Franklin TowneCharter High School

Franklin Towne Charter Schools Application and Enrollment Process

General Lottery Application and Lottery Timeline:

• Applications for the annual 9^th grade lottery can be submitted at any time prior to the 2nd Friday of December of that current year’s lottery.  Applications for all other grade levels (10^th, 11^th, and 12^th) should be submitted between July 1^st and the 2nd Friday of December for the current school year. 
• Applications submitted in this window will be placed in the current year’s annual lottery.
• Families will need to reapply each year beyond their 9^th grade application. 
• The annual public lottery will take place on the Friday after Martin Luther King Day (mid-January) at 10:00am in our high school auditorium
• The families of students selected in the lottery will be notified by email immediately after and will be provided with the required documents and a deadline that they will need to submit in order secure registration. Documents required for enrollment are:
  • Proof of Child's Age
  • Proof of Residency
  • Record of Required Immunizations
  • Act 26 Form, and
  • Home Language Survey
• We encourage all families to submit all documents directly to the school in person, however if families choose to mail the required documentation to the school, you will assume the responsibility to ensure that the information arrives by the stated deadline.  School Office Hours are 8:00 am until 3:00 daily. 
• Families will need to return all required enrollment documents by no later than the 3rd Friday in February, by no later than 3:00 pm. 
• Failure to meet this deadline forfeits your spot at Franklin Towne and will result with the child’s name being placed at the bottom of the current Wait List .
• Exceptions will be made only for families with language barriers, and only when those families have contacted prior to the deadlines listed above thus allowing the school the opportunity to arrangements for translation services to be provided.
  

After Enrollment is Secured:

• You will be notified of your child’s placement testing date. Placement testing is used to help us provide your child with the most appropriate roster of classes for the upcoming school year and to identify students that will need to complete an academic summer support program.  In no way is it used to determine enrollment.
• All families should submit their child’s final report card by no later than the last Thursday in June by 2:00 pm.  Once again, we encourage all families to deliver report cards to the school personally.  If you choose to mail it to the school, you are accepting the responsibility that it may not arrive by the established deadline.
• A final 8th grade report cards must demonstrate that all requirements to properly enter into 9th grade have been achieved (a passing grade in Reading, Math, and Science).  Without demonstrated proficiency is these required areas FTCHS cannot roster a student into 9th grade classes.  

Wait List:

• Names not selected in the lottery will be placed on a numbered Wait List.
• The Wait List will be published on the school’s website and will be continually maintained to reflect an accurate and up-to-date listing.
• Families will receive an email providing them with a Unique Identifying Number (UIN).  Parents will be able to use the UIN to track their child’s position on the Wait List. 
• Names placed on the wait list will remain there until the following year’s lottery is run and a new Wait List is generated.

General Information:

• An application is not a guarantee of admission.
• Only one application will be accepted per child.
• If a child is not admitted within the school year, a parent/guardian must re-apply for the lottery for the next school year.
• Franklin Towne will accept applications for all grades offered. Please note, however, that we anticipate most openings to be in grade 9. Some spaces may be available in other grades, but this may not be assessed until later in the year, with families not contacted until then (if space even exists).
• The application process only involves submitting the application form by the deadline. No interview, school tour, information session, or fee is required.
• As required by PA charter school law, Franklin Towne Charter School uses a lottery system for admitting its students, with siblings of currently enrolled Franklin Towne students and current students-in-good standing at our Elementary School receiving preference in the lottery (i.e. provided there is space available for their admission in the grade applied for).
• In order to be eligible for the sibling preference, the applicant must be related to a current Franklin Towne High School student in one of the following ways: 1.) has a shared legal guardian or there is shared legal custody of both students by a common individual or 2.) is a half sibling, step sibling, or biological sibling. Residing at the same address as a current student alone does not make an applicant eligible for the sibling preference. There will be no sibling preference to those students who apply after the application deadline. In order to be eligible, applicants must indicate the sibling preference on their application. Franklin Towne will not retroactively apply sibling preference for anyone who did not request the sibling preference at the time of application prior to the application deadline. Franklin Towne reserves the right to determine if a student is eligible for sibling preference. Siblings of currently enrolled students will be placed on a priority list before the lottery. No preference will be shown to siblings who apply after this deadline.
• In order for a student to receive Feeder’s Preference they will need to submit an application according to the Feeder’s Preference policy outlined by Franklin Towne Charter Elementary School. 
• Please note that only applications containing Philadelphia addresses will be placed into the main lottery.
• Any application containing a non-Philadelphia address will be placed on a separate non-resident waiting list, the order of which is determined by a separate lottery. Furthermore, proof of residency will be required if your student is selected in the lottery to continue in the enrollment process. Any applicant who cannot provide a Philadelphia address during the proof of residency check will be placed on this separate non-resident waiting list as well.
• Franklin Towne values diversity and seeks students from varied backgrounds. Franklin Towne Charter School does not discriminate on the basis of age (to the extent applicable), race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, religion, marital status, ancestry, parental status, disability, achievement or aptitude, proficiency in the English language or any other basis that is unlawful in its admission policy.

Solicitud de Inscripción

McKinney/Vento Act

In accordance with federal and state guidelines under the McKinney/Vento Act, Franklin Towne Charter Schools are committed to removing barriers to education that face students experiencing homelessness.

• Do the members of your household lack a permanent address?
• Are you staying together in a shelter, hotel, or other temporary housing arrangement?
• Have you moved in with another family (doubled up) due to a lack of housing?
• Does your family relocate on a seasonal basis?
• Are any children living with you who have chosen to leave their prior family or household?

If you believe children in your household meet these descriptions, please contact your child's counselor.

Please see the PDE website for more information on the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Act: 

https://www.education.pa.gov/Policy-Funding/BECS/uscode/Pages/EducationforHomelessYouth.aspx