Enrollment

The Grove School is a free and public charter school.  Enrollment is open to any student who is applying for any grade level between grades 7 and 12.  Please read the instructions about the enrollment process carefully and keep track of the key dates.  

Enrollment by Public Random Drawing

Under California state law, enrollment to The Grove School is governed by a Public Random Drawing (PRD). In early Spring, The Grove School conducts its PRD for admission to the school for the following academic year. In order to be part of the PRD, a family must complete a lottery packet. For the 2019-20 school year, this packet must be completed and turned into the office by March 8, 2019, before 5 pm. Each completed application will be assigned a number, and during the PRD, numbers will be drawn at random.

Typically, The Grove School receives applications in excess of the number of spaces available. Those students who do not get picked in the PRD for the spaces available will be placed on a waiting list*. Students on the waiting list may be invited to join The Grove School at any point during the school year, if space becomes available. If the student is not admitted by the time of the PRD for the following school year, they must re-submit an application to be considered for admittance. Students on the waiting list for 2018-2019 do not have priority admission for 2019-2020.

Applications and Submission Dates

Parents have to submit an Enrollment Interest Form. Every family that submitted an Interest Enrollment Form will receive a letter with detailed instructions from the Grove School at the end of January 2019. Parents will be able to pick up lottery packets starting February 11, 2019. All packets need to be returned by March 8, 2019 before 5 pm. Families that have not submitted a completed lottery packet by March 8, 2019 will not enter the lottery.

The lottery will take place in the Barton Schoolhouse on March 27, 2019 at 7 pm. The schoolhouse is located at 1775 Orange Street, Redlands.  This address is between Iowa and Nevada Streets and in Heritage Park – navigation often has difficulty with the address, so proceed through links, if possible. Parents and students are welcome and encouraged to attend the lottery, but attendance not mandatory.

If you are unable to attend the lottery you will receive a letter informing you of your student’s enrollment or placement on the official waiting list for the 2019-2020 school year.

Please do not call the school regarding the results of the lottery.   Information will not be verified over the phone.  All correspondence regarding lottery results will be done in writing.

In the event that the number of students seeking admission exceeds the Charter School’s maximum enrollment, The Grove School shall grant preference in the lottery to students in the following order:

1. Children of The Grove School faculty who are residents of the District
2. Children of The Grove School faculty who are not residents of the District
3. Siblings of current students at The Grove School who are residents of the District
4. Siblings of current students at The Grove School who are not residents of the District
5. Students who reside within the attendance boundaries of Mission Elementary School
6. Students with prior Montessori experience who are residents of the District
7. Students with prior Montessori experience who are not residents of the District
8. All other District residents
9. All other applicants

“Faculty” is defined as full-time teaching faculty/staff who work 30 hours or more per week at The Grove School.

At the conclusion of the lottery, all students who were not granted admission due to capacity shall be given the option to put their name on a wait list according to their draw in the lottery. This wait list will allow students the option of enrollment in the case of an opening during the current school year. In no circumstance will a wait list carry over to the following school year.