Enrollment Applications for SY 2017-2018 are no longer available.

Applications deadline was at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, March 24, 2017. All applications received by the March 24th deadline will go into a public lottery system as more applications have been received than spaces available. The lottery will take place at IPCS on Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. Applicants do not need to be present.

There is no advantage to early submission of an application as ALL applications received by March 24th will be put into the lottery if more applications are submitted than open slots in the grade level for which you are seeking admission.

           INNOVATIONS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL ADMISSIONS POLICY SUMMARY

Thank you for your interest in our charter school. As a school of choice, prospective families will want to explore our website at www.ipcs.info to learn about Innovations' philosophy and instructional program. Information learned about the school will help parents understand the level of participation expected from parents and know if the Innovations' program meets their child's learning style and needs. The following summary outlines how children are admitted to our school. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to call our office at 331-3130.

Who Can Apply: Innovations has an open admission policy regarding all who wish to attend. It does not target any particular student population. It is intended that all students be admitted in compliance with state and federal mandates. The only eligibility requirement for all students is that families must agree to and support the Innovations' Student Code of Conduct.

Minimum Age Requirement: Innovations follows the Hawaii state guideline for entry age requirement for Kindergarten enrollment. Children entering kindergarten must be five (5) years old by July 31st of their entry year. Children who are younger may be developmentally unprepared to enter our program. Applications will not be considered for children who do not meet this age requirement.

Children seeking enrollment in 1st grade must meet the age requirement of having turned 6 years old by July 31st of their 1st grade year.

Volunteerism: Innovations is a school of choice open to all. Parents determine if Innovations will provide an appropriate learning environment for their child based on educational setting, expectations for students, and services available. Parents also must determine if they are willing to commit to parent participation expectations. Parent volunteers are valued at IPCS. Parent volunteers help IPCS meet the vision and goals of the school. There are many ways for parents to help. By submitting an application for your child, you are committing to active participation in the school through volunteerism.

Special Needs Applicants: The Department of Education has developed a policy regarding the enrollment of Special Education students in charter schools. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that students and their families are aware of the services available at the charter school. Students who have been identified as needing Special Education Services, have an IEP, and are selected in the lottery are offered enrollment after it is determined that Innovations can provide the services needed for that child. Parents will meet with the home school and IPCS teams to determine what services are needed for their child and what services IPCS can provide. SPED students at Innovations receive services from a Special Education teacher using an inclusion model (students are not pulled out of their
classroom for servicing; rather they receive services in the classroom in their regular setting.) If SPED services are required that IPCS cannot provide, the child's placement will be at his/her home school where services can be provided.

Lottery: If more students apply for admission than space allows, the school will admit students based on a public lottery system as required by federal mandate. A lottery is a random selection process by which applicants are admitted to the charter school.
Each completed application will be drawn in random order to fill the available open slots. Once the openings are filled, the subsequent applicants will be assigned a waitlist number. In the event that more than one child from a single family has applied to the same grade level (twins), one child will be placed in the lottery and one number will be assigned to both children.

Application and Lottery Dates / Notification of Results: Applications are accepted starting February 1 up to the deadline in March. The lottery will be held the first week in April at 9 a.m. Parents and applicants do not need to be present for the drawing. Students whose names are drawn in the lottery and space is available, will be offered enrollment on on the day of the lottery via phone call. Applicants drawn and no space is available will have their name added to a waitlist. These applicants will be notified via a letter.

Lottery Exemptions and Order: The only students exempt from the lottery are returning students and siblings of IPCS students or former IPCS students who apply on their entry year (Kindergarten) by the March deadline, and children whose parents or guardians are IPCS staff members.

The order in which openings are filled is as follows:

1. Returning students from current school year. 

2. Younger siblings of students/former students (entry year - Kindergarten)

    children of  IPCS staff, founders not to exceed 10% of the school’s student enrollment.

3. Children of IPCS Governing Board members (if space is available) not to exceed 10% of the school’s student enrollment.

 
4. Applicants on wait list from previous year’s lottery (if grade level has openings)

5. Applicants for school’s entry grade level. If more applicants apply than openings then move to step 6.

6. Ranking of lottery: All non-placed students shall be wait-listed in the order in which they are drawn in the lottery. The starting wait-listed number for each grade level that has a grandfathered waitlist (wait lists created through the 2012 lottery), will be determined by total number of existing wait-listed students for each of those grade levels. As of 2013 lottery, new applicants will be added to newly created waitlists and purged on October 15th. Applicants will be required to apply each year thereafter.

7. If after the April lottery there are spaces available and no wait-listed applicants, then from that time forth all students shall be admitted on a first-apply, first-offered basis.

Parents do not need to be present at the lottery to gain entry for their child. Children accepted for enrollment at the lottery or from the wait list are notified by telephone and/or in writing. If a family cannot be reached by phone and the letter is returned without forwarding information, the school will go to the next child on the list to offer enrollment.
Waitlists: Because there are few openings at IPCS, most applicants will go directly to a wait list. This wait list will be valid until October 15th, which is our enrollment cut-off date. As applicants are called and offered enrollment, your child’s name moves up on the list. Waitlists will be purged after the October 15th enrollment cut-off date. Applicants will need to reapply each year.

MULTIPLE SIBLING FAMILIES
IPCS believes it is important for siblings to attend the same school. It is our desire to keep families together. Our enrollment system is able to honor family enrollment if your child is selected for enrollment in kindergarten because in subsequent years, younger siblings applying for enrollment are given preference (see Lottery Exemptions and Order: # 2 above). Older siblings of kindergarten grade applicants enrolled are not offered automatic enrollment as all grades beyond kindergarten are full and may have an existing wait list. There are no openings. Older siblings of kindergarten applicants wishing to enroll need to submit their own application, go through the lottery if applications are available for the coming school year for the desired grade level Kindergarten grade applicants have a better chance for enrollment because it is the entry year for the school and no kindergarten grade wait list exists – consequently, openings are available. Non-discriminatory: Admission procedures comply with the Hawai’i charter school statutes: enrollment is open to all students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, ethnicity, mental
or other special needs.

DEADLINE DATES TO REMEMBER:
APPLICATIONS DUE MARCH 24, 2017 BY 3 P.M
ENROLLMENT LOTTERY APRIL 6, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. at IPCS