RMSEL - Enrollment

Enrollment

Enrollment Policies and Procedures

A public school of choice, RMSEL is a vital partnership of five Denver area school districts—Aurora, Cherry Creek, Denver, Douglas County and Littleton—and a non-profit organization actively involved in the renewal of public education —the Public Education and Business Coalition. Expeditionary Learning captures the power of Outward Bound principles and research about best practices and combines them in the classroom to promote high academic achievement and character development.

Who Can Apply

Students entering Kindergarten through 11^th grade and who are residents of the Aurora, Cherry Creek, Denver, Douglas County or Littleton school districts are invited to apply. Twenty-four kindergarten positions are available. We do not accept students entering the 12^th grade. Positions in other grades become available when students currently attending the school elect not to return. For Fall enrollment, we anticipate some 6^th and 9^th grade positions; usually, a couple of positions open up in every grade. Students of any grade are not accepted after October 1^st for that school year. Students applying for the 5^th, 8^th or 10^th grades will be enrolled in the Fall contingent on a review of students’ academic work, families’ understanding of the portfolio process and willingness to take on the acceleration of portfolio development and completion.

How to Apply

Application 2011-2012.doc
Form Enrollment Teacher Information Gr 6-11(1).doc

Because of the complexity of the Intergovernmental Government Agreement among the districts, and in order to have a fair lottery process, RMSEL has developed the following enrollment policy.

Initial enrollment at RMSEL shall be determined by a lottery process which is described in the Lottery Enrollment Administrative Procedure. Some applicants are given priority in the lottery. This policy describes the order of preference for the enrollment lottery.

The following categories are in order of priority:

I. Staff - children of staff members will be enrolled with first preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

A.) If a staff member lives outside one of our member districts, the student will be open- enrolled into one of our sponsoring school districts.
B.) If a staff member terminates their employment at RMSEL, their students(s) will be allowed to remain enrolled in accordance with the out-of-district policy (see VII below).

II. Extended Leave- A student on leave of absence is one who is participating in an academically extraordinary opportunity for up to a year, with the intention of returning to RMSEL. A student whose proposal has been accepted and who has successfully completed the requirements for a student on leave, will be enrolled with next preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

III. Sibling - applications of students who have a sibling who is attending RMSEL and has been continuously enrolled from October 1^st of the previous year, will be enrolled with next preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

IV. BOCES - children of RMSEL’s BOCES Directors will be enrolled having next preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

V. Expeditionary Learning School students - applications of students who are currently attending another Expeditionary Learning School will be enrolled with next preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

A.) If a former RMSEL student re-applies and was in good standing upon leaving, they will be enrolled having first preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

VI. Alumni – children of a RMSELsenior graduate will be enrolled having next preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

VII. General - all other applicants will be enrolled having next preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

A.) When a new family has more than one child in the lottery and one of the children has been accepted, the remaining sibling(s) will be given next preference in accordance with grade and district availability.

VIII. Out-of-District - these applicants will be enrolled only if there are no other applications on file for that grade level from any of the member districts.

A.) Out-of-district students will be allowed enroll and continue to be enrolled only through their current school level. They must re-apply through the lottery process if they choose to continue their education beyond that school level at RMSEL. School levels are: Lower School (K through 5^th grades), Middle School (6^th through 8^th grades) and High School (9^th through 12^th grades).
B.) Sibling rule does not apply to out-of-district families.
C.) If a RMSEL family moves out of our sponsoring districts, the student(s) will be allowed to remain at RMSEL through their school level. They must re-apply via the lottery process of they choose to continue their education at RMSEL. School levels are: Lower School (K through 5^th grades), Middle School (6^th through 8^th grades) and High School (9^th through 12^th grades).
D.) Students who were enrolled under out-of-district status prior to the 2007-2008 school years will be allowed to continue at RMSEL, as long as they remain continuously enrolled and continue to satisfy the school’s requirements. If a student withdraws, A.), B.) and C.) of the out–of-district policy will apply.
E.) If a student is enrolled via the out-of-district status and is referred to the district under which he or she has open enrolled thought to attend RMSEL for expulsion, RMSEL will be responsible for the cost of the expulsion process and the cost of required educational services for the expulsion period.
F.) An appeal can be made to the Executive Director of RMSEL for review of the student’s status.

Grounds for Denial of Admission

Subject to the school's responsibilities under the Exceptional Children's Educational Act and applicable federal, state and local laws, the following will constitute ground for denial of admission to the school:

Failure to meet age requirement.
Having been expelled from any school district the preceding twelve months.
Having engaged in behavior in another school during the preceding twelve months that is detrimental to the welfare or safety of other students or of school personnel.
An applicant who is not a resident of one of our five sponsering disticts, unless otherwise entitled to attend, is not eligible for the initial lottery.
Failure to comply with the immunization provisions. (Families who choose not to immunize their children must sign an immunization waiver.)
Falsification of application or enrollment documents.
A determination by RMSEL's administration that the Expeditionary Learning model or the school's culture would not contribute to the applicant's success as a student or that the school is unable to meet the student's special needs. In this case, administration will advise the family of other options.
Failure to live in one of our member districts: Aurora, Cherry Creek, Denver, Douglas County or Littleton.

Open House

The first Thursday of each month that school is in session interested families are invited to attend an orientation session (about one hour) followed by up to 30 minutes of classroom observation.
The Open House begins at 8:30 am.

October 2, 2010
November 4, 2010
December 2, 2010
January 6, 2011
February 3, 2011
March 3, 2011
April 7, 2011
May 5, 2011 ( Last Open House for the year)

RMSEL School Calendar:
Click on the sidebar to see the calendars for 2010-2011.