Admission & Lottery Process Summary

Application to and attendance at the Rocket Academy Dual-Credit Advanced Manufacturing Technical Education Center (Rocket Academy) is voluntary and no tuition is charged.

Application

1. Students that are currently enrolled at Rocket Academy will not need to reapply for their second year.

2. Parents will enroll their children by completing an application form.  Students who do not reside within the Cedar Grove-Belgium School District must also complete the state open-enrollment process and be accepted by the district.  

3. A parent/guardian is encouraged to attend an informational meeting or visit the Rocket Academy in order to ensure an understanding of the nature and work of the school.

4. A student who withdraws and later wishes to enroll again will need to reapply and will have no priority over students applying for the first time.

Available Space

1. The Rocket Academy Governing Board will set the enrollment limits by December 1 for the following school year.

2. The special needs of current CGBSD students will be met according to the goals of their IEP (Individualized Education Program). The Cedar Grove Belgium School District will provide needed special education services as appropriate.  Before the open enrollment period opens annually, the CGBSD will decide if they are accepting additional students with IEPs. Admission to Rocket Academy depends upon the open enrollment acceptance into the district.

3. Beginning September 1, students may enroll and attend Rocket Academy as space permits. 

4. Waiting list from previous year is used to first place applicants into open seats before the lottery begins.  If there are no open seats, the applicants remain on the waiting list in their existing order.

5. Preferences are given to students in this order: 

1. Are children of full-time Rocket Academy teachers and staff, Governance Board members, or school’s founders (not to exceed 10% of the overall enrollment) (Preference Group 1)

2. Siblings of a currently enrolled student(s) (Preference Group 2)

6. If the number of applicants exceeds the available seats, families will be notified and a lottery will be employed in accordance with the lottery protocols below.

Lottery Protocols

• The lottery will be held on the 4th Tuesday of every April at the monthly Governing Board meeting. Applications will be accepted until 12:00 PM that day and the drawing will occur at 4:00 PM. Applications received after 12:00 PM on lottery day or anytime thereafter will be placed, in order of receipt, at the end of the waitlist established by the lottery.

• The lottery will be broadcast live online and recorded and kept on file for one calendar year.

• All applicants of the same family will be assigned one “Family Number”.  Numbers will be assigned in alphabetical order of the family’s last name.

• Numbered items will be placed in a drum or similar container for drawing.  If there are siblings, multiple, matching numbered items (1 per sibling) will be placed in the drum.   Siblings will be given concurrent priority.

• A Governance Board representative will draw numbered items from the drum or similar container.  

• Students gaining a seat via the lottery will be contacted with 48 hours of the drawing.

• Once contacted, accepted students must accept or decline within two weeks.  Declined seats are given to students on the waiting list in the order determined by the lottery.

• The names of students on the waiting list will be recorded in the order in which they were drawn.

• The administration has the authority to accept more students if necessary to reach the targeted enrollment or students with enrollment preferences for the current school year.