If you have a child in the Champaign Unit 4 kindergarten lottery, the month of April is full of anticipation – and perhaps, dread.
Parents of incoming kindergarteners in Champaign Unit 4 won't find out if they "won the lottery" until the end of April, the district says. Photo by Robert S. Donovan on flickr
The district provided chambanamoms.com with an update regarding the lottery results, and revealed that the end of April is when parents/guardians can expect notification of their child’s kindergarten assignment for the 2012-13 school year.
This is a week longer than last year’s process, when parents were notified by letters mailed April 21. Part of the reason the lottery results will not be revealed until end of April this year is the “record number of incoming kindergarten students” who have registered. Including those students who registered during the early registration for the magnet schools, students who registered during March and a few late registrants, the district has registered 785 kindergarten students — an increase of 26 percent over this time last year, according to the district.
“The applications of the 611 incoming kindergarten students who registered during March are being processed right now, and with the large number it is taking just a little longer than last year. At this point, it looks like assignments will be made and letters will be mailed to parents by the end of April. This year we saw a more even distribution across all 11 elementary schools of first choice requests than ever before,” wrote Lynn Peisker, the district’s Community Relations Coordinator.
The 163 children who participated in the early registration for the three magnet schools have already received their kindergarten assignments. The district reports that 97 percent of those students received their first choice and 3 percent received their second choice. The magnet schools are Booker T. Washington STEM Academy; Garden Hills Elementary – International Baccalaureate/Primary Years Programme World School Candidate; and Stratton Elementary – Leadership in MicroSociety.
Registration for fifth graders at Stratton Elementary and Booker T. Washington STEM Academy is now through Friday, April 13. Students at other elementary schools follow a cluster model and do not need to register. Elementary and Middle School Transfer Requests for students in first through eighth grade take place from May 7 – 31.
If you have any questions about the registration or assignment process, contact the Family Information Center at 217.351.3701 or email u4fic@champaignschools.org.
Honestly, I was feeling pretty good about it until I read this article. A 26% increase over last year?!?! (And last year was a record year.) Where are all these kids coming from and where will the district put them all? The dread has set in.
CB – I think they have been more successful getting parents to register for the lottery instead of having people show up whenever they feel like it.
I’d like to see the numbers after students begin school. How many of those 611 actually end up enrolling? I think it is great that the magnet schools have had so many students placed in their first choice, but I’d also like to see how many spots they had to fill vs. how many applicants.
Kudos to Unit 4 for reaching out to families to get info on the process out there.