Innovations Public Charter School

ADMISSIONS

     Applications for SY 2024-2025 are no longer available.

Applications were available February 1st through March 18th at 3pm. Applications submitted prior to the 3pm deadline on March 18th at 3pm were included in the April 4, 2024 Enrollment Lottery and assigned a wait list number or offer of enrollment.

INNOVATIONS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL

ADMISSIONS POLICY SUMMARY

Thank you for your interest in our charter school. As a school of choice, prospective families will want to explore our website at www.ipcs.info to learn about Innovations' philosophy and instructional program. Information learned about the school will help parents understand the level of participation expected from parents and know if the Innovations' program meets their child's learning style and needs. The following summary outlines how children are admitted to our school. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to call our office at   331-3130.

Who Can Apply: Innovations has an open admission policy regarding all who wish to attend. It does not target any particular student population. It is intended that all students be admitted in compliance with state and federal mandates. The only eligibility requirement for all students is that families must agree to and support the Innovations' Student Code of Conduct.

Minimum Age Requirement: Innovations follows the Hawaii state guideline for entry age requirement for Kindergarten enrollment. Children entering kindergarten must be five (5) years old by July 31st of their entry year. Children who are younger may be developmentally unprepared to enter our program. Applications will not be considered for children who do not meet this age requirement.

Children seeking enrollment in 1st grade must meet the age requirement of having turned 6 years old by July 31st of their 1st grade year.

Volunteerism: Innovations is a school of choice open to all. Parents determine if Innovations will provide an appropriate learning environment for their child based on educational setting, expectations for students, and services available. Parents also must determine if they are willing to commit to parent participation expectations. Parent volunteers are valued at IPCS. Parent volunteers help IPCS meet the vision and goals of the school. There are many ways for parents to help. By submitting an application for your child, you are committing to active participation in the school through volunteerism.

Special Needs Applicants: The Department of Education has developed a policy regarding the enrollment of Special Education students in charter schools. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that students and their families are aware of the services available at the charter school. SPED students at Innovations receive services from a Special Education teacher using an inclusion model (students are not pulled out of their classroom for servicing; rather they receive services in the classroom in their regular setting.) If SPED services are required that IPCS cannot provide, the child's placement will be at his/her home school where services can be provided.

Lottery: If more students apply for admission than space allows, the school will admit students based on a public lottery system as required by federal mandate. A lottery is a random selection process by which applicants are admitted to the charter school.
Each completed application will be drawn in random order to fill the available open slots. Once the openings are filled, the subsequent applicants will be assigned a waitlist number. In the event that more than one child from a single family has applied to the same grade level (twins), one child will be placed in the lottery and one number will be assigned to both children.

Application and Lottery Dates / Notification of Results: Applications are accepted starting February 1 up to the deadline in March. A separate application for each child applying must be submitted by the March deadline to be included in the lottery.

The lottery will be held the first Thursday in April at 9 a.m. Parents and applicants do not need to be present for the drawing. Students whose names are drawn in the lottery and space is available, will be offered enrollment on the day of the lottery via phone call. Applicants drawn and no space is available will have their name added to a waitlist. These applicants will be notified of their child’s waitlist number via email confirmation to the email address listed on the child’s application.

Children accepted for enrollment at the lottery or from the wait list are notified by telephone and/or in writing via email. If a family does not respond within 48hrs, the school will go to the next child on the list to offer enrollment.

Lottery Exemptions and Order: The only students exempt from the lottery are returning students, siblings of currently enrolled IPCS students or former IPCS graduates who apply for Kindergarten by the March deadline, and children whose parents or legal guardians are IPCS staff members or eligible Governing Board members. The number of children of IPCS staff members and Governing Board members will not exceed 10% of the school’s student population.

Kindergarten openings are filled in the following order:

1. Children of IPCS staff, founders (not to exceed 10% of school’s student enrollment)

2. Children of Governing Board members (not to exceed 10% of school’s student enrollment)

3. Younger siblings of currently enrolled students enrolling in Kindergarten entry year

4. Siblings of former students who are entering their Kindergarten year

5. Lottery applicants. If more applicants apply than openings then move to step 6.

Ranking of lottery: All non-placed students shall be wait-listed in the order in which they are drawn in the lottery. Lottery waitlist will be purged on October 15th. Applicants will be required to apply each year.

The order in which openings are filled is as follows in Grades 1-8:

1. Returning students from current school year.

2. Children of IPCS staff, founders (not to exceed 10% of school’s student enrollment)

3. Children of Governing Board members (not to exceed 10% of school’s student enrollment)

4. Previously enrolled students who have been granted a waiver for return by the Governing Board

5. Siblings of currently enrolled students who sit on the “sibling waitlist”

6. Siblings of newly enrolled students who sit on the “sibling waitlist”

7. Lottery applicants. If more applicants apply than openings then move to step 9.

8. Ranking of lottery: All non-placed students shall be wait-listed in the order in which they are drawn in the lottery. Lottery waitlist will be purged on October 15th. Applicants will be required to apply each year.

If after the lottery date, there are spaces available and no wait-listed applicants, then from that time forth all students shall be admitted on a first-apply, first-offered basis.

Waitlists: Because there are few openings at IPCS, most applicants will go directly to a wait list. This wait list will be valid until October 15th, which is our enrollment cut-off date. As applicants are called and offered enrollment, your child’s name moves up on the list. Waitlists will be purged after the October 15th enrollment cut-off date. Applicants will need to reapply each year. Waitlists are not maintained on any web portal - they are all kept manually at the school. If you receive a notification to view your waitlist on an app or website - please be advised that it is not Innovations’ Public Charter School admissions.

MULTIPLE SIBLING FAMILIES  

IPCS believes it is important for siblings to attend the same school. It is our desire to keep families together. In an effort to keep families together, enrollment preference is offered to younger siblings of currently enrolled students for their Kindergarten year only.  Younger siblings who submit an application for enrollment by the March deadline of their Kindergarten application year are automatically enrolled in Kindergarten without entering the lottery (see Lottery Exemptions and Order:  # 4 above).

Older siblings of kindergarten enrolled students are not offered automatic enrollment as all grades beyond kindergarten may be full and/or may have an existing wait list. Older siblings of kindergarten applicants wishing to enroll need to submit their own application and go through the lottery.

Kindergarten grade applicants have a better chance for enrollment because it is the entry year for the school.

Non-discriminatory: Admission procedures comply with the Hawai’i charter school statutes: enrollment is open to all students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, ethnicity, mental or other special needs.