Enrollment

Any student in the State of California is eligible to attend Ocean Charter School. There are no entrance tests or requirements. Enrollment for all grades at Ocean Charter School is by random, public lottery.

*ENROLLMENT INFORMATION UPDATED AS OF JANUARY 1, 2012*

Please see the revised Kindergarten Eligibility Cut-offs below

For easy to read, step by step instructions on how to apply to Ocean Charter School, please click here to download our Guide to Enrollment.

OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR 2012-2013 SCHOOL YEAR

Currently, OCS serves its students at two locations. Our South Campus, serving grades K-3, is at 12606 Culver Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066. Our North Campus, located at 13151 Appleton Way, Los Angeles, CA 90066 is the home of our grades 4-8^th. Applications eligible for the enrollment lottery will be available in our offices beginning December 1, 2011 and at all of our enrollment events, scheduled in January and February. (See schedule below.) Applications may be returned to our office staff at these events, to our school offices or at our Application Submission Day on January 25, 2012 from 2pm to 5:30pm at our North Campus. DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS ELIGIBLE FOR THE 2012-2013 ENROLLMENT LOTTERY IS FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012 BY 3PM.

To help prospective parents learn more about Ocean Charter School we invite the public to attend an informational enrollment event.

Parent Information Meetings are offered at both campuses during December and January. There will be a presentation by our administrators that reviews our school's curriculum, philosophy and history. It will also include an opportunity to visit our classrooms.

Parent Information Meeting Dates

Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011 - Daytime Parent Information Meeting and Classroom Tour 8:30am-10:30am at our SOUTH CAMPUS, 12606 Culver Blvd., LA, 90066

Tues., Jan. 10, 2012 - Daytime Parent Information Meeting and Classroom Tour 8:30am-10:30am at our SOUTH CAMPUS, 12606 Culver Blvd., LA, 90066

Wed., Jan. 11, 2012 - Daytime Parent Information Meeting and Classroom Tour 8:45am-10:30am at our NORTH CAMPUS, 13151 Appleton Way, LA, 90066

Tues., Jan. 24, 2012- Evening Parent Information Meeting and Classroom Tour 6:30pm-8:30pm at our SOUTH CAMPUS, 12606 Culver Blvd., LA, 90066

Wed., Jan. 25, 2012 - Evening Parent Information Meeting and Classroom Tour 6:30pm-8:30pm at our NORTH CAMPUS, 13151 Appleton Way, LA, 90066

These meetings will be the only scheduled meetings and tours of this year. Private tours cannot be accommodated.

KINDERGARTEN ONLY: Ocean Charter has a two-year, play-based, mixed-age Kindergarten program. Because of the State-mandated cutoff (students must be five years old on or before December 2^nd of the year they start Kindergarten) and Ocean Charter's first grade cutoff (students must be six years old before June 1^st of the year in which they start first grade), not every child will enjoy two years of Kindergarten. In order to make the application process as fair as possible, kinder applicants born between December 3^rd and May 31^st will be offered placement 18 months in advance of enrollment.

Birthday ranges for Ocean Charter School Kindergarten, 2012-2013 are:

6/1/2006 - 5/31/2007: "K1" (attend one year of kindergarten) for 2012-2013

6/1/2007 - 12/2/2007 "K2" (attend two years of kindergarten) for 2012-2013

12/3/2007 - 5/31/2008: "K3" (18 months in advance, attend one year of kindergarten) for 2013-2014*

* 2012-13 K3 Applicants: You may participate in the Lottery 18 months in advance to determine placement for Fall of 2013. Your child will be identified as "K3" for the 2012-2013 school year. Siblings of K3 pre-enrolled students are not eligible for the sibling preference until the first day of the K3 students attendance and Ocean Charter School. Any questions regarding Ocean Charter Enrollment may be directed to ocsenrollment@gmail.com, or you may call the school office at 310-313-1230 or 310-827-5511.

OCS Admission Policy: Ocean Charter School is nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations, and shall not charge tuition. Ocean Charter School shall not discriminate against any pupil on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid, nor discriminate against any person based upon the perception that the person has any of those characteristics or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics. Ocean Charter School will admit any student in the state of California who wishes to attend. Admission to Ocean Charter School shall not be determined according to the place of residence of the pupil, or of his or her parent or guardian, within this state. Ocean Charter School will not enroll pupils over 19 years of age unless continuously enrolled in a public school and making satisfactory progress toward high school diploma requirements.

Ocean Charter School will actively recruit a diverse student population. Open Enrollment, admission requirements, and lottery information are posted physically on campus in a publicly accessible location, on the school's website and announced via the Yahoo email groups. Ocean Charter School will continue to inform the community, including schools identified as Title I and/or Program Improvement, about our educational philosophy. This will be done by several methods, including but not limited to: distributing informational, multi-lingual brochures to local preschool and elementary schools as well as submitting Open Enrollment announcements to local newspapers.

Admission Requirements

In keeping with our goal to provide a developmentally appropriate arts-integrated education, OCS maintains the following age requirements. The minimum age of children applying to the school will be: § Kindergarten: age 5 on or before December 2 of the year they enter Kindergarten. § First Grade: age 6 before June 1 of the year they enter first grade. The First Grade age policy continues in this manner through all grades. This requirement helps ensure school readiness specific to the OCS, Waldorf informed, Whole Child Curriculum and is consistent with non-discrimination statutes. Upon admission to Ocean Charter School, parents are asked to read the OCS Parent Handbook to become familiar with school policies and gain understanding of our OCS, Waldorf informed, Whole Child Curriculum. Ocean Charter School requests: § Active support of the school through volunteering time and/or other resources. § Commitment to provide a home environment that is conducive to learning. In particular, this means agreeing to limit children's exposure to electronic media influences such as television, movies, video games, etc. § Adherence to the OCS dress code. § The willingness of the parent to gain understanding of our OCS, Waldorf informed, Whole Child Curriculum to support their child's education in the home.

Enrollment Lottery Process

If the number of pupils who wish to attend the charter school exceeds the school's capacity, attendance, except for existing pupils of the charter school, shall be determined by a public random drawing. Lottery rules, deadline, and lottery date and time are communicated via the Ocean Charter School website, the Yahoo email group and the Enrollment application.

The Ocean Charter School Director and at least one other school employee conduct the Enrollment lottery as a public event to ensure that lottery procedures are fairly executed. Procedures include announcing each applicant's name and lottery number, recording this information and entering it in the school's database.

Ocean Charter School's Open Enrollment period and lottery typically occur in Winter of the year of enrollment, when most interested parties will be able to attend. The lottery takes place on campus. The lottery is open to the public and announced on the Ocean Charter School website, the Yahoo email group and the Enrollment application.

The following shall be given preference for admission to the school: children of school faculty and staff, siblings of students currently enrolled in the school, children of OCS Board of Trustees, students eligible for the National School Lunch Program and LAUSD residents. Siblings are defined as any two students who share a legal parent/guardian. (Legal documentation is required.) The OCS Board of Trustees may review and revise this preference policy as necessary for the well-being of the school.

The random public lottery determines applicants' waitlist status. Those who apply after the lottery deadline are added to the end of the lottery waitlist in the order they are received. Offers for openings are made in waitlist number order until the spots are filled or the waitlist is exhausted.

Initial rounds of offers are made by mail, while any subsequent offers are made through contacting applicants by phone. When an offer is made, Ocean Charter School requires that applicants notify the school within 2 days to indicate whether or not they will accept; if offers are declined or applicants do not respond, the spot is then offered to the next applicant on the waitlist. The waitlist for the current school year remains active until Ocean Carter School's Open Enrollment period commences. Applications are only valid for the current year. Applicants must reapply for the lottery annually if we are unable to offer them admission for the current year.

The Ocean Charter School administration records all dates and dialogue regarding enrollment activity for each applicant within the database. The manual record of all lottery participants and their assigned lottery numbers is also physically filed on campus. Each applicant's enrollment application is kept on file for the academic year with his or her assigned lottery number in the school database and on his or her enrollment application.