Optional Enrollment

Optional enrollment for district fifth and eighth graders is Nov. 21–Dec. 18
Optional enrollment for the Tacoma Public Schools is Nov. 21 to Dec. 18—about a month and a half earlier than last year. Parent or guardians of current fifth- and eighth-grade students will get a letter about optional enrollment about Nov. 21, stating which school they are scheduled to attend for the next school year.
 
The applications will be available beginning Nov. 21 at any elementary or middle school or from Technology Services, Room 202, Central Administration Building, 601 S. 8th St., Tacoma.
 
Applications will be accepted between 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18. The form may be returned either by mail with a postmark no later than Dec. 18 or in person to Technology Services, Room 202, Central Administration Building no later than 4 p.m. on Dec. 18. Schools cannot accept optional enrollment applications.
 
A letter approving or denying the request will be sent to parents from Technology Services at the end of January 2009. The time an optional enrollment application is received by Technology Services does not determine the outcome of the requested placement. To be considered, forms must be received no later than 4 p.m. on Dec. 18.
 
School capacities may limit the number of optional enrollments that can be approved. Students who reside in the school’s attendance area are automatically scheduled for their neighborhood school.

• The first priority for optional enrollment requests will be given to students who have siblings or members of the same household already enrolled, and who will continue to be enrolled, at the preferred school requested on the application.
• Remaining spaces will be filled by random lottery following district Regulation No. 3131R on enrollment.

Each child in a household must have a separate optional enrollment application. For example, if there are two children in a house eligible for optional enrollment, each must have an application; however, those students will be processed at the same time and will be given the same random priority number.
 
Please note that the Tacoma School District does not provide transportation for students selected through the optional enrollment process, per Transportation department guidelines. These guidelines are listed on the district Web site at www.tacomaschools.org, your child’s school or the Transportation office, located at 4002 S. Cedar St.
 
If a parents’ optional enrollment request is approved, the preferred school becomes the child’s permanent placement, and subsequent transfers are subject to denial. Parents need to carefully consider optional enrollment placement factors such as program offerings, distance from home and available transportation. Parents of fifth- and eighth-grade students who do not currently attend a district school should call the district’s Technology Services department at 253.571.1189 for assistance if they are interested in having their children attend the Tacoma Public Schools during the 2009–10 school year.

Contact Technology Services at 253.571.1189, for more information.