Families who have been waiting to make a high school decision until they know the status of the Commons Building now have that piece of information. But some are still unsure about what “choicing out” means if they want to choice back to their boundary school in the future.

 

Brian Eschbacher from DPS created these examples to clarify for high school students:

 

The only way that a Stapleton resident forfeits their right to a seat at Northfield is if they actually get in to another DPS school. Just putting a school #1 and being put on that waitlist does not forfeit your right to a seat at your boundary school.  And if a family gets a call from that waitlist school after choice occurs, they have the right to decline the seat.

 

Example A:

Family puts East #1, Northfield #2.  They are waitlisted at East.  They then get in to Northfield since they are guaranteed there.  If East calls the family in April and offers them a seat, the family can decline and will still attend Northfield.

 

Example B:

Family puts East #1, Northfield #2.  They get in to East.  They have now forfeited their seat at Northfield.  If the family changes their mind over the summer and no longer wants to go to East, they have already forfeited their seat at Northfield and now will have to go on the waitlist for Northfield.  The boundary has no bearing on the waitlist at this point, it’s first-come first-serve.

 

What happens the next year?

If a student is accepted at a school other than their neighborhood boundary school during the SchoolChoice Round 1 process, the new school becomes their school of record and the neighborhood boundary school seat is released. Should a family want to return to their neighborhood boundary school, they will need to fill out a SchoolChoice form for the first year they want to return. It is very important to note that though they are not guaranteed to return to their neighborhood boundary school, they do receive a priority as a neighborhood student.

Reestablishing neighborhood priority

Once elementary or middle school students reach the next new school entry point (middle or high school) they go back to having neighborhood priority.

 

What are the chances of getting into a non-boundary high school?

 

The odds of getting to a non-boundary school can be found using the SchoolMatch tool at http://schoolmatch.dpsk12.org/index.aspx

 

For example, enter 2015-16 as the year and 9^th grade, then click on a school and scroll down until you get to the section “How hard was it to get in to this school last year?” For East High School, there were 699 seats total, 403 for non-boundary students, and 556 students had East prioritized.  So the odds were pretty good you would get in.  403 of those students got in, 153 were on the waitlist.

 

Further questions? Call the Northeast Choice office at 720-423-7627.