Updated/Approved November 2022

Arco Iris enrollment process follows similar practices as other charter schools in the area. Please note we prioritize our enrollment by children of paid staff, returning students, in district siblings of current students, out of district siblings of current students, in-district residents, then out of district residents. Returning students do not need to re-enroll, but do need to confirm their attendance for the following year by returning the commitment letter for the following year before the Lottery Enrollment is held. 

STEP 1) If you are a new student, submit the “Open Enrollment Application” form during open enrollment time.  You will receive an email confirmation of our receipt of your application upon submission.

STEP 2) After Open Enrollment closes, Arco Iris will complete student placements. If a lottery is required, it will be open to the public. 

STEP 3) Those families admitted into the school at or before any lottery will need to come into Arco Iris to pick up a welcome packet. Please review and sign the forms within the packet and return it to the school. These forms must be returned to Arco Iris within 5 (five) CALENDAR DAYS, unless otherwise noted. If we do not receive your forms in completion, your child’s space will be vacated and offered to the next student on the waitlist. If you decide NOT to enroll your child at Arco Iris, we request that you notify the school as soon as possible so that we can fill that space with another student.

PLEASE NOTE: Each year the Arco Iris School Board (Board) will determine the number of phases of enrollment for the following school year and will set the deadline for each phase of enrollment. The Board may change such deadlines from time to time. The Board may approve any forms and changes in procedure as needed to govern the enrollment process and may change those from time to time as the Board determines what works best. The Board will set the times and place for conducting any required lottery, which will take place at a meeting open to the public.  If a second enrollment phase is implemented, those families who have applied and are on classroom waitlists will not need to reapply and will maintain their waitlist position.

Available spaces: Arco Iris will determine the number of available spaces for each classroom by evaluating maximum classroom enrollment size as well as returning students. The number of confirmed returning students will be subtracted from the number of students allowed per classroom, in order to calculate the maximum number of “new” students who can be admitted for each class.

• Lottery Priority BSD Boundary Map

1) Returning Students: Returning students have the highest priority for admittance for the following school year. Any student who has confirmed with the school that they do not intend to return for the following school year will thereby lose such right of priority; if the student later decides he or she desires to return, the student must submit a new application, and that application will be treated the same as any other “new” student application. 

All current Arco Iris students who have returned their letter of intent (and not revoked it subsequently)  will receive priority admission before any new students are added. 

2) New Students: All completed applications that have been received by the deadline(s) will be sorted into five groups and processed as follows:

   a) New students who are children of current paid staff will be given priority admission to the remaining spaces determined above, pursuant to a valid waiver from the State Board of Education. If there are more children of teachers than spaces available, a lottery will be conducted to determine which students are admitted for spaces available; those not admitted will, by lottery, be placed on at the top of the waiting list in the order selected.

  b) New students who are siblings of current students will have the next priority for admission. If there are more such applicants than there are spaces available, the applicants will be sorted into two subcategories: (a) siblings who are residents of the District; and (b) siblings who are nonresident students. A lottery will be conducted for subcategory (a) to determine which resident students are admitted for spaces available; those not admitted will, by lottery, be placed on a waiting list in the order selected and immediately following the last person on the waiting list under teacher’s children. Then a lottery will be conducted for subcategory (b) to determine which nonresident students are admitted for spaces available (if any); those not admitted will, by lottery, be placed on a waiting list in the order selected, following the last student on the waiting list selected for subcategory (a).

  c) New students who are residents of the district will have the next priority for admission. If there are more such applicants than there are spaces available, a lottery will be conducted to determine which are admitted; those not admitted will, by lottery, be placed on a waiting list in the order selected and immediately following the last person on the waiting list under siblings.

  d) New students who are non-resident students will have the next priority for admission. If there are more such applicants than there are spaces available, a lottery will be conducted to determine which are admitted; those not admitted will, by lottery, be placed on the waiting list in the order selected and immediately following the last person on the waiting list under district residents.

After the enrollment process is complete, including during the school year, additional students who apply will be added to the waiting list in the order the applications are received.

• Use of Waiting List

If, at any time, a student who has been enrolled declines to attend Arco Iris or if an attending student withdraws or is permanently expelled, Arco Iris may admit the next student on its waiting list. If the situation arises (after the final phase of enrollment has been completed or during the school year) where a space in a grade becomes available [for example, if a student leaves the school], but at that time either there is no waiting list or all students on the waiting list have already enrolled, Arco Iris may enroll the first student who applies for that available space. 

Placement of twins/multiples. Per the Oregon Department of Education, twins/multiples must be treated individually. Each student will be provided a unique lottery number, should a lottery be needed as part of enrollment.  Twins/multiples may not switch or otherwise swap their assigned lottery number, should a lottery be needed as part of enrollment.

• Family Notification

Families with a submitted enrollment application will be notified of enrollment status after the lottery. Enrollment status will either be a) ACCEPTED or b) WAITLISTED.

If your child is ACCEPTED, you will receive a welcome packet along with an ENROLLMENT APPLICATION and records transfer request. The enrollment application is your final step in the enrollment process. These forms need to be returned to Arco Iris within 5 (five) CALENDAR DAYS after the lottery through the end of July.  Starting August 1st families offered a position will have 2 (two) CALENDAR DAYS (when the school office is open) to confirm their intent to attend. If paperwork is not received by the stated deadline, your space will be forfeited to the next student on the waitlist.

If your child is WAITLISTED, you will receive your waitlist status via e-mail or in the mail. Waitlisted students will be notified as spaces become available.  Unless otherwise noted, families will have 5 calendar days to turn in paperwork for spaces offered before the following school year.  Starting August 1st, families offered a position will have 2 CALENDAR DAYS (when the school office is open) to confirm their intent to attend.  Arco Iris will attempt to notify families who are in the first position on the waitlist so that they may be sure to have correct contact information, potentially through multiple channels, on file. 

• The Lottery Process

When an application is received by our enrollment office, the student is placed in the lottery database. The lottery is conducted during the spring of each school year for the following school year enrollment. Applications received after this initial lottery process will be placed at the bottom of the lottery waiting list.

Students that apply during the lottery process, are sorted into the various categories and assigned a number. The charter school uses a computer randomizer to input all the data and generate a list. Only the available number of spots will be offered for enrollment. Everyone else will be placed on a waitlist.

Children who are not selected during the lottery process must apply annually in order to continue to be included in the lottery process.

• Definitions

“District” means the Beaverton School District.

“Nonresident students” means students and applicants who do not reside within the District. 

“Current student” means a student who was enrolled in Arco Iris on or before the end of the open enrollment period for the following school year and has not withdrawn before the last day of the current school year.  A student who enrolls at Arco Iris on or after the end of the open enrollment period of the following school year does not have the priority as a returning student, and such a student must apply to enroll for the following school year in the same manner as other new students.  The siblings of a current student who withdraws before the last day of the current school year does not have the priority under Section 3 (siblings of current students).

“Current school year” means the school year immediately before the following school year.  To illustrate, if students are applying to enroll for the 2024-25 school year, the 2023-24 school year would be the current school year.

“Following school year” means the school year for which the students are applying to be enrolled.