Enrollment

It is the intention of the school to reflect the community it serves. Applications are accepted from any family residing in the Chester Upland School District or surrounding districts in PA.

Applying for the 2023/24 School Year

Applications for the 2023/24 school year will be accepted from February 1 - February 28 and will be processed through our school lottery. Click HERE to apply. The lottery is a random drawing process which assigns each applicant a place on the waiting list and will be conducted on March 3, 2023.

Applications received after February 28th will be considered only after the waiting list, generated by the lottery, has been exhausted.

Completing the application DOES NOT guarantee admission.

Anti-Discrimination Policy

The Chester Charter Scholars Academy does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, sex, color, religion or any other classification protected by law in the administration of its education and admission policies.

Grade Placement Instructions for 2023/24

Final grade placement will not be confirmed until an official school transcript or report card is received and reviewed. Please be advised that if any false or misleading information is provided your child’s offer for enrollment may be revoked. Applicants for all grade levels must satisfy the placement requirements indicated below.

Incoming Kindergarteners

Children entering kindergarten who reside in the Chester Upland School District must be 5 years old on or before September 30th. Students who reside in other districts must be 5 years old on or before the date required for kindergarten by their school district.

All incoming kindergarteners must attend CCSA's six week summer program (lunch and transportation from Chester-Upland area are provided). Parents of enrolled kindergarteners MUST attend parent workshops at CCSA this summer (dates TBD).

Incoming Grades 1–8

Upon acceptance, students in grades 1-8 must provide a final report card from the 2022/2023 school year demonstrating promotion.

Incoming High School Students

Those entering grades 9-12 should apply to the appropriate grade in progression. Applicants must have fulfilled the following credit requirements:

Students entering 9th Grade must have a report card demonstrating promotion from 8th grade.

Students entering 10th Grade must have at least 7 credits, including 1 year of Math, Science, English, and History.

Students entering 11th Grade must have at least 14 credits, including 2 years of Math, Science, English, History and 1 year of world language.

Students entering 12th Grade must have at least 21 credits, including 3 years of Math, Science, English, History and 2 years of world language.

Enrollment Guidelines for the 2022/23 Academic Year

Re-Enrollment

January 13 - 26, 2023

Currently enrolled students will maintain their seat for 2023/24 by completing the Re-enrollment form. To re-enroll, access the form through the Focus parent portal. You will need to use the information sent to you in the re-enrollment email notification. This process is for current students only.

For assistance with the online process, view the CCSA Re-enrollment Tutorial video.

Open Enrollment

February 1 - 28, 2023

New students and siblings of current CCSA students (residing in the same household) are welcome to complete an application for the 2023/24 and will be included in the lottery process. Siblings will take preference.

Click HERE to apply.

Lottery

March 3, 2023

The lottery is a random drawing process which assigns each applicant a place on the waiting list. Our student information system will electronically assign a number to each student in the pool of applicants. Parents will be notified via email if a seat is available. Please note: Seats in grades 1 - 12 will not open until the completion of the 2022/23 school year.

Applications received after February 28th will be considered only after the waiting list, generated by the lottery, has been exhausted.

Lottery Information

How does the Lottery work?

When there are more applicants than there are seats available in a grade, the school holds a lottery to determine which applicants are eligible for registration. In this case, all applications for that grade received during the “open” enrollment period are entered into the lottery.

CCSA's student information system will electronically assign a number to each student in the pool of applicants. After the available seats in a grade have been filled, the remaining names are added to the waiting list according to the order in which they were generated.

Lottery General Rules

The lottery is conducted electronically by the school's student information system.
Only one (1) lottery shall be conducted by the school to include all grades in which the number of applicants exceeds the number of expected seats available.
Only completed applications received by the “open” enrollment deadline, February 28th, are eligible to participate in the lottery.
If there are fewer applicants than the number of seats anticipated to be available, no public lottery shall be conducted for that grade because all of those applicants will be eligible for admission.
Should any seats become available after the date of the lottery, offers of admission will be extended according to the order of the waiting list.
All applicants offered a seat must accept within seven (7) calendar days, or forfeit the offer. Those not responding (excluding declined offers) will be placed on the waiting list.
All applications received after the “open” enrollment period will be accepted on a “first-come, first-serve” basis, after the waiting list has been exhausted.

Lottery General Procedures

The “open” enrollment period must be published in advance of the lottery date regardless of the type of Lottery.

The school administration selects all applications received during the “open” enrollment period for entry into the lottery.
The school administration selects the grade levels that will be entered into the lottery, based on the number of applications received and the number of seats available.
The school administration will extend offers of admission.
Remaining applicants are assigned to the waiting list in the order of their lottery number.
Applicants who applied after the “open” enrollment period are placed on the waiting list in the order that their completed application was received (date and time).
Applicants on the waiting list will be notified regarding their status.
Successful applicants who decline admission are removed from the roster. The seats thereby opened are made available to applicants on the waiting list.