Next Steps
Wherever you are in the Oakland public charter school enrollment process, there are always important next steps to take.
Let us help!
Where are you in the process?
The common charter application for the 2025-2026 School Year opens November 12, 2024
Great! The On-Time Application opened November 12, 2024 and the deadline to apply to Oakland public charter schools is February 14, 2025. You can create an account on https://apply.avela.org/oaklandenrolls/ to prepare for the launch of the 2025-2026 application.
I applied for the 2025-2026 school year BEFORE the February 2025 deadline. What are my next steps?
You will be included in the March 6, 2025 lottery for each charter school you applied to. For each application you submit, there are two possible outcomes: 1. you could receive an offer, or 2. you could be placed on the school’s waitlist.
There will be nothing left to do until after the school lotteries. All lotteries are held in early March. You will be notified of your results on March 6, 2025 by text and/or e-mail.
You will be placed on the school’s waitlist – seats are not guaranteed. You will only be offered a seat if one becomes available. We recommend applying to more than one school to increase your chances of getting a seat.
I applied for the 2025-2026 school year AFTER the February 2025 deadline. What are my next steps?
This means the school has a seat for your child and is extending you an offer to take that seat. If you receive an offer, you may either 1. accept it, or 2. decline it. Accepting means you are telling the school you plan to attend. Declining means you are telling the school that you plan not to attend. If you accept one school’s offer, all other charter school offers will be automatically declined. However, accepting an offer will not take you off of any charter waitlists.
This means that you communicated to the school that you plan to attend the following year. However, you still need to register for the school in order to secure your seat. Registration requirements are different for every school. You will have to fill out forms, and/or bring documents into the school, and/or go to a meeting or orientation – or more. The best thing you can do is contact the school directly to make sure you are completing all of the required steps for registration by the school’s deadline.
Schools will take away the offer if a child is not registered by a certain date so it is best to contact the school and complete registration right after accepting the offer.
Once you accept an offer, you must register. Each school’s registration process is a little bit different, but usually includes turning in documents (birth certificate, immunizations, proof of address, and more) and filling out more forms with information on you and your child. Some schools require that you attend an orientation or other meeting, and some require other things as well.
If you believe you have completed all the registration paperwork and fulfilled any other requirements for the school, make sure you confirm with the school that they have verified your registration and there is nothing else for you to do to keep your seat.
If you are placed on a school’s waitlist (WL), it means there are no open seats at that school. You will remain on the waitlist until:
1) you remove yourself, or
2) you receive an offer because a seat has opened up, or
3) the waitlist expires.
It is important to note that just because you are on a school’s waitlist, you may never get an offer to that school. If more seats don’t open up, the school won’t make any more offers.
Waitlists generally expire at the end of each school year. So if you applied to a school for the current (2024-2025) school year, the waitlist will expire May 2025.
Waitlists do not roll over to the following school year. If you are on a waitlist and the waitlist expires, you must apply again for the following year in order to be considered for the school.
Other Situations
Just moved here? Want to change schools because things aren’t working out for your child or family? We can help. Although Oakland public schools start every year in August, some schools may still have openings. Applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis:
To enroll in a participating charter public school, apply online here.
You will be placed on a waitlist at each of your selected schools, and offered enrollment if space becomes available. Late applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Some schools use priorities in Late Applications, so your school waitlist positions may change up or down depending on the actions of other applicants. The school will notify you by text, email, phone and/or mail if space becomes available. Waitlists expire at the end of each school year.
To contact specific charter schools, visit our list of participating schools for their website and contact info at https://oaklandenrolls.org/participating-schools/
For questions about the Oakland Enrolls common charter application, call/text us at (510) 454-9360.
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