Lottery Information

Franklin Academy is a tuition-free public charter school for North Carolina residents.

How the General Admission Lottery Works:

• Eligibility: To be eligible for the general lottery, the applicant must be domiciled in North Carolina during the time of the open application period. Proof of residency will be requested by the school at time of enrollment. To enroll, children must be 5 years old by August 31 of the year they are enrolling.

• In accordance with North Carolina Charter School law (§115C‑218.45), siblings of currently enrolled students are given preference to positions that become available.   Once all siblings are placed, the General Admissions lottery list will be utilized to fill any remaining positions for enrollment. Once all available spots have been filled, the remaining applicants will be placed on a general admissions waiting list.

Ranking Order of Enrollment Priorities:  Any unfilled positions that open up between the completion of the lottery process and September of the next school year will be filled as follows: 

1. First by children on our sibling waiting list (if applicable) and
2. Second by children on our general admission waiting list
3. Children of full-time employees and board members are automatically admitted, as long as this preference does not surpass 15% of the overall student enrollment of the school.

• The lottery will be held within two weeks of the application deadline for the enrollment period.
• All applications received by the application deadline are sorted by the grade level being applied for.
• The lottery will be open to the public.

Procedure for Lottery: Using a computerized random number generating system, each application is assigned a placement number. This placement number determines the order of admittance into the Franklin Academy for the following school year.

• Positions are assigned on the basis of availability.  Should a position become available, there is a 7-business day response window.
• If a child does not receive a position for the school year in which he or she has applied, a new application must be filed in order to be considered for admission for the next school year.  All waiting lists are purged annually and do not carry over from year to year.

How the Sibling Lottery Works:

• In accordance with North Carolina Charter School law (§ 115C-218.45 (g)(2)), siblings of currently enrolled students are given preference to positions that become available. Once all siblings are placed, the General Admissions lottery list will be utilized to fill any remaining positions for enrollment. Once all available spots have been filled, the remaining applicants will be placed on a general admission waiting list.

• The law defines a sibling to include half sibling, step siblings, and children residing in a family foster home who are residing in the same household as the currently enrolled student. Siblings living in separate homes are not eligible under the sibling priority for enrollment. Siblings must reside in the same household at least 50% of the time. In order to be eligible for sibling preference, a sibling must be considered a legal sibling (as determined by NC law) on or before the day of the lottery.

• To be eligible for the sibling lottery, the applicant must be domiciled in North Carolina during the time of the open application period. Proof of residency will be requested by the school at time of enrollment.

• The sibling application period begins in October of the year prior to the application year.

• Information regarding sibling application availability and deadlines will be sent out to parents via email and text alert.

• The sibling lottery occurs on the same day as the General Admissions Lottery and is a separate lottery from the General Admissions Lottery.

• All sibling applications received by the application deadline are sorted based on the grade level being applied for.

• The sibling lottery will be open to the public.

Procedure for Lottery  

Using a computerized random number generating system, each application is assigned a placement number. This placement number determines the order of admittance into the Franklin Academy for the following school year.

• Positions are assigned on the basis of availability.  Should a position become available there is a 7-business day response window.

• If a child does not receive a position for the school year in which they have applied, a new application must be filed in order to be considered for admission for the next school year.  All waiting lists are purged annually and do not carry over from year to year.

Application and Lottery Procedures for Multiple Birth Siblings

• In accordance with North Carolina Charter School law (§ 115C-218.45 9(g)(2)), the charter school shall enter one surname into the lottery to represent all of the multiple birth siblings. If that surname of the multiple birth siblings is selected, then all of the multiple birth siblings shall be admitted.

• Parents/guardians of multiple birth siblings (i.e. twins, triplets, etc.) seeking admission into the Franklin Academy should complete one application for each multiple-birth sibling and denote “multiple birth sibling” on each application.

• At the time of the lottery, one number will be assigned to each Multiple Birth Sibling application.

• Multiple birth siblings who have a currently enrolled sibling in the Franklin Academy will be included as a part of the sibling lottery.

• Multiple birth siblings who DO NOT have a currently enrolled sibling in the Franklin Academy will be included as a part of the General Admission Lottery.

• See above for specific lottery procedures. 

Applications Received after the Lottery

• Applications submitted after the open enrollment period and lottery will be placed at the bottom of the respective grade level waiting lists, regardless of sibling status.

Application and Lottery Timeline: 

*Each application receives a unique number for the lottery. Franklin Academy does not display names or personal information to the general public at any time.

**Families have not accepted seats until they have completed and submitted the admissions form by the specified deadline. No response by the specified deadline is considered a declined seat. Franklin Academy will offer all declined seats to applicants placed on the waiting list, in the order determined by the Lottery.