SPENO: 2019-2020

New Orleans students can apply to enroll in any school in the city, regardless of where they live. Families must complete the online OneApp application in order to apply to most schools. They can list and rank up to eight schools on their application. Families will be assigned to a school through the process explained below.

1. After completing the OneApp application, each student is randomly assigned a lottery number. As long as it is completed on time, the date you complete your One- App application has no impact on the lottery number you receive or your chances of getting your top choice school.
2. Eligible students are then assigned a priority group for each school they have listed. Priority groups are based on the number of priority categories students meet and the weight of those priorities. There is one district-wide priority — closing school. Schools determine the other priorities and the weight of those priorities. See the next panel for more detailed information on school priorities.
3. A student’s school ranking, priority group, and lottery number are all used to assign a student to a school. First, students are ordered based on their priority groups. Second, students are ordered within each priority group based on their lottery number. Third, students are matched with the school they have ranked the highest that has space for them based on their priority group and lottery number.
4. If a student is provided a placement during the main round and they want to attend that school, they must register at the school or risk losing their seat. A student can accept the placement and participate in round 2 if they wish. If a student is not placed at a school during the main round, they can try to enter new preferences in round 2.
5. During round 2, NOLA-PS provides families with a list of schools with projected availability. Families select their schools and rank them, just as they did in the main round. If a family does not have a placement after round 2, the family can participate in open enrollment.

If a student gets placed at a selected school, it is partially determined by their priority group number.

School- and district-level priorities determine how students get assigned to priority groups. Priority groups are ordered based on the rank of each priority. The district-level priority — closing school priority — outweighs all school-level priorities. As a result, students with the closing school priority will be in priority group 1 at all schools. Schools then determine ranking order for their priorities.

Priorities can be stacked, but the weight of each priority takes precedent over stacked priorities.

For example, a school has some applicants with a closing school priority, some applicants with a sibling priority, and some applicants with sibling and geographic zone priorities. Students with closing school priority will be in priority group 1, followed by applicants with sibling and geographic zone priority in group 2, and applicants with only sibling priority in group 3.

Students are sorted within priority groups by their lottery number.

For example, if a school has five open seats and there are five students in priority group 1, only the students in priority group 1 will be assigned to the school. If a school has four open seats and there are five students in priority group 1, only the first four students will be assigned based on their lottery numbers.

District-level priority: Closing Schools

Students who attend a school that is scheduled to close by the end of that school year receive closing school priority. In order to qualify, students must be attending the closing school at the time of the application deadline. Also, this priority only applies to closing schools. School transformations, turnarounds, or phase-outs do not qualify.

School-level priority: Siblings

All schools give a priority to potential students with siblings at the school. Students receive a sibling priority if they have a sibling attending that school when they submit an application. The sibling must be scheduled to attend the school the following year for the sibling priority to take effect.

School-level priority: Geographic zone

Nearly all elementary and middle schools give a limited geographic priority. Students receive a geographic priority if the they live in a pre-designated area around the school. There are two geographic priorities: half-mile, for students living within a half-mile radius of the school, and zone, for students residing in the nearby zip code(s). The geographic zone priority is not provided to everyone who qualifies. Anywhere from 50-75% of students eligible for the priority will receive it depending on the school.

Some schools give priority to students previously enrolled in a feeder school. Feeder priority is only given in transition years (e.g. Kindergarten, 6th grade, 9th grade)