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Admission Process

Admission Process For the Beginning of Each School Year

Enrollment in ODP is open to students from anywhere in the Rogue Valley. Parents provide transportation for students living outside the Talent Elementary boundaries. Families who reside outside the Phoenix-Talent School District who are selected to participate in the ODP are responsible for obtaining a release from their home district. Admission is by grade-level lottery. An open house and information night are held in the spring, and interested families may place their names in the lottery for admission to the school at any time during the school year. The enrollment cap is determined by the school district administration and is currently set at nine students in each of the six grade levels.  Any students not selected in the lottery will be placed on grade-level waiting lists (see below).

To be considered for admission to the ODP, all students must submit an ODP Application Form by the deadline established and advertised by the District. They must also meet the following criteria:

  • The student’s birthday meets the September 1st cut-off for the current kindergarten year.  Placement for students outside the regular kindergarten cut-off dates will be determined by the building principal in collaboration with the ODP teachers.  (Students who would normally be entering first grade will need administrative approval to enter the ODP lottery for kindergarten; the same goes for students who would normally enter kindergarten the following year).

  • The family has attended Kinder Launch at one of the elementary schools in the district, or, if the family resides outside the district, they have communicated their interest with the TES office staff.

  • The family has attended the ODP Open House OR scheduled a classroom visit and met with a representative from the ODP Parent Advisory Committee.

  • In the event that an interested student has an IEP through Child Development, the Transition Team will determine whether ODP would be an appropriate placement.

Admission preference into the ODP will be in the following priority order:

1. For students not currently enrolled in ODP grades 1st through 5th, students will be placed in that grade level (or on the grade level waiting list if there are no available spots) in the order of application. Siblings of current students and incoming Kindergartners receive first priority preference if there is available space at their respective grade level. Recent additions to families (i.e.: step-children/adopted children) qualify as siblings under this policy. If there is not space at that grade level, the sibling or siblings will be placed at the top of the waiting list.

2. For incoming kindergarten students, spots in the ODP will be filled using a lottery that will be conducted at Talent Elementary School each June. The lottery procedure will be as follows:

  • Siblings of students currently enrolled in the ODP will receive first priority and will be automatically enrolled in the kindergarten program.

  • Gender balance is a consideration for kindergarten enrollment.  An equal number of spots will be reserved for boys and girls in the kindergarten program.  If there are not enough male or female applicants to fill the allotted spots, the other gender will be used to fill the remaining spots.

  • When a family has multiple children in the kindergarten lottery, if one child’s name is drawn, at that point the sibling(s) are enrolled in the kindergarten program. Additionally, any older siblings that are applicants to the ODP will be enrolled at their respective grade level.  If no openings are available, their names will be placed at the top of the waiting list for their grade level.

  • When all of the openings for kindergarten are filled, a drawing is held of the remaining applicants, and the names are placed in order to create a kindergarten waiting list.

  • Notification of lottery results will be mailed to each family.

  • Families will be informed of their placement into ODP or their place on the waiting list before the end of the first week of June.  Families will then have a week to accept or decline their spot and must sign a letter stating their intention.  The waiting list for each grade level will roll up from one year to the next and students will remain on the list until, a) a spot becomes available, or, b) the parent asks for the student’s name to be removed. 

  • Barring unforeseen circumstances, the expectation is that once a family accepts admission into the ODP, the student will remain in the program through the last grade level for which the program is offered (currently 5th grade).

  • Frequently, a family will be interested in both the Two-Way Immersion Program (TWI), and ODP.  If a family accepts a spot in the TWI program, their student will be removed from the ODP waiting list.

Admissions Process After the Start of a School Year

After the lottery process has been completed and an opening in the ODP occurs, the first name on the waiting list for that grade level becomes eligible to fill the spot, pursuant to the criteria below.  If the parent chooses not to place their child in the ODP at that time, the student’s name will go to the bottom of the waiting list or will be removed if the parent wishes.

Families interested in enrolling their children may place their names on the waiting list for any grade level at any time by contacting the administrator of the ODP.  When an opening occurs during the school year and there are no names on the waiting list for that grade, the administrator may select a student from an adjacent grade on a waiting list to fill the opening.

The criteria for determining whether a student will be moved to the ODP after the school year has started shall be as follows:

  • Openings at any grade level that occur during the month of September may be filled by replacing the departing student with one of the same grade level and gender as soon as is practical.  If there are no students on that grade level’s wait list of the corresponding gender, an opposite-gendered student will be placed.

  • Openings at any grade level that occur after September but before the end of the 2nd Quarter may be filled by replacing the departing student with one of the same grade level and gender at the beginning of the 2nd or 3rd Quarter.  If there are no students on that grade level’s wait list of the corresponding gender, an opposite-gendered student will be placed.

  • Openings in Grades 3-5 that occur during the 3rd Quarter may be filled by replacing the departing student with one of the same grade level and gender at the beginning of the 4th Quarter.  If there are no students on that grade level’s wait list of the corresponding gender, an opposite-gendered student will be placed.  

  • Grade K-2 openings that occur during the 3rd Quarter will remain vacant through the end of the school year.

  • Openings that occur at any grade level during the 4th Quarter will remain vacant through the end of the school year.

Removal

While the ODP provides a great educational option for most students to thrive and be successful, it is not a perfect fit for all children.  On rare occasions, it may become necessary to consider removing a student from the ODP.  In that event, the following process shall be followed:

  1. One or more ODP staff members should indicate in writing (email or on paper) to the TES principal and ODP Administrator that they have concerns about a student’s ability to be successful in the ODP.  It should include specific concerns with related incidents and/or examples.

  2. Upon receipt of such written communication, the TES principal and ODP administrator (with the possible inclusion of a school behavior specialist, SpEd teacher, or other personnel appropriate to the situation) will confer and determine a time when one or more of them can conduct an observation to gain more information about the student and situation(s).  They will also interview the student to get more information and the student’s perspective.

  3. Following the observation, the administrators will meet with the ODP staff members to share their initial observations and opinions.  The team will develop a plan to support the student and a quantifiable goal(s) with associated timelines to gauge possible student improvement.

  4. An administrator will contact the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) to notify them of the concerns and the plan that has been drafted.

  5. When the team reconvenes per the established timeline to review the progress of the student, the following outcomes will be considered:

    1. The student has fully met the goals of the support plan and supports will be removed.

    2. The student is making some progress toward the goal(s), but the team recommends ongoing and/or additional support.  They will establish a date to review the new plan.

    3. The student is not making adequate progress toward the goal(s).  If this is the case, the team will move to step 6 below.

  6. In the event that the student is not making adequate progress, the following will occur:

    1. A meeting will be scheduled with the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) as soon as is practicable.  The results of the goal review will be shared with the parent(s)/guardian(s) at this meeting.  

    2. The team, including the parent(s)/guardian(s) will draft a new support plan for the student, again with quantifiable goals and timelines.

    3. The parent(s)/guardian(s) will be advised that if adequate progress is not made by the student on this new plan, the district may elect to remove the student from the ODP.

  7. When the team (including the parent(s)/guardian(s)) reconvenes per the established timeline to review the progress of the student, the following outcomes will be considered:

    1. The student has fully met the goals of the support plan and supports will be removed.

    2. The student is making some progress toward the goal(s), but the team recommends ongoing and/or additional support.  They will establish a date to review the new plan.

    3. The student is not making adequate progress toward the goal(s).  If this is the case, move to step 8 below.

  8. The TES principal and ODP administrator will meet to make a determination about the student’s placement.  The following options will be considered:

    1. The student will be removed from the ODP on a specified timeline.  In this case the student will either be placed in another classroom at TES, or returned to their home school for class placement as appropriate.

    2. The student may be granted an extension to attempt to reach the team’s goals.  The administrators may add additional support options in this case.  A timeline will be established to review the student’s progress (see step 7).

  9. The administration will notify the ODP staff and the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) in writing as to their decision.  If the decision is to remove the student from the ODP, the parent(s)/guardian(s) may elect to appeal the decision to the District Superintendent.  The Superintendent’s decision will be final.

  10. At any point in this process, the parent may elect to have the student removed from the ODP and placed in either another TES classroom, or their home school as appropriate.