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Middle School Walden Week
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Walden Admissions & Lottery Policies & Procedures
Walden adheres to all regulatory policies and procedures as outlined in Utah State legislative code 53G-6-503 and in the School’s Student Enrollment and Transfer Policy governed by R277-471. The following enrollment procedures and policies have been accepted by the Walden School Board of Trustees.
Lottery Dates & Procedures
Walden is accepting applications for the 2024-2025 school year between October 1st, 2023 and February 8th, 2024. A lottery will be held on February 12th and offers of enrollment will be sent via email on or before February 16th, 2024. Students who are not accepted with the first lottery will be added to a waitlist. Applications received after February 8th will still be considered if space becomes available, but will be included in a secondary lottery. Typically, a few additional spaces open up over the summer.
Walden does not discriminate in its admission policies or practices. Eligible students who submit a timely application will be admitted to Walden unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or the school. If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, Walden will select students on a random basis (via lottery), except as provided in Utah State Rule 53G-5-503 which indicates that:
Walden may give enrollment preference to:
a child or grandchild of an individual who has actively participated in the development of the charter school;
a child or grandchild of a member of the charter school governing board;
a sibling of an individual who was previously or is presently enrolled in the charter school;
a child of an employee of the charter school;
a student who resides within up to a two-mile radius of the charter school and whose school of residence is at capacity
a child of a military service member as defined in Section 53B-8-102;
Historical Enrollment
Over the past decade, Walden has maintained an enrollment average of 400 students. Walden’s enrollment cap for the 2023-24 school year was 400 students, a cap that was reached as of September 8, 2023. As students transfer and positions open, Walden will draw new students through the lottery process. The number of students admitted at each grade level (K-12) ranges from between 30 and 36 students. With our multi-age classes, this allows us to maintain class sizes no larger than 28 students per class (although many classes are much smaller). Administration is given the discretion to draw more students in one grade over another if enrollment is low in a particular grade and there are no remaining students on the waitlist.
Eligibility
All students eligible to enroll in a Utah Public School may apply to Walden. However, students who are currently suspended and/or expelled from their school of residence, may or may not be accepted at Walden. When a student in this situation is drawn in the lottery, Walden will meet with the student and his or her parent(s)/guardian(s) to determine if Walden would be a good fit for that student. An expulsion for the reason of violent or bullying behavior typically excludes a student from participation at Walden.
If you feel that your student is in a persistently dangerous situation, or they have been a victim of a violent criminal offense at their current school, you may contact Walden with a letter explaining your situation. If our administration determines your situation qualifies under the Safe School Choice Option (ESEA Section 8532) and if space is available, your student will be eligible for immediate enrollment.
Procedures for transferring your student to Walden
Once your student has been accepted, you may call your previous school, as a courtesy, to let them know that you will be transferring your student to Walden. However, the Walden registrar will request your child’s records from the school and you are not obligated to have any contact with the school. By law, that school must provided student records in a timely fashion.
Procedures for transferring your student from Walden
Should you decide, at any time during the year, that Walden is not a good fit for you and your child, please feel free to withdraw your child from the school. Walden will notify your child’s home district immediately. To make this transition easier for you, your child, and the school, please follow the following procedures:
If at all possible, make transitions at a term break; this allows us to grant your student full credit for the term and will make beginning at a new school easier for your student. Students who transfer mid-term often have a difficult time transferring term grades and credit.
Please give Walden at least a one-week notice so that we can fill your child’s place with a student who is waiting to be admitted.
Please fill out this Transfer/Withdrawal Form. When a student simply stops coming without notice, Walden is unable to offer a space to a student who is waiting to be admitted.
When a student is new to a school, there is sometimes a rocky transition period and it is difficult to make a sound decision about a school until you child has had a chance to make new friends and become comfortable with the new people in his or her life. For this reason, we suggest that you do not transfer your child in the first few weeks of school, unless there is a compelling reason to do so.
Lottery Process
The Walden lottery process is simple and straightforward. As applications are received during the open enrollment period, student names are added to a list of applicants and are arranged by grade. If there is space available, siblings of currently admitted students are automatically accepted before the lottery process takes place. No distinction is made based on gender, ability, disability, or ethnicity.
On the day of the lottery, all names currently on the wait list are included in a pool, organized by grade. Names are drawn randomly, one grade at a time, until open positions are filled. To ensure fairness, the lottery cannot be conducted unless at least 3 school officials are present, including a school administrator and/or business official. Names are drawn by a disinterested third party who is not an employee of the school.
When a name is drawn and added to the list of accepted students, a school official checks to see if the accepted student has any sibling(s) in the applicant pool. If he/she does, and if there is space available in those particular grades, the sibling(s) are added to the list of accepted students. If there is no space available, the sibling(s) are added to a priority wait list and are admitted by sibling lottery once a space does become available.
