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Massachusetts Charter Schools

Massachusetts Charter School Waitlist Initial Report for 2019-2020 (FY20)

As of March 15, 2019 (Posted May 2019)

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, 2019. This initial 2019-2020 waitlist report finds the following:

  • 73 out of 81 charter schools in the Commonwealth have waitlists1.

  • There are 53,668 entries on all waitlists, representing 27,743 unique students.

    • Of the 27,743 unique students, 1,718 students applied for admittance prior to March 20142; representing a decrease of 7,327 when compared to the number of pre-2014 applicants appearing on the 2016-2017 initial waitlist report3.

    • The remaining 26,025 unique students4 newly applied for admittance to at least one charter school for the 2019-2020 school year; representing a slight decrease of 554 students when compared to number of unique students who newly applied for the 2018-2019 school year.

    • Of the unique students, 19,201 students appear on a single waitlist and 8,542 students (30.7 percent) appear on more than one waitlist.


Figure 1. Unique Number of Students on Charter School Waitlists
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 2019-2020 School Year and were Waitlisted
119,2011,71817,555
22,70302,645
32,05202,041
49760975
57320732
65930592
78690868
82700271
91510151
1075074
1157057
1246046
1310010
14304
15201
16202
18101
Total27,7431,71826,025

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 for the upcoming school year. These regulations, however, allowed schools to keep students on their waitlists who submitted applications before March 31, 2014. As shown in the table below, 3 schools continue to include such students from prior years on their active waitlists.

Figure 2. Total Number of Applications Reported on Charter School Waitlists
School NameTypeTotal Number of Applicants Reported on Charter School WaitlistsWaitlist Status
Applicants Added to Waitlists Prior to March 31, 2014. Current Year Applicants (2019-2020) Added to Waitlists
Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public SchoolCommon wealth
(CW)
671 671
Academy Of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School*CW1,184 1,184
Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter SchoolCW667 667
Alma del Mar Charter SchoolCW703 703
Argosy Collegiate Charter SchoolCW243 243
Atlantis Charter School†CW49534461
Baystate Academy Charter Public SchoolCW214 214
Benjamin Banneker Charter Public SchoolCW431 431
Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public SchoolCW395 395
Bentley Academy Charter SchoolHorace Mann
(HM)
103 103
Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public SchoolCW41 41
Boston Collegiate Charter School*CW1,972 1,972
Boston Day and Evening Academy Charter SchoolHM103 103
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter SchoolHM450 450
Boston Preparatory Charter Public School*CW1,201 1,201
Boston Renaissance Charter Public School*CW2,107 2,107
Bridge Boston Charter SchoolCW378 378
Brooke Charter School*CW4,379 4,379
Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter SchoolCW364 364
Christa McAuliffe Charter Public SchoolCW274 274
Codman Academy Charter Public School*CW2,914 2,914
Collegiate Charter School of LowellCW288 288
Community Charter School of CambridgeCW22 22
Community Day Charter Public School - GatewayCW1,148 1,148
Community Day Charter Public School - ProspectCW1,159 1,159
Community Day Charter Public School - R Kingman WebsterCW1,140 1,140
Conservatory Lab Charter School*CW2,654 2,654
Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter SchoolHM204 204
Edward M Kennedy Academy for Health Careers (Horace Mann)HM1,039 1,039
Excel Academy Charter School*CW1,599 1,599
Four Rivers Charter Public SchoolCW88 88
Foxborough Regional Charter SchoolCW1,089 1,089
Francis W Parker Charter Essential SchoolCW214 214
Global Learning Charter Public SchoolCW302 302
Hampden Charter School of Science EastCW218 218
Hampden Charter School of Science WestCW147 147
Helen Y Davis Leadership Academy Charter Public School*CW200 200
Hill View Montessori Charter Public SchoolCW373 373
Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public SchoolCW256 256
Holyoke Community Charter SchoolCW182 182
Innovation Academy Charter SchoolCW404 404
KIPP Academy Boston Charter School*CW2,459 2,459
KIPP Academy Lynn Charter SchoolCW1,859 1,859
Lawrence Family Development Charter SchoolCW344 344
Libertas Academy Charter SchoolCW55 55
Lowell Community Charter Public SchoolCW308 308
Map Academy Charter SchoolCW41 41
Marblehead Community Charter Public SchoolCW82 82
Martha's Vineyard Charter SchoolCW26 26
Martin Luther King Jr Charter School of ExcellenceCW52 52
MATCH Charter Public School*CW3,866 3,866
Mystic Valley Regional Charter School†CW1,802876926
Neighborhood House Charter School*CW3,116 3,116
New Heights Charter School of BrocktonCW125 125
Old Sturbridge Academy Charter Public SchoolCW151 151
Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School Chelsea*CW193 193
Pioneer Charter School of ScienceCW1,387 1,387
Pioneer Charter School of Science II (PCSS-II)CW372 372
Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter SchoolCW208 208
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public SchoolCW273 273
Prospect Hill Academy Charter SchoolCW172 172
Rising Tide Charter Public SchoolCW260 260
River Valley Charter SchoolCW161 161
Roxbury Preparatory Charter School*CW331 331
Sabis International Charter School†CW1,212905307
Salem Academy Charter SchoolCW265 265
Seven Hills Charter Public SchoolCW251 251
Sizer School: A North Central Charter Essential SchoolCW58 58
South Shore Charter Public SchoolCW728 728
Springfield Preparatory Charter SchoolCW407 407
Sturgis Charter Public SchoolCW405 405
UP Academy Charter School of DorchesterHM306 306
Veritas Preparatory Charter SchoolCW378 378
Commonwealth (CW) Subtotal 51,4631,81549,648
Horace Mann (HM) Subtotal 2,20502,205
Grand Total 53,6681,81551,853

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

† These 3 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).

* These 14 schools utilized the Boston Charter School Application online application system.


This year's report continues to build on the additional support and technical assistance provided by the Department to the field over the past few years. The Department continues its efforts to increase the timeliness and accuracy of school waitlist reports. Each charter school is responsible for maintaining its own individual waitlist. To ensure uniformity, the Department created a waitlist collection template and required charter schools to use it to input waitlist data. This template embedded tools that automatically flagged duplicate records, which each school could then remove before submitting its waitlist. The template also embedded tools that flagged the waitlist for other inconsistencies, such as unrealistic dates of birth (e.g., 2/28/2019) and student age. In order to verify student information and address overall waitlist accuracy, the Department corrected any transcription errors or inconsistencies in submitted charter school 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 (and continued to remain on their waitlist) and each student who was removed from those waitlists. Finally, the Department continues to implement its matching process, which gets fine-tuned and updated to increase accuracy in 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 the updated demand for the current 2019-2020 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 numbers based on a March 15, 2019 data collection:

  1. the unique number of students on waitlists;
  2. the total number of pre-March 2014 applicants and applicants reported on charter school waitlists by March 15, 2019;
  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 unique number of students on waitlists by city/town and grade; and
  8. the total number of students on waitlists for each charter school by city/town by grade.

For more information on waitlist policy and procedures and the number of students found on previous cycles of charter school waitlists, see Charter School Technical Advisory 16-3: Enrollment Processes and FAQ's and Charter Schools Enrollemnt website. For further information regarding this report, please contact Brenton Stewart or the Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign at charterschools@doe.mass.edu .

Attachments



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 continues to work with schools (three remain) to identify the students who were placed on waitlists prior to March 31, 2014 and continue to be maintained on a waitlist. This additional information allows the Department to identify students who submitted applications for admittance in the current year.

3 The Department first collected, isolated, and reported school data for waitlists established prior to March 31, 2014 for the 2016-2017 Initial Waitlist Report.

4 Note: Out of 26,025 newly applying students in 2019-2020, 97 were added to new waitlists while still remaining on other school waitlists based on applications submitted prior to March 31, 2014.

Last Updated: May 8, 2019

 
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