Q&A

Here’s where you get to submit your questions about Wake County public schools, charter schools, and summer camps! Click here to fill out and submit the Q&A form.

Question:  I’d love for my child to attend a WCPSS magnet school next year. Are they hard to get into?

Answer: It totally depends. First of all, you should definitely apply; the application process is super-easy. But whether your child is assigned to your selected magnet school depends on multiple factors, including your child’s grade (for example, it might be easier to enter as an older student, such as a seventh- or eighth-grader, than as a sixth-grader); where you live; and whether the magnet school that you’ve selected is in high demand by other parents.

It depends, in other words, on your application. Here are the priority categories that determine your child’s odds of success:

  • The relative wealth of the neighborhood where the student resides. WCPSS maintains a database of all neighborhoods in the county. As you complete the application, feedback in the online form helps you gauge how your neighborhood ranks socioeconomically in that database.
  • The relative wealth of the student population at the student’s base school. If your child is moving from elementary to middle school or from middle school to high school for next year, this is the student’s next base school, which has already been assigned on the basis of your address. Wake is trying to create socioeconomic diversity at all schools. Most magnet schools are in low-wealth neighborhoods, and WCPSS is trying to draw in students from areas that are better off.
  • Whether the applying student has a sibling who’s enrolled in a WCPSS magnet school. WCPSS tries to help families stay sane by keeping siblings in the same school, if that’s your preference. And it also tries to reward families for supporting the magnet program.

There’s no priority for applying early in the application period, which typically runs for the last three weeks of January. (This year, the deadline has been extended to February 5 due to bad weather that forced the cancellation of open houses and tours.)

 

Question: We’re not happy with our base school. We’re interested in magnet schools, but we’ve heard good things about a nearby year-round school, too. (Our base school is neither.) What is likely to happen if we apply to our “calendar option” and also fill out the magnet application for the same student?

Answer: Students who have applied to both a year-round school and a magnet school will first be considered for the year-round school; filling these is a higher priority for WCPSS than filling magnet schools. But if the year-round school lacks space for the student, that student’s magnet application is then processed. And that student is still placed on a wait list for the year-round school.

If that student’s magnet options are also full, the student is placed on a waiting list for his or her top-choice magnet option. So it’s possible to be on two waiting lists at the same time. However, it’s more likely that the student will be assigned to the second- or third-choice magnet option.

You might be hurting a student’s chances of being assigned to a magnet school if you also complete an application for a year-round school. Not only is the year-round application processed first, but the same rule applies to both types of application: if the student’s application to any school is successful, he or she is then assigned to that school. There’s no option to reject the assignment and return to the base school because the base-school assignment is cancelled anytime an application to another WCPSS school is accepted.

The only option to return to the base school for a student who has been assigned to a magnet or calendar-option school is via the transfer request process. But as long as a student is on a waiting list for a school, there’s still hope of enrolling there.

 

Question: We’re new in town. Our new neighbors have spoken highly of the school that’s right around the corner from us. How do we enroll our rising kindergartner for the upcoming school year?

Answer: First of all, your child must be 5 years old by August 31 in order to start kindergarten in North Carolina, per state law. If your child meets the age requirement, take these steps as soon as possible, even if the first day of school is still months away. The school needs plenty of time to plan for the number of students they’ll have:

  1. Go to this page to verify your child’s base school by plugging in your address: http://wwwgis2.wcpss.net/addressLookup/
  2. Fill out the forms. Go to http://wcpss.net/enroll.
  3. Gather the required documentation:
    • a certified copy of the student’s birth certificate;
    • a recent utility bill (from within the past 30 days) that includes your address, as verification of your residence status;
    • the child’s immunization record;
    • your photo ID;
    • custody documents, if applicable.

4. Take all of this, plus the completed forms, to the base school during their office hours. The base school is where new students are enrolled.

 

Question: We’ve been notified that our child is on the waiting list for a magnet school. We figure it’s a long shot, so what happens if doesn’t get in? Do we have to do anything to make sure he can go to his base school in the fall?

Answer: Nope. If a student applies unsuccessfully to either a magnet or year-round school, his or her assignment is automatically changed back to the base school. That doesn’t mean that the student is dropped from the waiting list, however.

Interesting fact: students who are not assigned to their first-choice magnet, but who are assigned to their second-choice magnet, can still be on the waiting list for their first choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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