Discover pre-K in the City School District of Albany 2019-20 Prekindergarten Lottery Application The City School District of Albany offers high-quality, full-day prekindergarten in all nine of our neighborhood elementary schools, our three themed magnet schools, our bilingual Dual Language Program and at 18 community agencies. Life-long Prekindergarten classes are enrolled through a lottery designed to provide access for all children in Albany. To have the best chance of getting a seat in the program of your choice, you must enter your child in this lottery. This booklet includes an application for the lottery and other important information to help learning you decide on the program that is best for your child. Please see page 5 for a list of prekindergarten programs, their hours and whether they offer before- and after-school child care. To learn more about your options, we encourage you to contact begins the principal or director at the locations that interest you. A few words about prekindergarten Prekindergarten is more than simply a doorway into your child’s here. formal education experience. Research shows that high-quality prekindergarten increases a child’s chances of succeeding in school and in life. Children who attend high-quality pre-K programs are less likely to be held back, less likely to need special education and more likely to graduate from high school. In the City School District of Albany, we offer high-quality prekindergarten that is “developmentally appropriate,” meaning it respects the age and individual needs of each child. Our caring and responsive prekindergarten teachers work to create a welcoming environment for both parents and children that allows learning to flourish. Peer into a pre-K classroom and it may look like all fun and games. However, there’s an intense amount of brainwork going on. For example, your child’s building blocks and train tracks aren’t just entertaining – they’re teaching problem- solving and physics. This meaningful playing and learning takes place throughout the school day. Whether school-based or located at one of our community-based partners, all of our pre-K classrooms follow the same basic curriculum that provides a combination of both structure and flexibility. Structure takes the form of helping your child develop a routine and good learning habits. At the same time, your child is given the opportunity to investigate new things and make choices about the activities he or she wants to take part in. Finally, we recognize the role parents and guardians play as teachers and advocates before and after their children begin attending school. We look forward to working with you to give your child a solid foundation for school success! Board of Anne Savage, President • Vickie Smith, Vice President • Jennifer Lange, Secretary Education Damarise Alexander-Mann • Sridar Chittur, Ph.D. • Ellen Krejci • Tabetha Wilson Kaweeda G. Adams, Superintendent 2 How the prekindergarten lottery works All prekindergarten students are enrolled in a random lottery designed to provide access for all children in Albany. To have the best chance of getting a seat in the program of your choice, you must enter your child in the lottery. An independent national firm conducts the lottery to assure fairness and impartiality. The lottery will be held Wednesday, March 13 at 10 a.m. at Thomas O’Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST). You are welcome to attend to find out if your child has been awarded a seat. After the lottery, the district will send an official notification by mail and email to the addresses you provide on the application. District officials will be at the lottery drawing to answer any questions. Frequently asked questions Q: Will transportation be provided to prekindergarten? apply to your first choice, and only apply to school-based A: No. Families are responsible for transporting their child and themed programs. to and from prekindergarten. Q: What happens if I don’t get a seat at any of my Q: How are twins and other siblings handled in the choices and there are open seats at other sites? lottery? A: You will receive a waiting-list letter or a waiting-pool A: You can choose how you want the district to process letter depending on your first-choice program. That letter the lottery applications for two or more siblings (twins, will include a date that you can register for programs with triplets or children of different ages). Learn more about your available seats and no waiting. options on page 4 under the “sibling linking” heading. Q: Can I remain in the waiting pool for a magnet school Q: If one of my children gets a seat but the other and accept a seat in neighborhood or community- doesn’t, do I now have sibling preference? based prekindergarten program? A: It depends. If one child gets assigned to a magnet/ A: Yes. themed program, the other child will have sibling Q: Can I be in a waiting pool for more than one magnet preference in the waiting pool once you accept the seat for school? and register the first child. Your child will not have sibling A: Yes, but only if you have not been accepted into any preference if you applied to a neighborhood elementary prekindergarten program and two or more of your preferred school or community program and were assigned to a programs are at magnet schools. waiting list. There is no sibling preference for applications submitted after the deadline. (See page 4 to learn more Q: Can I be on a waiting list for more than one about sibling linking.) neighborhood or community-based prekindergarten program? Q: What are my chances of getting my first choice? A: No. A: Your chances of getting your first choice depend on a number of factors, including the number of available seats, Q: If my child is assigned a prekindergarten spot at sibling preference and neighborhood preference. Learn a particular elementary school, can he or she attend more about each on page 4. school there next year and beyond? Q: What are my chances of getting a neighborhood A: It depends. If your child is assigned a seat at a magnet preference or sibling preference school if I do not put it school, he or she can attend through fifth or sixth grade, as my first choice? depending on the school. Otherwise, children automatically are enrolled for kindergarten in their neighborhood school. A: Sibling preference and neighborhood preference only 3 Important information to consider as you rank your choices How you decide your choices likely will be affected by a prekindergarten program’s location, whether you have other school-age children, whether additional child care is offered and other personal preferences. However, certain additional factors go into play in the lottery that will influence your child’s eventual assignment. The names of prekindergarteners with a sibling preference (see below) are drawn first in the lottery. The names of those with neighborhood preference (see below) are drawn second in the lottery. All other names are drawn for remaining seats. section at albanyschools.org and Please visit the Prekindergarten page Sibling preference click on “Attendance Zones” in the at albanyschools.org to find out the A child with a brother or sister right sidebar.) number of seats available at each already in a neighborhood or magnet/ program for the upcoming year. themed elementary program will Prekindergarteners with neighborhood have a better chance of getting into a preference are drawn second in the Sibling linking prekindergarten class at that school. prekindergarten lottery. This is called “sibling preference.” You can choose how you want Neighborhood preference works only the district to process the lottery Prekindergarteners with sibling if your first-choice prekindergarten applications for two or more siblings preference are drawn first in the program is located in your (twins, triplets or children of different prekindergarten lottery. neighborhood school enrollment zone ages). This is known as “sibling or a half-mile from your home for a linking.” Sibling preference works only if your magnet elementary school. first-choice prekindergarten program is If you choose to link your children’s located at the elementary school your Number of applicants applications, they will go through the other child currently attends AND will lottery together. That means your attend in 2019-20. Sibling preference versus number of children either will be: will not apply if your child currently at seats the elementary school moves up to 1) Assigned to a school or program middle school in 2019-20. Some programs are in greater together; OR demand than others, meaning more There is no sibling preference for families apply to those programs. Also, 2) Not assigned to any school or community-based prekindergarten these limited seats often fill quickly program, which may happen if there programs. with students who have sibling or is not room for two or more children neighborhood preference (see above). there. This can affect your child’s chance Neighborhood of being assigned to your first-choice If you opt to not link your children’s preference program. applications, each will go through the lottery and be assigned individually. A child who lives within his or her Programs that historically have more neighborhood elementary school applicants than seats are at Albany In that case, it’s possible that your enrollment zone or within a half-mile School of Humanities (ASH), the children will not be assigned to the of a magnet/themed elementary Dual Language Program at Delaware same school or program. However, program will have a better chance Community School, the Albany Jewish you can accept a spot in the school or of getting into a prekindergarten Community Center, Montessori program one of your children gets into, class at that school.