Enrollment and Lottery Process

Requirements for Enrollment 

  • Must be a student enrolled in or open-enrolled into the Appleton Area School District
  • Must be a sixth, seventh or eighth grade level student 

General Information 

Application to and attendance at KA is voluntary and no tuition is charged. Students who do not wish to attend or are not admitted into KA may attend their neighborhood schools or seek enrollment in another AASD school per AASD Board policy. 

Parents will enroll their children by completing an application form. This is available online through the AASD Charter Application. Paper copies are available in the Kaleidoscope main office. A parent/guardian is encouraged to attend an informational meeting or visit KA in order to assure understanding of the nature and work of the school.

If the number of applicants exceeds available seats, a lottery will be employed for students living outside the neighborhood (see description of this in next section). The names of students on the waiting list will be recorded in the order in which they were drawn. The waiting list will roll over from year to year. Preferences are given to students in this order who: 

1. Are currently enrolled and their siblings 
2. Live in the "Kaleidoscope (former Roosevelt) Neighborhood" 
3. Are children of the staff (not to exceed 10% of the overall enrollment) 
4. Are on the waiting list from the previous year 

Enrollment Process for Neighborhood Students 

Students who reside in the "Roosevelt Middle School Attendance Area" (as established in the 2015-16 school year), are given a preference for attendance in KA. Parents will receive information about KA through the elementary feeder schools (Columbus, Edison, Franklin, and Huntley) in early January. Note: Some students attending Huntley live in the Einstein attendance area and would NOT be considered Kaleidoscope (Roosevelt) Neighborhood students.

Incoming Students

New families wanting their student to attend Kaleidoscope Academy will need to complete their online AASD Charter School application by the third Friday in February. Paper copies of the application will be available at the Kaleidoscope Academy main office. Note: A general assumption will be made that students in the neighborhood will attend KA unless they have open enrolled to another middle school. 

Enrollment Process for Students outside the Neighborhood 

Families interested in having their child attend KA will need to complete an application form through the AASD online charter application. They will be available online no later than January 1 of each year with hard copies available in the school office in English, Spanish, Hmong and other languages by request. 

Exceptions to the Lottery 

Currently enrolled KA students, siblings of currently enrolled KA students and children of KA staff will receive enrollment preference and will be exempt from the lottery, provided an application is submitted by the third Friday in February for the next school year. Any application received after this date will be treated like any other applicant and will be placed on the waiting list in the order it was received. 

Lottery Protocols 

Administration and the KA Board will review the number of students enrolled for KA having a preference during the third week in February to finalize the number of seats available at each grade level for the lottery. If the number of seats exceeds the number of applications, no lottery will be held for that grade level and all applicants will be informed they have a seat. If the number of seats do not meet the demand (number of applicants), a lottery will be conducted the last week in February for that grade level.

Lottery Procedures 

The lottery will be recorded and kept on file for one calendar year. Each application will have a numbered ticket attached to it; a duplicate ticket will be placed in a drum or similar container. Applicants of the same family will receive just one numbered ticket. 

An Assistant Superintendent of the AASD will draw numbers from the drum or similar container and the names of the students will be written down in order, until the maximum is reached. Numbers will then be drawn to form a waiting list. The names of the students will be recorded for the waiting list in the order that they are drawn. 

Waiting List Protocols 

Students will be called from the waiting list in the order they were placed when seats become available. Families will either accept the open seat or decline it. By declining the seat, the student is removed from the waiting list. If a family wants to be considered for the following year for the next grade, they would need to reapply.

The waiting list is carried over from year to year. Example, if you are number 4 on the 6th grade waiting list, the following year, you are number 4 in line for an open seat at 7th grade. The students on the 6th grade waiting list would get seats before any new applicants would be considered from the " lottery ". If this is the case, all new applicants would be placed on the waiting list following the lottery protocols. Note: Students who move into / live in the neighborhood, will be automatically enrolled at the time of application. Periodically, the administration will review enrollment to determine if and how many seats are available for calling up students from the waiting list. 

Special needs of students will be met according to the goals of their IEP. The AASD will provide needed special education services as appropriate. 

Dates to Remember 

Third Friday in February 
The window for applications to be considered for the lottery need to be submitted by midnight of the third Friday in February. Any applications after this date will be placed on the waiting list unless you live in the "Kaleidoscope (previous Roosevelt) Neighborhood.

First Friday in March
Families will be notified via email of their acceptance or wait list status. Families will have a deadline to accept/decline their seat (usually by the end of March).