You may have noticed that we’re getting a little tight on space at Avoca. This past summer, we moved the location of the office to the teacher’s lounge to make room for the preschoolers. Enrollment appears to be climbing steadily. Although we have traditionally had three classes per grade level, last year, we added one additional Kindergarten class. This year, we have had four Kindergartens and four first grade classrooms.
To make room for the extra classes this year, we commandeered the art room, leaving the art teacher on a cart until we could subdivide one of the upstairs classrooms to be used for both art and music. We have got counselors on the stage, which also serves as our workroom. Speech services are delivered in a small room within the preschool class. At this point, the possibility of finding more places to expand is bleak to say the least, although we are investigating all of our options.
We are honored when parents choose to send their children to Avoca and want to do everything within our power to accept them. Although we have accommodated large Kindergarten classes for the past two years, a lack of space may prevent us from doing so next year.
It is very important that all Kindergarten students come to the Kindergarten registration on May 3 because it allows us to know how many students we can expect, which is a huge help for planning logistics. There are different categories of students, which determine the priority of students for enrollment purposes. From highest priority to least, the categories are defined as:
- By law, children of teachers at this school (TCA 49-6-3113)
- Students in Avoca’s school zone
- Transfer students with siblings already enrolled
- Transfer students without siblings enrolled
- Tuition students with siblings already enrolled
- Tuition students without siblings enrolled
Very soon following the close of the school year, we hold a drawing, which is open to the public, to determine the order of students within each out-of-zone category. The names of students who enroll after the lottery are put at the bottom of the list within that category. As student names are entered and deleted in the different categories throughout the summer, any particular child’s relative placement may rise or fall, especially those nearer the bottom of the list. If we are forced to cap enrollment, then we have to make a dreaded call to tell those below the capped number that they may not attend here.
Some parents of transfer/tuition students strategically enroll at two schools in order to maximize the chances of getting a higher placement on the lottery list at one of them.
Our hope is that you will have all the information you need about this process in order to make an informed decision about where to enroll your child(ren).
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about this process, please call the school.