High School Admissions

2008-2009 DSST Lottery Process

DSST only admits students in 9th and 10th grade

The Denver Public School board has approved a lottery process that serves to help us achieve our 40% low income admissions goal which serves to diversify our community and fulfill the DSST mission. DSST believes that a diverse community furthers the educational goals of the students and the school community. Students who qualify for the free/reduced lunch program, and provide documentation of this status, are classified as Morgridge Scholars, all other students are considered General Population. In order to be included in the lottery, students must submit an application for admission prior to the application deadline. Any applications received after the lottery, even those who would fall into the automatic admit category, will be classified by income and added to the bottom of the appropriate waitlists in the order they were received.

9th Grade Lottery Process
DSST will admit 140 students to our 9th grade class
using the following process:

Step 1:	All students who submitted an application on or prior to Feb. 11th, 2008 will be included in the lottery for 9th grade admission. The lottery for 9th grade will be conducted on Feb. 22nd, 2008. The applicant pool will be divided into three groups: Automatic Admits (see Step 2 for criteria), Morgridge Scholars (low income; same criteria that qualifies students for the Federal Free/Reduced Lunch Program) and General Population. All Morgridge Scholar applicants will have submitted a financial report as part of their admission application.
Step 2:	It is determined whether any of the applicants are residents of Stapleton (living in the 80238 zip code, WITH PROOF of residency; utility bill and/or purchase contract showing 2 earnest payments), siblings of students currently in attendance at DSST, children of faculty/staff, or “founding families" (children of individuals who participated on one of the four main committees that worked on the establishment of the school…Board of Directors, Advisory Board, Fundraising Board and Admissions Advisory Board). Then the student is admitted to the school. Once the lottery has been conducted, automatic admission no longer affects admission. Students who fall into the “Automatic Admission” category will be added to the appropriate waitlist, based on the financial documentation provided with the application.
Step 3:	All automatically admitted students will be classified by income as Morgridge Scholar or General Population. We will then determine the number of students needing to be drawn from the Morgridge Scholars lottery pool to achieve 40% low-income for the incoming class.
Step 4:	The lottery for Morgridge Scholars is then conducted. The number of students admitted will equal the amount of Morgridge Scholars needed to make up 40% of the 140 students. The remainder of the students will be placed on a waitlist in the order of the list generated by the lottery.
Step 5:	The lottery for General Population follows the Morgridge Scholar lottery. General Population students fill the remaining numbers of admission places to reach 140 students. The remainder of the students will be placed on a waitlist in the order of the list generated by the lottery.
Step 6:	During the week of Feb. 25th, 2008, all applicants will be contacted and informed of their status, either via letter sent to applicant home or e-mail. The correspondence will contain important information regarding additional admission steps. It is up to each family applying to ensure we have the correct contact information on file and that we are informed of any changes to this information. DSST is not responsible for notifications not received regarding a student’s admission status and loss of admission may result.
Step 7:	On Mar. 19th, 2008, all admitted students will participate in an intake interview. In order to remain eligible for admissions, students and at least one parent or guardian will need to participate in an intake interview on the designated date.
Step 8:	Students have until Apr. 2nd, 2008 to notify DSST of their decision to accept or decline the admission offer. No response will be considered a declination of the offer. After Apr. 2nd, 2008, DSST will begin contacting applicants on the appropriate waitlist to fill any slots available.
Step 9:	Students will be selected from waitlists according to the status of the admitted student(s) withdrawing from the admission process or declining the admission offer; maintaining 40% low-income students. For example, if a Morgridge Scholar declines admission the first student from the Morgridge Scholar waitlist will be offered the spot. If any automatic admits withdraw from the admissions process or decline an admissions offer, students will be taken from the waitlist(s) that correspond with the income status of the automatic admit that is declining the admission offer.
Notes:	All students offered admission into DSST will be expected to complete the entire admission process which includes participating in the 1.) Intake interview with at least one parent/guardian and submission of any supplemental materials requested at this time 2.) Families must inform us in writing of their admission decision, 3.) Students will need to complete some incoming student assessments and submit any supplemental materials requested at this time 4.) A parent/guardian needs to attend an orientation session, and 5.) If a student qualifies for any summer sessions they must attend. *Failure to complete all admission requirements may result in removal of student from the enrollment roster.* *Sibling Preference* for Automatic Admission is defined as an applicant having a currently enrolled sibling in the same household with the same legal guardian in the school 6 months prior to the lottery, or two applicants from the same family applying for the same grade.

10th Grade Lottery Process

There is no guarantee that we will be admitting additional students to the 10th grade class. The number of 10th grade openings will not be determined until the completion of the 2007- 2008 academic year.

DSST is following DPS policy for filling 10th grade openings. Any students who were on a waitlist from the previous year will be contacted and invited to update an application for the current year. WAITLIST NUMBERS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR ARE NOT CARRIED OVER. Any applications received and/or completed after the lottery, even those who would fall into the automatic admit category, will be classified by income and added to the bottom of the appropriate waitlists in the order they were received.

DSST will use the following process to re-order the 10th grade waitlist:

Step 1:	The waitlist will be re-ordered using a lottery process to include the newly submitted applications. In order to be included in the lottery, students must submit an application for admission prior to the application deadline, May 2nd, 2008. Students remaining on the 2007-2008 9th grade waitlist will be contacted in March and informed of the 10th grade lottery process. If students have a continued interest in being apart of the 10th grade lottery, they may need to submit additional components, this information will be communicated in the March correspondence. No response from previously waitlisted families will be considered a declination to remain on the waitlist. Any previously waitlisted or new applicants that wish to be added to the Morgridge Scholar waitlist must submit (or resubmit) a completed Income Verification form with their application. We are not responsible for correspondences that are not received by families, it is up to the family applying to keep us updated with the best contact information. .
Step 2:	The 10th grade waitlist lottery will take place on May 14th, 2008. The applicant pool will be divided into three groups: Automatic Admits (see Step 3 for criteria), Morgridge Scholars (low income; same criteria that qualifies students for the Federal Free/Reduced Lunch Program) and General Population. All Morgridge Scholar applicants will have submitted a financial report as part of their admission application.
Step 3:	It is determined whether any of the applicants are residents of Stapleton (living in the 80238 zip code WITH PROOF of residency; utility bill and/or purchase contract showing 2 earnest payments), siblings of students currently in attendance at DSST, children of faculty/staff, or “founding families” (children of individuals who participated on one of the four main committees that worked on the establishment of the school…Board of Directors, Advisory Board, Fundraising Board and Admissions Advisory Board). They are added to the Automatic Admit Waitlist. Once the lottery has been conducted, automatic admission no longer affects waitlist placement. Students that fall into the “Automatic Admission” category will be added to the appropriate waitlist, based on the financial documentation provided with the application.
Step 4:	A lottery for the Morgridge Scholars Waitlist is conducted.
Step 5:	A lottery for the General Population Waitlist is conducted.
Step 6:	Applicants will be contacted, informed of their new waitlist number and given further instructions about the admission process either via letter and/or email during the week of May 21st, 2008.
Step 7:	At the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, the number of 10th grade spots will be determined. If there are spots available we will start contacting and offering admission to students on the Automatic Admits waitlist. If there are still spots remaining, we will fill them with students from the Morgridge Scholars and General Population waitlist(s) according to the population breakdown, maintaining a 40% low-income population.
Step 8:	All potential 10th grade students, waitlisted and accepted, will be required to attend a student testing on June 10th, 2008.
Note:	All students offered admission into DSST will be expected to complete the entire admission process which includes participating in the 1.) Intake interview with at least one parent/guardian, 2.) Families must inform us in writing of their admission decision, 3.) Students will need to complete student assessments, 4.) A parent/guardian needs to attend an orientation session, and 5.) If a student qualifies for any summer sessions they must attend. Failure to complete all admission requirements may result in removal of student from the enrollment roster. *Failure to complete all admission requirements may result in removal of student from the enrollment roster.* *Sibling Preference* for Automatic Admission is defined as an applicant having a currently enrolled sibling in the same household with the same legal guardian in the school 6 months prior to the lottery, or two applicants from the same family applying for the same grade.