Tuition-Free Public School

Alpha Academy is a tuition-free public school serving students in K – 12th grades. Any child who is qualified under the laws of North Carolina for admission to a public school is qualified for admission to a charter school. To qualify to attend an NC public school, a student must be a resident of North Carolina. County boundaries or school attendance areas do not affect charter school enrollment. Alpha Academy does not limit admission to students based on intellectual ability, measures of achievement or aptitude, athletic ability, disability, race, creed, gender, national origin, religion, or ancestry. The School may give enrollment priority to siblings of currently enrolled students who were admitted to the Charter School in a previous year and to the children of teachers, teacher assistants, and the principal of the Charter School.

During each period of enrollment, Alpha Academy will accept applications for new students. Once enrolled, students are not required to enroll in subsequent enrollment periods. In order to properly plan, the school will routinely inquire with parents in early spring by requesting letters of intent to ascertain if students will return to Alpha Academy the following year. Applications for new students are available in the School office and on the School website. If needed, the application may be mailed or emailed to the parent of a prospective student.

Alpha Academy’s open enrollment period runs from February through April each year. During the enrollment period, the school shall enroll an eligible student who applies within this period, unless the number of applications exceeds the number of available spaces of a program, class, grade level, or building. If the number of applications exceeds the number of available spaces, a lottery will be held to fill vacant seats for the next school year. After seats are filled, the drawing will continue to determine the order of a waiting list. Current year waiting lists dissolve at the end of the second month of the new school year.

Lottery procedures will comply with the NC Open Meetings Laws provided in G.S. 143-218.10(a) by publicizing the date and location of the meeting as well as allowing anyone to attend.

Alpha Academy Admission Lottery Date: March 1st, each year at 6:00 p.m.

Lottery Procedures:

Each applicant will have a card with their name and grade. The selection process will be by random drawing. Cards for siblings of current instructional personnel of Alpha Academy will be drawn first, followed by cards for siblings of students enrolled in the previous school year. The cards will be drawn by grade, beginning with 8th grade, until all available seats are filled. In the case of multiple birth siblings, only one card with the last name representing the multiples will be placed in the lottery.

Upon filling all available seats by lottery, the acceptance by lottery will continue, thereby, creating a School wait list. Cards for the general wait list for each grade level will be randomly drawn one card at a time, starting with Kindergarten. The lottery process for the waitlist will then proceed for each grade.

As openings become available at the applicable grade level, students will be admitted based on their waitlist number. If applicants who are selected for admission decide NOT to enroll at Alpha Academy, the parents of the next child on the waitlist for that grade will be notified immediately.

After completing the acceptance by lottery, Alpha Academy shall have a specified, and reasonable, time frame in which the accepted applicant must reply to the School clarifying their decision to accept or decline continuation of enrollment. The School’s enrollment policy, including all time frames, will be declared on the original application completed by the applicant.

Students who report for class the first ten days of school determine our official enrollment. Both new enrollees and returning students must report for classes the first ten days of their respective start dates in order to be considered officially enrolled.

Questions should be directed to the Administrative Office at (910) 223-7711.

Nondiscrimination Policies

In compliance with federal laws, Alpha Academy School administers all educational programs, employment activities, and admissions without discrimination because of race, religion, national and ethnic origin, color, age, military service, disability, or gender, except where exemption is appropriate and allowed by law.

This notice is provided as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Questions, complaints, or requests for additional information regarding these laws may be forwarded to the designated compliance coordinators.

Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Cyberbullying are Prohibited

Harassment, intimidation, bullying, or cyberbullying based on race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender/sex, age, sexual orientation, or disability are prohibited. This prohibition applies to any act intended to harm another individual through physical or verbal actions, including written messages and those transmitted electronically.

Helpful Links

North Carolina Homeless Education Program

https://hepnc.uncg.edu/about/

Exceptional Children

DEA Policies and Guidelines
http://idea.ed.gov/

IDEA User Guide
http://www.c-c-d.org/

ESL Title III Federal Link:
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg39.html

FAPE policies and guidelines
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/edlite-FAPE504.html

IEP Handbook
http://www2.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html

NCDPI EC Program link:
http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/

NCDPI Parents’ Handbook:
http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/parent-resources/ecparenthandbook.pdf

NCDPI Parents’ Handbook in Spanish:
http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/parent-resources/ecspanishhandbook.pdf