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PROGRAM PRACTICE:
Promote Parental Understanding of Lottery System
To make the Portland Public School’s (PPS) choice system and the lottery placement process as transparent as possible, the district created an informational webpage for families. The site encourages families to “Explore Your Options,” “Find a School,” and “Make a Choice” by providing:
- school-specific data,
- “how to’s” of the lottery process,
- the district enrollment policy,
- upcoming school choice events, and
- information on schools with uniquely focused program options, among other useful documents.
The site is available in five major languages—English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russian.
After schools and the central office determine each school’s available openings for the following year, parents can then download this information, allowing them to consider the likelihood of a successful intra- or interdistrict transfer when making their choices. Since choice priority goes to resident families, schools with few available slots are unlikely to be able to receive interdistrict transfers. Providing this information early in the application process saves families time and energy and allows them to look for other options prior to the end of the transfer cycle as needed.
If a parent chooses to complete the application online and provides an email address, the program generates a choice application confirmation email containing student information, choices selected, confirmation number, and time the application was submitted.
Should families whose home language is not English need assistance with the choice process or enrollment, help is available from bilingual staff at the district’s two Family Support Centers.
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