Student Lottery Process
Independence Charter School West holds an annual student lottery in order to enroll new students. The lottery is typically held in late winter of the school year prior to the September you wish your child to begin school. In order to be included in the lottery drawing you must be a Philadelphia resident and submit a complete, accurate application and all required documentation by the lottery deadline. All other applications are added to the end of the waiting list after the lottery drawing is complete.
The lottery drawing is used to fill available spaces for enrollment in kindergarten only. After the available spaces are filled, the remaining names go onto a kindergarten waiting list. For grades 1-3, the lottery is used to create a waiting list that will be used to fill spaces if current students transfer out of ICS-West.
Sibling preference: ICS and its families benefit from our keeping families together. For this reason, ICS-West offers an admissions sibling preference. A sibling is defined as a biological or legally adopted brother or sister who lives in the same household as the current ICS-West student. To receive sibling preference, parents or guardians must bring a completed application to ICS-West by the enrollment deadline. If your sibling application is received after the enrollment deadline, the sibling’s name will be placed at the end of the waiting list.
ICS-West maintains a waiting list for all grades. To make sure all children are treated fairly, we use the following process:
- Assign a number to each child on the waiting list by lottery.
- Send you a postcard or email message after the lottery to tell you your child’s place on the list.
- Move children into a class as space becomes available, starting with siblings of current ICS-West students and then children with the lowest waiting list number for each grade.
- Call your home to inform you of your child’s acceptance.
- If your child is on our waiting list, please be patient. We typically do not know about any available space until the end of June or later in the summer. To make sure we can get in touch with you, please update us regarding any changes in address or phone number.
ICS-West does not keep waiting lists from year to year. If your child is still interested in attending ICS-West, you must resubmit a completed application each fall.
For any questions Please contact Tr. Patricia at enrollment@icswest.org