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Massachusetts Charter Schools

Massachusetts Charter School Waitlist Initial Report for 2016-2017 (FY17)

As of March 15, 2016 (Posted June 2016)

Each spring, charter schools send the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) the number of students enrolled for the upcoming school year as well as the number of students who were placed on the schools' waitlists through each school's initial lottery, which is typically held in February or March.

The information provided below reflects the number of students who applied to charter schools but did not gain admittance as of March 15, 2016. This initial 2016-2017 waitlist report finds the following:

  • 74 out of 78 charter schools in the Commonwealth have waitlists1.
  • there are 44,250 entries on all waitlists, representing 32,646 unique students. Of this student headcount, 23,601 unique students2 newly applied for admittance to at least one charter school for the 2016-17 school year; the remaining 9,045 unique students applied for admittance prior to March 2014.
  • 27,089 students appear on a single waitlist and 5,557 students (17 percent) appear on more than one waitlist.

Number of Waitlists a Student Appears On Unique (Unduplicated) Number of Students on Charter School Waitlist(s) Waitlist Status
Unique (Unduplicated) Number of Students who Applied for Admittance and Were Waitlisted Prior to March 31, 2014 Unique (Unduplicated) Number of Students who Applied for Admittance for the 2016-2017 School Year and were Waitlisted
127,0899,00818,081
22,926372,889
31,22101,221
45730573
53080308
62240224
71230123
897097
946046
1025025
11404
12606
13303
14101
Total32,6469,04523,601

In 2014, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted regulations requiring charter schools to refresh their waitlists every year, based on the most recent application cycle. These regulations, however, allowed schools to keep students on their waitlists who submitted applications before March 31, 2014. As shown in the table below, 12 schools continue to include such students from prior years on their active waitlists.


School NameTypeTotal Number of Applicants Reported on Charter School WaitlistsWaitlist Status
Applicants Added to Waitlists Prior to March 31, 2014. Current Year Applicants (2016-2017) Added to Waitlists
Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public SchoolCommonwealth (CW)563563
Academy Of the Pacific Rim Charter Public SchoolCW588588
Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter SchoolCW466466
Alma del Mar Charter SchoolCW484484
Argosy Collegiate Charter SchoolCW5050
Atlantis Charter School†CW41554361
Barnstable Community Horace Mann Charter Public SchoolHorace Mann (HM)4444
Baystate Academy Charter Public SchoolCW225225
Benjamin Banneker Charter Public SchoolCW351351
Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public SchoolCW417417
Bentley Academy Charter SchoolHM3131
Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public SchoolCW2727
Boston Collegiate Charter SchoolCW907907
Boston Day and Evening Academy Charter School†HM1163113
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter SchoolHM513513
Boston Preparatory Charter Public SchoolCW854854
Boston Renaissance Charter Public SchoolCW972972
Bridge Boston Charter School†CW1,7651,314451
Brooke Charter SchoolCW2,4142,414
Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter SchoolCW188188
Christa McAuliffe Charter Public SchoolCW129129
City on a Hill Charter Public School Circuit StreetCW472472
City on a Hill Charter Public School Dudley SquareCW447447
Codman Academy Charter Public SchoolCW1,7021,702
Community Charter School of CambridgeCW261261
Community Day Charter Public School - GatewayCW492492
Community Day Charter Public School - ProspectCW575575
Community Day Charter Public School - R Kingman WebsterCW503503
Conservatory Lab Charter SchoolCW590590
Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter SchoolHM761761
Edward M Kennedy Academy for Health Careers (Horace Mann)HM506506
Excel Academy Charter SchoolCW609609
Four Rivers Charter Public SchoolCW8686
Foxborough Regional Charter School†CW2,5752,024551
Francis W Parker Charter Essential SchoolCW204204
Global Learning Charter Public SchoolCW372372
Hampden Charter School of ScienceCW650650
Helen Y Davis Leadership Academy Charter Public SchoolCW8787
Hill View Montessori Charter Public SchoolCW128128
Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public SchoolCW274274
Holyoke Community Charter School†CW584298286
Innovation Academy Charter School†CW31181230
KIPP Academy Boston Charter SchoolCW655655
KIPP Academy Lynn Charter SchoolCW1,0281,028
Lawrence Family Development Charter School†CW578372206
Lowell Collegiate Charter SchoolCW1717
Lowell Community Charter Public SchoolCW312312
Marblehead Community Charter Public SchoolCW190190
Martha's Vineyard Charter SchoolCW2222
Martin Luther King Jr Charter School of Excellence†CW1577285
MATCH Charter Public SchoolCW1,9491,949
Mystic Valley Regional Charter School†CW3,6432,5671,076
Neighborhood House Charter SchoolCW1,0061,006
New Heights Charter School of BrocktonCW229229
Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter SchoolCW88
Pioneer Charter School of ScienceCW579579
Pioneer Charter School of Science II (PCSS-II)CW306306
Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter SchoolCW116116
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School†CW34332311
Prospect Hill Academy Charter SchoolCW666666
Rising Tide Charter Public SchoolCW351351
River Valley Charter School†CW637484153
Roxbury Preparatory Charter SchoolCW682682
Sabis International Charter School†CW2,7752,399376
Salem Academy Charter SchoolCW245245
Seven Hills Charter Public SchoolCW348348
Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter SchoolHM102102
Sizer School: A North Central Charter Essential SchoolCW2121
South Shore Charter Public SchoolCW965965
Springfield Preparatory Charter SchoolCW156156
Sturgis Charter Public SchoolCW619619
UP Academy Charter School of BostonHM101101
UP Academy Charter School of DorchesterHM1,4631,463
Veritas Preparatory Charter SchoolCW273273
Commonwealth (CW) Subtotal 40,6139,69730,916
Horace Mann (HM) Subtotal 3,63733,634
Grand Total 44,2509,70034,550

Please note that the total number figure represents every student record found on each charter school's submitted waitlist.

†These 12 schools have indicated to the Department that they included waitlist information established prior to March 31, 2014 in accordance with 603 CMR 1.05(10)(a).

The year's report is the byproduct of additional Department support and technical assistance to the field, reflecting the Department's ongoing effort to increase the timeliness and accuracy of school waitlist reports. Each charter school is responsible for maintaining its own individual waitlist. To ensure uniformity, DESE created a waitlist collection template and required charter schools to use it to input their waitlist data. This template embedded tools that automatically flagged duplicate records, which each school could then remove before submitting its waitlist. In order to verify student information and address overall waitlist accuracy, the Department checked each charter school waitlist for transcription errors and inconsistencies. The schools then had to address any concerns or errors identified and resubmit their waitlists. Additionally, charter schools that self-identified as including waitlists established prior to March 31, 2014, as permitted by 603 CMR 1.05(10)(a), were required to identify each individual student who was included in those waitlists. Finally, the Department implemented changes to its matching process in order to increase accuracy for identifying students who applied for admission to more than one charter school.

The Department has made significant improvements over the years in quantifying the exact number of students who may be actively waiting for admission to a charter school. The unique waitlist counts provided in this current report should be taken as the Department's best understanding and representation of initial demand for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year rather than exact numbers of students willing to accept offers at each school.

The Department thanks all of the charter school administrators and staff who worked diligently to report their waitlists as accurately and as promptly as possible.

The appendix to this report can be found in the attached Excel file, which contains:

  1. the unique numbers of students on waitlists;
  2. the total number of pre-March 2014 applicants and current year applicants reported on charter school waitlists;
  3. the unique number of students on waitlists by grade;
  4. the unique number of students on waitlists by city/town;
  5. the total number of students on waitlists for each charter school by grade (with backfilling overlay);
  6. the total number of students on waitlists, by grade, for each charter school that includes pre-March 2014 applicants on their waitlist;
  7. the total number of students on waitlists for each charter school by city/town;
  8. the total number of students on waitlists for each city/town by charter school;
  9. the unique number of students on waitlists by city/town and grade;
  10. the total number of students on waitlists for each charter school by city/town by grade; and
  11. the total number of students on waitlists for each city/town by grade by charter school.

For more information on waitlist policy and procedures and the number of students found on previous cycles of charter school waitlists, see Charter Schools Enrollemnt website. For further information regarding this report, please contact Brenton Stewart or the Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign .

Attachment



1 The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted changes to the charter school regulations in March 2014 (see 603 CMR 1.05(10)(a)), which has affected how charter schools collect waitlist data. Under the amended regulations, charter schools maintain waitlists only for the school year for which students applied (i.e., carrying over student names from enrollment lotteries from one year to another is no longer permitted). However, charter schools were allowed to maintain any waitlists that were established prior to March 31, 2014 until such waitlists are exhausted, provided that such maintenance is clearly articulated in the school's enrollment policy approved by the Department.

2 The Department has worked with schools to identify the students who were placed on waitlists prior to March 31, 2014. This additional information now allows the Department to identify, for the first time, students who submitted applications for admittance in the current year. Note: Out of 23,601 newly applying students in 2016-17, 613 were added to new waitlists while still remaining on other school waitlists based on applications submitted prior to March 31, 2014.

Last Updated: February 6, 2019

 
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