Any family that lives in the Lake Washington School District may apply for admission to the Explorer Community School.
- Families must reside in the Lake Washington School District boundaries.
- Applicants must turn 6 years old on or before August 31, 2024 to be eligible for the fall 2024 lottery.
SCHOOL TOURS
The families of students admitted to Explorer Community School can participate in a school tour. Tours conducted for #1-29 on the first grade lottery list. Tour dates will be set after the choice school lottery occurs and families that fall in the tour requirement positions will be notified of tour dates. If your waitlist number is greater than 10 you will keep your place on the waitlist and can tour when your number falls in the top 10 for your class. If you are unable to attend the scheduled tour opportunities, please contact the school principal.
APPLICATION
Applications are submitted online only through Parent Square and the district website and due by December 1, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.
LOTTERY
Students will be selected randomly from a lottery held at the district office of all eligible applicants. The lottery will be held at the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) office on January 4, 2023. Following the lottery, notification will go out via email to all applicants regarding their position on the waitlist. If their list position qualifies them for a tour they will be notified.
EXPLORER COMMUNITY SCHOOL LOTTERY PROCEDURES
FOR FALL 2024 ENROLLMENT
Information Night: Monday, November 13, 6-7 p.m. at Explorer. Parents attend Information Night in person. Attendance is highly recommended.
REQUIRED STEPS IN THE LOTTERY PROCESS FOR 1st – 5th GRADES
• Applications are due by 11:590 p.m. on December 1, 2023
• Parents (adults only, please) attend a tour (classroom observation) (DATE(S) TBD). We strongly recommend your attendance at one of the tours, so you can make an educated decision if your child is offered placement. No reminders will be given. If you are unable to attend either tour, please contact the Enrollment Coordinator to set an alternate time.
LOTTERY PROCESS DATES
- November 1, 2023 – Online application opens (due by 4:00 p.m. on December 1, 2023)
• December 1, 2023 Applications are due by 11:59 p.m.
• January 4, 2024 Lottery held at the District office. Typically, most or all Explorer Community School vacancies occur in the first grade.
• January 12, 2024 Acceptance/wait-list notification letters are sent to families via e-mail by the Lake Washington School District office.
• January 26, 2024 Explorer Community School must be notified in writing of your intention to accept or refuse admittance by 2:30 p.m.
• New Parent Orientation
• Student Visit (only one visit is necessary)
Once enrollment is met, remaining students are placed on a wait list in lottery order.
If an opening occurs, students are called in lottery order using their original number. No new numbers are generated.
If a student accepts placement at another Choice School, the student’s name is removed from our process.
The above lottery procedure is aligned with the Lake Washington School District.
If any of the lottery requirements described above are not met, your child’s name will be removed from the lottery process for Fall 2024, and you may reapply for Fall 2025.
The above dates are subject to change per the LWSD calendar.
WAITLIST AND SIBLING POLICY
Once the first grade lottery drawing has occurred, applicants will retain their assigned place on the waiting list. As openings occur, they will be offered to the next applicant on the list. Those offered enrollment from our waiting list will be given a 24 hour time-frame to make their final decision. The waiting list will remain intact through the 5th grade. If your child is number 1-10 on any class wait list (1-20 for first grade) you are can attend a tour after the lottery. If an applicant accepts a position at another choice school in LWSD, they must notify Explorer’s Enrollment Coordinator (explorer-enroll@hotmail.com) who will remove their name from the waiting list. New 2nd through 5th grade applicants will be determined from the lottery for each grade and added to the existing waiting list. For families with twins and multiple siblings, each student must enter the lottery as an individual and each student will receive an individual lottery number. There is no guarantee that twin/multiple siblings will receive admittance into Explorer. However, due to the elementary sibling preference policy should one twin/multiple sibling be admitted via sibling preference or lottery into the 1st grade, the other twin/multiple sibling will also be accepted, provided there is space available, (i.e. provided that the first twin/multiple sibling did not receive the last spot via lottery).
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Explorer Community School