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JTSD Lottery Information and Guidelines

 

 

2024 Enrollment Request Process for the John Thomas School of Discovery

  • Beginning on Monday, February 5, 2024 and ending on Friday, February 16, 2024, the Enrollment Request Process will begin for those desiring to be a part of John Thomas School of Discovery.  The form will be filled out by a family and the family will list which students they would like to have entered into the lottery for admittance into JTSD.
  • In order to be considered "family," the children being submitted into the lottery by a parent/guardian must be the legal parent/guardian of the child at the time of the lottery.
  • Since the lottery process (described below) is based on family, there is no advantage to listing more students on the form than those that would like to attend.  We ask that when filling out the form, parents list only those students whom they would like to be a part of JTSD.  Please note:  you are drawn out by family, but spots are not filled by family.  Once the students are drawn and placed on waiting lists, the lottery has ended.
  • Spots are filled by the order you are placed on the waiting list on an one-by-one basis.  One child getting a spot does not mean the other siblings get preference, unless listed in the guidelines/procedures below.
  • In the event there is a shared custody situation, the child(ren) should only be listed on one parent's Enrollment Request Form. Please discuss which parent will be submitting a child's name prior to completing the Enrollment Request Form.
  • Once a student is placed on a waiting list, the lottery process ends and spots at the school are filled in the order the students are placed on the waiting list.  Spots are filled individually and there is no impact to a sibling receiving a spot.

 

IMPORTANT:

Due to the large number of students on the waiting list, the following procedures are in place.

  1. JTSD’s lottery will be open each year to kindergarten or 1st grade students.  
  2. The lottery for grades 2nd-6th grade will be open when there is below 30 students on the waiting list or at the discretion of administration.  The following additional grades will be open in the 2024 lottery: 
    1. Kindergarten
    2. 1st Grade
    3. 2nd Grade
    4. 3rd Grade
    5. 4th Grade
    6. 5th Grade
    7. 6th Grade

Current Waiting List Numbers (Updated December 2023).  Grades listed are grades students will be in for 2024-25

  • Kindergarten: N/A until lottery happens
  • 1st Grade: 55
  • 2nd Grade: 45
  • 3rd Grade: 23
  • 4th Grade: 23
  • 5th Grade: 20
  • 6th Grade: 16

 

Timeline of Events

  • February 5-16, 2024:  The lottery will take place for the 2024-2025 school year.  Please note the lottery is only for those that have NOT entered it before.  If you entered it in previous years, your child is on a waiting list.  However, if you declined an opening, you will have to begin the process again.  After you complete the registration process for the lottery, you will receive a confirmation message on your screen with the option to receive an email.  We recommend you also print or download a copy in case email does not work.  If you don't receive a verification, please contact Zac Rantz at zacrantz@nixaschools.net or 417-724-6215.  You will need to show proof that you entered the lottery if there is an error.
  • March 24, 2024 (or sooner):  Parents will be notified of their selection status (either an opening or on the waiting list) for JTSD for the 2024-2025 school year.
  • Notifications will come through the method that the parent/guardian filling out the application chooses.  If you miss a notification, it is NOT the responsibility of Nixa Public Schools.  We encourage you to choose all options (text and email) so you don't miss them.
  •  

Lottery Process for the John Thomas School of Discovery (JTSD)

 

Note:  The lottery only pertains to the time where you fill out the form and your child is drawn and placed on a list to get into the school or onto a waiting list.  After that time period, the lottery process ends and students enter the school based on where they are on the waiting list and has no relation to another family member on the waiting list.

 

Parents or guardians who wish to have their child(ren) attend John Thomas School of Discovery will need to complete the online JTSD family registration enrollment request form. Students will be selected from this enrollment pool.

 

All children that you would like to attend JTSD must go through the lottery process.  If they do not, they will NOT be on the lists to be able to attend the school. This includes students of siblings at JTSD.  All students must go through the lottery process.

 

Prior to the lottery for students, the four K-4 schools will be drawn at random to establish the order from which families will be drawn. For example, the order might be Espy, High Pointe, Century, and Mathews. This would be the first order. Then the order would be rotated for each additional selection (2nd round: Espy, High Pointe, Century, Mathews; 3rd round: High Pointe, Century, Mathews, and Espy; etc.) until all families that completed the family registration enrollment have been drawn and either placed into a classroom at JTSD or placed on a waiting list for a particular grade in the order they were selected.  Students who currently attend Summit or Inman will pick the K-4 boundary area they currently live in.

To find that out, CLICK HERE.

 

As families are chosen, each student in that family will be placed in the available spots by their respective grades. Students will be placed either in a grade (if there is space) or on a waiting list by grade in the order they were selected.

 

The lottery will not be drawn publicly.  Parents will be notified through an email and/or a phone call/text if their child was drawn through the lottery and will have a certain number of days to reply and accept the spot drawn.

 

Additional Procedures:

  • The waiting lists will follow each grade as they advance.  If your child was entered into the lottery in previous years, he/she is on a waiting list and does not need to be re-entered into the lottery.
  • Students who complete an enrollment request each year will be drawn and placed either in an open spot if available or at the end of the waiting list for that grade in the order they were selected.
  • Students who decline enrollment when selected or when their waiting list spot comes available will have to complete a new enrollment request form and start the selection process over.  If your child's name comes up and you decline enrollment, you will need to begin the lottery process again for the student or students which you declined enrollment.
  • As long as a sibling is attending the John Thomas School of Discovery during the same year the incoming kindergartner will begin, and both students will be attending the school at the same time; an incoming kindergarten student will be ensured a spot in a kindergarten class as long as they complete the enrollment request process by the assigned deadline and as long as a spot is available. If no spot is available, the students will be placed on a waiting list in the order the random selection process selects them.  On the enrollment request form there will be a spot to indicate the applicant has a sibling currently enrolled at JTSD.
  • JTSD’s lottery will be open each year to kindergarten or 1st grade students.
  • The lottery for grades 2nd-6th grade will be open when there is below 30 students on the waiting list or at the discretion of administration.
  • JTSD will have an extended school calendar with additional required days, which will be added on to the end of the school year (May & June).  The calendar can be viewed on the JTSD website.
  • Students who make the waiting list for kindergarten but are placed in transitional kindergarten will need to resubmit a lottery application if they would like a spot at JTSD. They will not get a spot lower than the one drawn in the previous year's lottery.  If a sibling of the transitional kindergarten student who is on the waiting list will be entering the school the following year for kindergarten (so that both would be in kindergarten at the same time), the incoming student would not be considered a sibling of a student in the school and would have to go through the lottery process and would be placed on the waiting list for a spot in JTSD.
  • Students who are given one of the 60 spots for kindergarten but are placed in transitional kindergarten will retain that spot for the following year.  They will need to resubmit a lottery application if they would like a spot at JTSD. If a sibling of the transitional kindergarten student who was given one of the 60 spots will be entering the school the following year for kindergarten (so that both would be in kindergarten at the same time), the incoming student would be considered a sibling of a student in the school and would have to follow the procedures as outlined above for a sibling of a student in JTSD.  If this situation applies to you, please email zacrantz@nixaschools.net to indicate that before noon on Saturday, Feb. 17.
  • If a transitional kindergarten student did not enter the lottery for JTSD, he/she must go through that process for the year that he/she will start kindergarten.  This lottery will take place in the month of February prior to the start of the coming school year. Please note that transitional kindergarten students are not considered students of JTSD.  JTSD is the school that houses their program and they will return to their boundary area school after leaving the transitional kindergarten program.
  • The school will follow the following chart for the number of students per class in each grade:
    • Kindergarten: 20
    • 1st Grade: 21
    • 2nd Grade: 22
    • 3rd Grade: 23
    • 4th Grade: 24
    • 5th Grade: 25
    • 6th Grade: 25 

Please note the following: 

  • Students who will be in kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year must be 5 years old on or before July 31, 2024.
  • Students who will be in 1st grade will automatically go onto the waiting list after being drawn since students who have already gone through the lottery process are above them. Kindergarten students will be notified of their position on the list.
  • It does not matter when you fill out the form during the enrollment request period. You just have to have it completed by February 16, 2024, at 11 p.m.
  • There will be 20 hours of parent involvement for your child (10 hours per each additional child if you have more than one attending JTSD). This can range from attendance at school events to volunteering at the school in various ways.
  • JTSD will have an extended school calendar with additional required days, which will be added on to the end of the school year (May & June). The calendar can be viewed on the school website.
  • When you complete the Enrollment Request Form and click "Submit" you will receive a confirmation message to let you know your have completed the process. Keep this as proof that you have completed the process successfully. If you do not receive these, you have not completed the process successfully.
  • If you completed the Enrollment Request Process before for a student, that student is currently on the waiting list for JTSD and you do not need to complete the process again.
  • If you have any questions, please contact Zac Rantz at 417-724-6215 or email zacrantz@nixaschools.net. You can also visit www.nixapublicschools.net/jtsdlottery for more information or to see the numbers of students on each grade waiting list.
  • Any student currently enrolled at JTSD who chooses virtual schooling will forfeit their spot at JTSD and will have to begin the lottery process over again.

 

READ THIS BEFORE FILLING OUT A FORM

  1. We are using a new system, so please read this information and take your time with the new system.
  2. On the student information page, it will ask you which school your child attends.  If your child is entering kindergarten or currently attends a school in Nixa Public Schools, choose Nixa Public Schools.  If your child is in a grade other than kindergarten and does not attend Nixa Public Schools (private school, home school, another district but moving here, etc.) then type in the name of the school.
  3. When filling out the profile for a student, it allows you to add a student in any grade.  However, once you start filling out a form for the lottery, the only options are for those grades open in the lottery (see information above).  It could be all grades or just a select few outside of K or 1st.  
  4. You will create your account or log in to your account and then add a student.  To fill out the lottery application you will need to click on the Lottery Application and the Start button once you have completed the student information.  If you need to leave the process, and come back to the dashboard, you can just click "Add Form" and that will take you to the lottery application.  Only students with submitted forms will be put through the lottery.  Please make sure you have fully completed the lottery application and clicked Submit Application at the end.  Once you do, the dashboard will have an application submitted indicator under that student.

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2024 LOTTERY ENROLLMENT REQUEST FORM

(Will be open February 5-16, 2024)

If you click on the form, you may be able to create a profile, but nothing will be there for the lottery.  Please do not email us asking about the lottery form since it will not be open until February 5.

If the link above does not work, copy and paste the following URL into your browser: https://jtsd.schoolmint.com/

 

 

If you have any questions on the lottery or the lottery process, email zacrantz@nixaschools.net