California Montessori Project (CMP) admits new students through a public, random lottery draw. For more information, please see our Admissions Policy.
Transitional Kindergarten (TK), Kindergarten (K) & 1st Grade Minimum Age Requirements:
- TK: Must turn 4 by September 1, 2025
- K: Must turn 5 by September 1, 2025
- 1st Grade: Must turn 6 by September 1, 2025
Lottery Application Process/Application Window:
-
Applications for the lottery are made available and submitted through SchoolMint and must be submitted by the child's legal parent or guardian.
- During the open application period, January through March, families will be asked to create a SchoolMint account. Set your SchoolMint communication preferences to receive both email and text notifications. Please also check your spam folder.
- After an account is created, families will need to create an application for each child they wish to be part of the lottery and/or put on the waitlist. All areas of the application must be completed or the application is not valid and will not be accepted by SchoolMint.
- Preferences available and submitted within the application will be validated by the Registrar. Requested uploads are mandatory for eligible preferences. See our Admissions Policy for more details.
- The application will be automatically placed into the lottery pool via SchoolMint and shuffled based on the Enrollment Preferences listed in our CMP charter documents.
- The lottery applications will re-open after the lotteries have concluded. The application window will be opened at all of our CMP campuses, for all grade levels. As new students apply, new applicants will be moved to their priority waitlist (siblings, Montessori experience, in-district, etc.) in the order applications are received.
CMP’s Lottery:
- Following the posted application due date, CMP will hold an annual public lottery draw for TK-8th grade.
- To be included in the lottery, applications must be submitted no later than Application submission due date (see dates above).
- The public random lottery draw shall adhere to all California State regulations regarding Charter law as well as the Enrollment Preferences listed in our CMP charter documents.
- The public random lottery draw is performed by a member of CMP’s Central Administration Team live and through the use of the SchoolMint platform.
Lottery Process following the Lottery Draw:
- Following the Lottery Draw, Student Services and the Registrar verifies the results.
- If your child is selected in the lottery draw, you will receive an email offer communication.
- You will have exactly three days to accept or decline the seat. If you do not respond within the three day period, your child’s offer will be automatically rescinded.
- Please make sure you have your SchoolMint communication account preferences set up to receive both email and text notifications. Please also check your spam folder.
- If you are applying to multiple campuses and offered an open seat at more than one campus, you will be asked to choose one campus within three days.
- Campuses you applied to, that were ranked above the campus you accepted the seat to, but not pulled for an open seat, will remain waitlisted up until school starts. Once school begins and a student has accepted a seat, registered and is attending a CMP campus, other outstanding campus applications in waitlist standing will be rescinded. (Unless you are not new to CMP, have attended a CMP school campus for a year, and are requesting a transfer through the lottery draw)
- Students are required to stay at the selected campus for one school year prior to requesting a transfer to another campus. Transfer requests must go through the lottery, are not guaranteed, and are eligible to receive the “inter-campus transfer" preference offered in our Admission Policy.
Registration: Begins after Lottery for those offered a seat:
- Once you accept an open seat offer, a SchoolMint communication with directions for completing Registration will immediately follow.
- If the registration information is not completed by the due date, your child’s offer will be rescinded. All requested forms must be completed and verified by staff to be registered.
- Birth certificates, up-to-date immunizations, and an oral health report are required for Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten students (and students who are entering the public-school system for the first time). Students may not begin school until these items are completed. Students entering 7th grade must have proof of updated immunizations.
- Following registration, the communication platform used by CMP is ParentSquare. ParentSquare information will not be provided to new families until August or shortly following registration if the school year is already in session. Families will be provided beginning of the year information and additional forms via ParentSquare the first week of school.
- Beginning of the year forms contain important CMP policies and procedures. It is very important for families to read and acknowledge these policies and procedures. Families are to refer to the CMP calendar and schedule vacations during school breaks, as attendance is mandatory when school is in session.
Waitlist:
- During the lottery, each campus may pull for open seats and also a waitlist. Waitlists are maintained through the Enrollment Preferences listed in our CMP charter documents.
- As openings occur at a campus and grade level, CMP will continue to contact applicants in the order produced in the SchoolMint lottery waitlists.
- Openings can occur prior to the start of school, during the school year, and up until the next lottery. In no circumstance will a waitlist carry over to the following school year.
If you feel that you have been discriminated against in any way during the lottery or enrollment process, encouraged not to enroll or persuaded to disenroll or transfer your CMP student, click here to view information on the enrollment complaint notice.
