McAuliffe holds monthly lotteries, beginning in February, until all seats are filled in each grade. We continue to move down the waitlist as spots become available. We encourage you to be patient and not get discouraged. After each 10-day enrollment period, we assess our numbers and make additional offers if seats are available.
- Complete one lottery application per child entering grade 6, 7, or 8 for the next school year. A proof of residence in Massachusetts is a requirement of the application. Reasonable proof of residency includes a utility bill, mortgage bill, or signed lease. See section 2.b (p3). Families will receive an immediate email confirmation of application receipt.
- The day before the lottery, families will receive an email confirmation that confirms their child’s name and grade entering the lottery. Families are invited but not required to attend the lottery.
- Within two business days after the lottery, the school will notify families of an offer for admission or a spot on the waitlist. The school will notify families by email and mail, using the information provided on the admissions application.
- A family must decide to accept/decline the enrollment offer and complete the registration paperwork within 10 business days.
- After a family accepts the enrollment offer, a second email will be sent with a private registration link that must be completed within 10 business days of the offer date. Families are required to provide a signed record release form, and complete the online registration form to hold their child’s seat.
Unfortunately, no. If you have multiples and one child is accepted and others are on the waitlist, sibling preference will start when one of your children begins school at McAuliffe. If you are in this situation, please contact our Admissions Team: admissions@mcauliffecharter.org, 508-879-9000 x604.
Please submit a copy of your child’s current IEP or 504 plan as well as other relevant documentation (e.g., recent testing). If your child has an IEP, your child’s elementary school team may hold a transition meeting in the spring. Let us know the date of this meeting and we’ll try to have a member of our team attend. When you receive an updated IEP for middle school, submit this to McAuliffe so that we can best plan for your child’s transition. Our team will be in touch with you over the spring and summer, as needed. Finally, a transition meeting will be scheduled with your child’s McAuliffe team within your child’s first month attending the school. If your child has a 504 plan, your child’s grade level counselor will be in touch with you about implementation of their 504 plan at McAuliffe.
Some scholars at McAuliffe qualify to participate in our advanced math program which has them working a grade level above their current grade. Click to learn more about our math program. All other classes are heterogeneous; teachers design curriculum that offers choice and different levels of complexity and challenge. Additionally, many elements of the Framingham SAGE program are naturally part of McAuliffe’s expeditionary learning program.
We provide heritage speaker classes for scholars coming to us from a two-way or bilingual program, bilingual home, or having learned the language in another way. Curriculum focuses on reading fiction & nonfiction texts in Spanish, building fluency in conversational Spanish, and written language. Click here to learn more about our World Language program.
It is normal for your child to feel however they feel about the prospect of attending McAuliffe. Whether excited, anxious, or otherwise, their feelings are normal. As an adult, you are guiding your child to try something new and to step outside of their comfort zone as they transition to a middle school where many of their current classmates will not be next year. Think about it — social interactions matter SO much to 5th graders, that’s where they’re at developmentally — so by being concerned about going to a school different from some (or many) of their friends, your child is acting in a developmentally appropriate way.
Please know that McAuliffe teachers anticipate that your child may be nervous about meeting new classmates and going to a school different from their friends. As a result, teachers lead numerous team-building activities with their CREWS of about 12 scholars at the start of the year precisely for the purpose of helping scholars get to know others in their class in a guided way. Teachers also lead collaborative activities throughout the year so that scholars are regularly guided to work with new classmates and build relationships. CREW, advisory groups which meet DAILY, is the school structure which guides scholars to get quickly acclimated to the McAuliffe culture and community.
We use information from enrollment forms and report cards as well as conversations with elementary school counselors to learn about our incoming scholars and to create balanced classes and Crews. If you believe your child is a candidate for the advanced math program, your child should take the advanced math diagnostic test.
If you know that your child has a difficult history with another scholar in the incoming class, please let us know. You can email admissions@mcauliffecharter.org. Additionally, you’re welcome to share information with us about unique scholar relationships. While scholars often hope to be scheduled into Crew / classes with current friends, it is rare that we accept these sorts of requests.