. For example, we will not accept applications during any application period for students who will not be old enough under Utah law to commence kindergarten the following school year (age 5 by September 1st of the year kindergarten begins).
Lottery Procedures
An identification number will be printed on every application submitted to Canyon Rim Academy, and upon successfully filling out and submitting the application form, you will receive a receipt or copy of your application that includes your assigned identification number. You will be able to use this identification number to track the status of your application, so please keep track of your assigned identification number. The identification number will be the same for all of your children included on your application.
At the conclusion of each application period, the applications for each grade will be placed in a random lottery. The results of each lottery will be posted on the school website after the conclusion of the application period, generally around the first of the following month, by identifying applicants by application number. Note that lotterization occurs after every application period, so the later the application period, the less likely an applicant is to secure a position in the school.
To illustrate, assuming that there are three applicants for the fifth grade lottery in the first enrollment period, the results may appear as follows when posted on the website:
First Application Period (ending 9/22/09) – Fifth Grade Lottery Results:
1. 26487
2. 35486
3. 22857
At the conclusion of the next application period, assuming two more students apply, the results from the lottery will appear as follows when posted on the website:
Second Application Period (ending 10/31/09) – Fifth Grade Lottery Results:
4. 36452
5. 25634
Your ranking in the lottery results is your priority during the enrollment process from among other lotterized applicants, but may be superseded by those applicants who are entitled to an enrollment preference.
Depending on whether all available positions have been filled, this process of conducting application periods and conducting lotteries may continue into the actual school year. It is important that you monitor the lottery page of the website to determine the status of your application. To avoid an unnecessary administrative burden at the front office, we ask that you refrain from calling the front office for updates because updates will be posted on the lottery page. If at the conclusion of a lottery period you do not see your application number listed in the posted lottery results for that period, please send an email to lottery@canyonrimacademy.org.
Enrollment Procedures
Enrollment at Canyon Rim Academy begins in March of the previous school year. Since we need to ensure that positions are available for each enrolled student who chooses to return for the upcoming year, we must be careful not to fill any of those positions for the upcoming year from the lottery until we are notified that a particular student will not be returning. In January, we distribute to all students attending the school a letter of intent form that they can fill out to confirm (1) whether the student will attend the next school year; and (2) whether any siblings of the student will attend the next school year. Once we have heard back from all enrolled students, we can begin to estimate the number of openings for the next school year.
We start by filling kindergarten positions with siblings and employee children, based on the enrollment preferences referenced above. For the past two years, siblings and employee children have filled all but 20 to 30 available kindergarten positions. This number can vary year by year. Once we know how many kindergarten positions are available after the enrollment preferences are accounted for, we will take that number of kindergarten applicants from the kindergarten lottery results in the order of the random lotterization, and post on the lottery page of the website the application numbers of those applicants. Using the links on the lottery page, parents will have three business days from the date that their child’s application number is posted to print the enrollment packet from the website (a link will be included on the website when positions are announced) and deliver completed paperwork to the front office of the school. A prospective student’s enrollment is not complete until this paperwork is properly filled out and returned to the front office. This kindergarten enrollment process typically occurs in mid-March.
By the end of March, we follow a similar process for first through sixth grades. However, with a substantially higher number of returning students, there tend to be anywhere from no positions to perhaps ten positions available in each of these grades. Once your child’s application number is posted for an enrollment position, you need to print, complete, and submit required paperwork within three business days.
Each week additional applicants will be drawn from the lottery as needed to fill available positions. Once the tentative enrollment is filled and/or applicants exhausted, the enrollment process may cease until shortly before school starts and more definitive information regarding returning students is available. At that point, we may draw additional names if positions become available, and those applicants may be asked to submit enrollment paperwork in less than three business days. Please monitor the website in mid-August for these updates.
State law prohibits parents from enrolling students in multiple schools at the same time, so DO NOT submit an enrollment packet if you are enrolling your child in another school.
Website Updates with Enrollment Information
Note that you will not receive a phone call or email confirmation that an enrollment position is available for your child. You must monitor the website beginning in March to verify that your child’s application number has been drawn to fill an available enrollment position, and to ensure that you deliver filled-out application materials by the enrollment deadline. Detailed enrollment announcements, dates, and deadlines, will be posted in late February or early March, so please monitor the website at that time for enrollment information.
Questions?
Please direct any questions regarding enrollment to Shana Heyn.
Open Enrollment
Completion and submission of a lottery application does not guarantee admission to, or constitute enrollment in, Canyon Rim Academy. Your application is subject to approval and selection guidelines set forth by the Canyon Rim Academy School Board, which may include a lottery selection process. |
