Enrollment FAQs
Each charter school in North Carolina is open to any student who lives in the state. According to NC law, applicants must live in North Carolina at the time of application.
Excelsior Classical Academy is a public school that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religion, creed, gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
Our target population is any student living in the Durham area that desires a rigorous, college-preparatory classical education.
Excelsior Classical Academy is a K-12 school. Our first graduating class was the class of 2024!
No, Excelsior is a tuition-free public charter school.
North Carolina law says that students must be 5 years old on or before August 31 the year of entry to enroll in Kindergarten.
For information about early enrollment in Kindergarten in North Carolina, please visit https://stateboard.ncpublicschools.gov/policy-manual/kindergarten-early-childhood/standards-for-early-admission-to-kindergarten.
If you wish to follow the process to apply for early enrollment in Kindergarten at Excelsior, you must inform the school during the Open Enrollment period in December or January. Please read the information in the Application carefully to be sure that you meet all requirements and submit all required elements in a timely fashion. Note that application for early entry to Kindergarten does not guarantee that your child will be able to enroll early.
Most of the available positions will be in Kindergarten and ninth grade, but there may be a few openings in the other grades as well. You are encouraged to apply and get on the waitlist for this year. There will be approximately 96 positions available in Kindergarten.
What is the Lotterease Seal of Transparency and Fairness?
When you see the Seal on a school website, you can be confident that your application will be included in the school lottery in a fair and transparent way.
That is because Lotterease is an independent automated lottery system that the school uses to manage their lottery and waitlist. Since Lotterease is an independent system, the school staff do not have the ability to manipulate or adjust the lottery outcome. They must work within the requirements of the system.
In addition, all activity that takes place with your application is tracked in a history log that you can view at any time by logging into the parent portal.
If the school you want your child to attend displays the Lotterease Seal of Transparency and Fairness, you can rest assured that you child will get their fair chance to attend the school.
If there are more applicants than available spaces in a grade, NC state law requires that a lottery be held to fill that grade. Lotteries are generally required for each grade at Excelsior.
When Excelsior’s lotteries are run, Lotterease places applicants in a preference category first in random order, and then all other students in random order. However many applicants can be accommodated by the number of empty slots are selected for admission immediately. Those applicants have 10 days at first to confirm in Lotterease and return the registration packet to claim the slot. Near the start of school, admitted applicants have only 2 days to confirm and register. (Applicants can also call or come to the school within the allotted time, and school personnel will confirm for them in Lotterease. Registration packets must still be turned in within the time limit.)
If applicants decline or fail to confirm within the allotted time, they are removed from the roster and the next applicant moves into the vacant spot.
To view the Lotterease Parent Handbook, with step-by-step instructions and screen shots, click here.
This does happen sometimes. The reason for downward movement is the sibling preference option. Siblings who have run together in a lottery move to the top of their wait lists when their primary applicant sibling accepts a seat at the school. When this happens, everyone else moves down. It is frustrating, but don’t give up!
Siblings include, per NC GS § 115C-218.45F, any of the following who reside in the same household: siblings, half siblings, step-siblings, and foster children.
Siblings of any student admitted in the current year will have enrollment preference the next school year.
Multiple-birth siblings (twins, triplets, etc.) each must be registered in Lotterease and entered into the appropriate lottery. If one multiple-birth sibling is randomly selected, all multiple-birth siblings will be admitted or placed in the same position on the waiting list.
Families may choose to submit a family (Surname) application for all siblings in a household. With this option, if a lottery is required, all siblings in a household will be entered under a single lottery number. If the number is randomly selected during the lottery, all of the children on the application are selected at the same time. If there is still space in any sibling’s respective grade, that child will be admitted. If there is not, the child will be placed on the waitlist at that time.
No, but they must fill out and turn in an Intent to Return form in January in order to reserve their spots for the following year.
Yes, all new students must fill out applications, including siblings of enrolled students.
No, they get priority enrollment but are not guaranteed a spot. If there are more siblings of current students than available spots in the necessary grades, siblings, who get preference, are placed, in random order to fill the available positions. Any siblings who did not get seats would be placed, in random order, on the wait-lists for their grades. Students without a preference will be placed on wait-lists after the siblings in random order.
Who gets preference in the lottery?
In accordance with school policy and § 115C-218.45(f), the following groups receive preference in our lottery: (1) children or grandchildren of full time staff and board members, (2) siblings of currently enrolled students who were admitted to the charter school in a previous year, (3) siblings of students who have completed the highest grade level offered by that school and who were enrolled in at least four grade levels offered by Excelsior Classical Academy, (4) applicants who were enrolled in a charter school in the State in the previous school year, and (5) applicants whose parent or legal guardian is on active military duty.
Preference means that children entered into the lottery within these groups run through the lottery first, before the general population of applicants.
Yes. Sometimes a student will leave Excelsior during the school year. We may or may not open up the spot to fill from the waitlist, depending on the time of the year, grade level, and other factors. We will usually allow a new Kindergartner in until the end of January, and may accept a student from the waitlist in higher grades through mid-December. A student accepted during the year has 48 hours to confirm acceptance of the spot in Lotterease. Registration papers must be submitted within two subsequent days.
You should fill out a Withdrawal and Records Request Form and give it to your child’s previous school. The previous school will send your child’s records to Excelsior. Kindergarten students who attended preschool do not have to withdraw or obtain records.
We have tours scheduled each week during the Open Enrollment period and in the weeks following the lottery. Please click on the “How to Apply” button on the Home page to see the current list of tours and information sessions.
