• 2024-2025 Arizona Enrollment Policies & Procedures
• 2024-2025 Políticas y procedimientos para la inscripción en las academias Great Hearts

• 2025-2026 Arizona Enrollment Policies & Procedures
• 2025-2026 Políticas y procedimientos para la inscripción en las academias Great Hearts

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As public tuition-free charter schools in Arizona, Great Hearts is subject to open enrollment laws. Typically, our academies receive more applications for enrollment than there are seats available. If this is the case for any grade level at an academy, a lottery will be held. Students who are not admitted through the lottery process will be placed on a waitlist and may be offered admission during that year if a seat becomes available.

In early fall, all current waitlisted students have the opportunity to rollover in advance of the lottery for the following school year. After the Rollover Period ends, the Open Enrollment Period begins with new applications accepted during the designated window which are then entered into the lottery in the beginning of the year.

Any students who submit their applications after the expiration of the Open Enrollment Period will be placed on a first-come, first-served basis, and given a seat after those who applied during open enrollment and who are rollover students.

Enrollment Timeline Overview

Non-Discrimination Policy:

Great Hearts Academies does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:

504 Coordinator:
Christiana Challoner, Exceptional Student Service Director
701 N. 44th St.
Phoenix, AZ 85008
602.438.7045

Title IX Coordinator:
Melissa Penniman, Title I Executive Director
4801 E. Washington St., Suite 250.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Phone: 602.438.7045

General Enrollment Overview:

Great Hearts Academies, as public charter academies in Arizona, are subject to open enrollment laws. Typically, academies receive more applications for enrollment than there are seats available. If this is the case for any grade level at an academy, a lottery will be held. Students who are not admitted through the lottery process will be placed on a waitlist and may be offered enrollment during in the future if a seat becomes available. In early fall, any current waitlisted student has the opportunity to rollover in advance of the lottery to the following school year. After rollover ends, the open-enrollment period begins with new applications accepted during the designated window which are then entered into the lottery in the beginning of the year. Any students who submit their applications after the expiration of the open-enrollment period will be ordered on a first-come first-served basis.

• Rollover: previous year’s waitlisted applications electing to remain on the waitlist for the upcoming school year (not all applications are eligible)
• Open Enrollment: applications submitted in the open enrollment period that is eligible for the lottery
• Post Open Enrollment: applications submitted after the open-enrollment period, not eligible for lottery and processed on first-come, first-served basis
• Re-Enrollment: current students who plan to return the following academic school year for the next grade level at the same academy (does not apply to students in exit grades)

Enrollment Timeline:

The following is a general timeline for offers to be extended to students who submit applications for the next school year. Specific dates will be added to the main GHA website (greatheartsamerica.org) each year before open enrollment begins.

Rollover Policy and Period – Fall, prior to school year

If a student is not offered a spot for the current school year, and the student’s waitlisted application is eligible to rollover to the next school year waitlist, the academy/enrollment department will contact the parents/guardians before open enrollment for the following school year begins. This will allow the parents/guardians to roll the application over to the next school year’s waitlist. The family will receive an email confirming the rollover occurred with the student information of academy, rollover grade, and also student name and DOB.

If parents/guardians rollover, they will not have to reapply for the next school year, and the application will move down the waitlist with other rollover applications. These rollover applications will be ahead of new, incoming, non-prioritized applications submitted for that school year during the open enrollment and post open enrollment period. It is crucial that families do not miss the rollover deadline set by the Lead Office and academy to ensure the student’s application is moved to the next year’s wait list.

If, after a family chooses to roll over an application to the following school year, the student receives an offer from an academy in the current school year, the roll over application will be canceled from the next year’s waitlist. Per Great Hearts policies, offers are continuously given on an as-needed based on current students withdrawing and positions that are available for a particular academy and grade. When an offer is given to a family from the waitlist, even after the school year has begun, the family must accept at that time to attend a Great Hearts academy.

Applications cannot roll over from one academy to another. For example, waitlisted 5th grade applications for Archway Veritas cannot be rolled over to 6th grade at Veritas Prep. Furthermore, applications received after August 15th for the current school year are NOT eligible to roll over onto the waitlist for the next school year.

Open Enrollment Policy and Period- Fall, prior to school year

Any application submitted during the open enrollment period is eligible for a lottery. When academies receive more applications than there are seats available, a lottery is held to help order a waitlist and keep the offers given for grade positions fair. The lottery assigns a random number to each application and then the applications are ordered on the waitlist based on the lottery number, application type and also priority status. Each academy and grade level runs an independent lottery. The family will receive an email confirming the open enrollment application with the student information of academy, application grade, and also student name and DOB.

Post Open Enrollment Policy and Period-After Open Enrollment period

Any applications submitted after open enrollment period through the upcoming school year. These applications are not eligible for the lottery and processed on a first-come, first-served basis on the waitlist. The family will receive an email confirming the post-open enrollment application with the student information of academy, application grade, and also student name and DOB.

Re-enrollment Policy and Period- Early Spring of current school year

Any guardian/parent of a current student who plans to return the following school year at the same academy must fill out re-enrollment paperwork to confirm the student’s intent to return. During the re-enrollment period, once a parent/guardian withdraws from the enrollment system or a withdrawal form is turned into the front office of where the student is attending during any period, the academy can offer that position to another student waiting to receive an offer. The family will receive an email confirming the re-enrollment completion or withdrawal after the online re-enrollment registration is e-signed and submitted by the parent and accepted by the academy; it will include the name of academy, re-enrollment grade, student name and DOB.

Students who are in exit grades at an academy do not fill out re-enrollment paperwork, but will need to fill out a new enrollment application to attend another Great Hearts academy.

Enrollment Application Submission Policies:

Enrollment for Possible Expelled Students/Expelled Students

A.R.S. §15-184(F) allows a charter academy to refuse to admit any pupil who has been expelled from another educational institution or who is in the process of being expelled from another educational institution.

Incorrect grade submission

Parents/guardians of the student must submit an enrollment application through the enrollment Parent Portal to be eligible for an offer from an individual academy. The parent/guardian must apply for the correct grade for the enrollment year to which they are applying since each grade level at each academy’s waitlist is independent from other waitlists.

Great Hearts cannot change the application grade for a student after the original application has been submitted due to AZ Charter laws. If the parent/guardian applies for the wrong grade, the parent must cancel the original enrollment application and apply again for the correct grade and be given a new submission date and waitlist number.

Editing/Adding an academy

Separately, if a parent/guardian wants to edit or add an additional academy to the original application, the new academy’s application will be submitted with the current day’s date and added to the waitlist. Editing an application or adding an academy will not affect the wait list position of previously submitted academies.

Duplicate applications

Great Hearts does not allow more than one application for an individual student at the same academy for the same/multiple grades because it is does not allow a fair and equitable enrollment process. If the Great Hearts’ enrollment team or front office of any academy finds a duplicate application for a student, the guardian/parent of the student will be notified to determine which application should canceled so there is only one valid application for that academy.

Kindergarten Enrollment Policy:

We follow state guidelines which stipulate that a child must turn 5 years old before September 1st in the year in which they are enrolled for Kindergarten. Our Archway academies do adhere to the state guidelines regarding the minimum age for Kindergarten, and exceptions are not made for early Kindergarten admittance. Also, we do not offer early entrance testing for Kindergarten.

Our standard Kindergarten offering is a ½ day program, which is funded in full by the State of Arizona and meets all state requirements. We also offer a tuition-based, extended-day Kindergarten program, which allows us to provide a full day of instruction to Kindergarten students.

Please contact the academy directly for more information.

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