Waitlist Policy

Purpose

The purpose of the Application and waitlist Policy for Parker Core Knowledge is to ensure a fair and equitable opportunity for families to become a part of our school. The guidelines for the policy below are to create a uniform opportunity for each student and family to become a member of our community.

Application Process
Students will be considered for enrollment at Parker Core Knowledge (PCK) on a first-come, first-served basis without regard to any class or status protected under federal or state law. All parents interested in enrolling their children at PCK must join our waitlist by submitting an application online. The parent is responsible for ensuring his or her contact information (phone number, email address, and mailing address) is current at all times. If PCK is not able to reach a parent using the contact information on record, the student may be removed from the PCK waitlist. The date that a completed application is submitted to PCK will be used to create a student’s position on the waitlist. 

PCK Waitlist
PCK maintains a waitlist for enrollment to ensure students are admitted in accordance with the School Charter. All prospective students are required to submit an application and will be placed on our PCK waitlist. All applicants remain on the waitlist until the parent accepts or declines an offer of enrollment, withdraws the application, or the school is unable to reach the parent by email, phone call, or text message. 

One Application per Child
A child may not occupy more than one spot on the waitlist. School age children are placed on their current grade level waitlist at the time of the application. Younger children are placed on the appropriate “future kindergarten” waitlist as determined by their birthday. A student must be five years old on October 1st of his or her kindergarten year, and applications will not be accepted for unborn children. 

Non-District Residency
Enrollment at PCK shall be open to any child who resides within the Douglas County School District (DCSD) at the time a seat at PCK is offered, and, if space permits, to any child who resides outside the school district, subject to compliance with Colorado public school of choice status, DCSD policy, and PCK’s contract with DCSD. When PCK has more applicants than it has space, preference will be given to students who reside within the school district boundary. Students shall be selected from PCK’s waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis, in accordance with a student’s position on the waitlist, with priority given to district residents. If a non-district student is accepted for enrollment, this student may enroll for subsequent years until completing his or her schooling at PCK.

Position On Waitlist
A child’s position on the waitlist is determined by the date and time the application is submitted through our online enrollment system. Positions on the waitlist may fluctuate based on retentions/advancements, and enrollment of children of staff members, siblings, and children of PCK alumni. PCK gives waitlist priority based on the following circumstances: 

1. Retention and/or advancement of currently enrolled PCK students

2. Children of full-time staff members at Parker Core Knowledge

3. Siblings of currently enrolled students at the time of registration (see definition of “currently enrolled students”) in order of family’s initial student start date, then by the sibling’s application date. 

Sibling Defined:

• The intention of assigning sibling status to a student on the PCK waitlist is to create a pathway that will allow all members of an enrolled student’s primary household to attend the same school.

• For the purposes of assigning ‘sibling status’ to a student on the PCK waitlist, the student in question must reside at least 50% of the school week (Monday through Friday) in the same household with the initial brother or sister currently enrolled at PCK, and meet one of the following criteria:

  • Be a full biological brother or sister, sharing the same two biological parents,

  • Or be a half-sibling of the initial student who is a currently enrolled PCK student,

  • Or be a step-sibling of the initial student who is a currently enrolled PCK student,

  • Or be legally recognized as a sibling of the initial student because the guardian of both the initial student and the student on the waitlist has permanent custody, with full parental rights. 

• The initial student is the first student in the family to enroll at PCK through the normal waitlist process, or through the Junior Kindergarten lottery. 

• In the event of an unclear situation, the assignment of sibling status shall be entrusted to the discretion of the School Director based on knowledge and information available to the Director at the time.

Currently Enrolled Students Defined:

• Students currently enrolled and attending PCK.

• Students who are enrolled but may not have started school at PCK yet (for example, incoming kindergarteners for the following school year). 

• The original child must attend PCK for the entire 1st semester of the school year in order for the other sibling(s) to remain enrolled under the sibling status priority, with the exception of siblings who graduated from 8th grade the prior year.

4. Any student whose parent is an alumni of Parker Core Knowledge. An alumni shall be defined as having graduated from either 6th or 8th grade at Parker Core Knowledge. Verification of enrollment and graduation shall be confirmed through records held at PCK including Infinite Campus, Cumulative Folders, Yearbooks, etc. A parent shall be defined as a child’s legal guardian with educational rights for that child. Alumni status will be granted to those families living within Douglas County at the time of enrollment. 

Kindergarten Lottery

All but 18 spots in our kindergarten class are filled from our waitlist. However, students enrolled in the PCK Junior Kindergarten program may be eligible to participate in a lottery for one of 18 spots on the fall kindergarten roster. Eligible students must be Douglas County residents enrolled in the PCK Junior Kindergarten program for the entire school year. Participation in the lottery process is voluntary and students must be on the PCK waitlist to participate. If a child receives a spot in kindergarten via the Junior Kindergarten lottery, he or she must complete the remainder of the year in the PCK Junior Kindergarten program or forfeit his or her spot in the next school year’s kindergarten class. Any of the lottery spots forfeited after the kindergarten roster is complete will be filled according to the PCK waitlist policy. Additional information regarding the Junior Kindergarten lottery may be found on the PCK Preschool website. 

Enrollment Offer And Decision

PCK will extend offers of enrollment by email and/or text, based on preferences designated by the applicant. Parents have 48 hours to accept or decline enrollment offers via our online system. 

• Accept offer of enrollment: Parents must accept the enrollment offer within 48 hours via our online system. After accepting the offer, parents must complete all registration paperwork and may be required to pay a deposit. The student will begin attending PCK immediately. For enrollment offers extended after January 1st, parents will be given the option to enroll the student immediately or wait until the beginning of the next school year (August).

• Decline offer of enrollment: Parents wishing to decline the enrollment offer must do so within 48 hours via our online system, thus removing the student from our waitlist. In order to be placed on the waitlist again, a new application must be submitted and the student will be added to the waitlist according to the new application date.

• No response to offer of enrollment: After 48 hours, the enrollment offer will be rescinded and the student will be removed from the PCK waitlist. 

Additional Enrollment Requirements

District Open Enrollment Policy
Once a student enrolls in any school (including PCK), that becomes his or her assigned school. If the student decides to enroll in a different school, including his or her neighborhood school, the student must apply for open enrollment during the designated enrollment window. This includes middle school.

There is no automatic acceptance of a student back into a neighborhood school once he or she has enrolled elsewhere, except when the student starts high school. It is the responsibility of the parent to ensure students are eligible to begin enrollment in another school. 

Withdrawal From PCK
If a parent withdraws his or her enrolled student from PCK and later decides to reapply, he or she must complete a new application. The student’s position on the waitlist will be determined by the new application date. If the student who is reapplying has a sibling currently attending PCK, the student’s position on the sibling priority list is based on the reapplying student’s new application date.

Parents Sharing Custody

If parents share the educational rights of a child in a 50-50 scenario, both parents must agree on the student attending PCK. At the time of enrollment, both parents must agree to the signing of the PCK enrollment documents, otherwise, a student’s offer of enrollment will be withdrawn. 

Kindergarten Placement and Deferment

As stated in the PCK waitlist section above, students must be placed on the waitlist for the school year in which they will be 5 before October 1st of that school year. Failure to enroll a child on the appropriate waitlist will result in forfeiting the child’s placement on any waitlist. 

Any parent appeal regarding changing waitlist years will be considered only after the child has accepted a placement in the appropriate kindergarten class. These appeals will be handled in the school year prior to the child’s age-appropriate kindergarten year and will be based on collected student data and an adaptation of Light’s Retention Scale.

Request For Exception
Parents of former students may submit a request for an exception to this Section 6.02 to the Director. The Director may, at his or her discretion, bring such requests to the Board of Directors for approval. The Board of Directors may approve such requests by majority vote.