• Enrollment Policy

    Pensar Academy is an open-enrollment, tuition-free public charter school that operates based on a contract with their authorizer. This policy outlines ’s enrollment and admission practices. If you have any questions related to the information outlined herein, please contact the school’s Principal at the campus.  encourages potential students or families to attend interviews, informational meetings, or tours at any campus of interest to learn more about us. Please note that attending interviews, meetings, or tours is not a requirement or a condition of admission or enrollment.  widely informs the community about the opportunity to enroll at Pensar Academy.  Pensar Academy enrolls all eligible students who submit a timely application provided the school has capacity. If the school receives more applications than the number of available seats, offers enrollment based upon an equitable selection process which includes a lottery followed by a first-come, first-serve method.

    Open enrollment begins every January 1 for the following school year.  

    Returning Students

    Current students returning to the same campus for the following school year will not enroll during the open enrollment period. Re-enrollment of returning students occurs annually after the lottery is completed. Returning students will receive priority and are guaranteed a seat in the next grade level so long as enrollment is completed in a timely manner.  Returning students must submit their updated re-enrollment applications generally by the end of January prior to the results of the new applicant lottery, which occur at the end of the open enrollment period. Any returning students that do not complete their re-enrollment application prior to the end of designated period will be subject to first-come, first-serve enrollment and may lose their spot.

    Per Arizona law, parents must update and/or verify all information with a newly completed registration packet annually. This includes the verification and/or update of residency information.

    Lottery Procedure

    If the number of applicants exceeds the available seats:

    1.  A random lottery will be conducted transparently on January 30 of each school year.
    2.  The lottery will be held publicly, with families notified of date, time, and location at least two weeks in advance.
    3.  The lottery drawing will be held by an independent auditor using a bingo ball draw.  The auditor will provide an attestation and the method summary in addition to the list.  
    4.  Families whose students are selected in the lottery are notified via email or other communication and must accept the offered seat within a specified timeframe of three weeks from the lottery date. If they do not, the spot is offered to the next student on the waitlist.
    5.  Preferences will be limited to siblings of students already admitted to or attending the same charter school;

    All students not selected in the lottery will be placed on a waitlist in the order their number was drawn.


    Waitlist Procedure

    The waitlist will be managed through the following procedures:

    1.  Waitlists will be maintained for the current school year only.
    2.  As seats become available, offers of admission will be extended to students in waitlist order. 
    3.  The offers will be in written and verbal (phone contact) forms.
    4.  All enrollment policies, timelines, and lottery procedures will be posted on the school website, available at the school office, and communicated through recruitment and outreach efforts.