Student Admission Policy

The Brighter Choice Charter School for Boys is a nonsectarian public school for boys attending grades K-4.  Admission to Brighter Choice-Boys shall not be limited on the basis of intellectual ability, measures of achievement or aptitude, athletic ability, disability, race, creed, national origin, religion, or any other ground that would be unlawful.

Brighter Choice-Boys opens enrollment to all boys who would be eligible for enrollment in public schools in New York State, subject to availability and the admission process set forth below.

Brighter Choice-Boys will admit each eligible student who submits an application on or before the first day of April, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of the student’s requested grade level or of the school building.

Admission Process

           The admission application process will occur as follows: 

• Parents and guardians interested in submitting admission applications for their children will receive written material containing information regarding the school’s mission statement, distinctive features, standardized test results and community partnerships.  Parents or guardians will have the opportunity to speak with the school’s Parent Coordinator to verbally review all the material, tour the school and ask any questions they may have.  It is important that the school ensure that students and parents/guardians understand the values of the school and its academic and social expectations.  The school will take whatever additional steps deemed necessary to make sure that parents/guardians are armed with this important information.
• Interested parents/guardians will be required to complete and submit an admission application form.  Such forms will be made available in November for the following year’s enrollment.  The application will be fairly simple, requesting basic biographical information (name, age, etc.), contact information, and other important facts (e.g., grade level upon admission and school currently attending).  A transportation application will also be provided in an attempt to secure transportation in the event the student becomes enrolled in the school.  The school will make staff available to any parent or guardian who needs help completing the application. 
• If the number of eligible applications for admission exceeds the spaces available for students, a random lottery will be held.  Such a lottery will be open to the public, and attended and/or audited by a representative of a dispassionate outside organization.  The admission lottery will have the following features:  first preference will be given to siblings of students currently attending Brighter Choice-Boys or Brighter Choice-Girls schools; second preference will be given to students who live in the City of Albany; and finally preference will be given to students who do not live in the City of Albany. 
• The random lottery process used for student admission also will serve to place students in preferential order on these waiting lists.  Whenever a vacancy occurs, either prior to the start of a particular school year or during the course of that school year, the school will contact the parent or guardian of the student next on the appropriate waiting list.  Waiting lists will not be carried-over from year to year, but instead the annual admission lotteries will be used to create newly randomized waiting lists.  The school will send a new enrollment application directly to the parents/guardians of each child on the prior year’s waiting list.