Lottery system (for sale, new house, transfer to)

[Golfer3]

Hello,

Can someone please explain the CMS lottery system to me. Does the lottery just apply to those that want to go to a magnet school or to another school in the district? If you move in July, can your child lose their place in your local school? I was reading about school placement and it happends really early in the year.

Thanks for your help!

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Golfer3

Hello,

Can someone please explain the CMS lottery system to me. Does the lottery just apply to those that want to go to a magnet school or to another school in the district? If you move in July, can your child lose their place in your local school? I was reading about school placement and it happends really early in the year.

Thanks for your help!

I do not believe you can ever lose your placement in your local, assigned school.

Yes, the magnet lottery usually takes place in late January or February (or at least it used to when my son went). And to get in the lottery you would have to be living here and have a viable address. So, if you don't come until next July, you will have to wait until the following January/February to put your child's name in the lottery. Once you move here and have an address your child will go to whichever neighborhood school your area is assigned to. I do believe you can apply for a transfer to another school of your choice, not necessarily a magnet, when you get here and just see if there are any vacancies. Which magnet are you most interested in?

[Golfer3]

Thanks for your reply. I'm actually not interested in a magnet school. I just wanted to make sure that if we close on a house in late July/August, my kids can still attend the neighborhood school when school starts a few weeks later. The whole lottery/redistricting thing scares me. I'm also worried in this market about how long it will take to sell our house even if we put it up for sale in April. We can't close on a new house until we sell the current house.

Thanks again...

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Golfer3

Thanks for your reply. I'm actually not interested in a magnet school. I just wanted to make sure that if we close on a house in late July/August, my kids can still attend the neighborhood school when school starts a few weeks later. The whole lottery/redistricting thing scares me. I'm also worried in this market about how long it will take to sell our house even if we put it up for sale in April. We can't close on a new house until we sell the current house.

Thanks again...

Oh, then you won't have any problems

What part of town are you interested in? Have you zeroed in on a particular school you want for your kids? Maybe I could make some neighborhood suggestions?