Welcome to Sebastopol Charter, A Public Waldorf School.
All students residing in the state of California are eligible for admission to Sebastopol Charter, A Public Waldorf School. As requests for students to enroll in our school exceed the number of available seats, our Kindergartens and Grades are filled through a Lottery application. This is in accordance with California Education Code as it applies to Charter Schools and our school’s enrollment policy (see below).
Parents of prospective students are strongly encouraged to attend a school tour prior to the lottery date. This year we are offering several Parent Tours and our Annual Open House so you can learn more about our school and curriculum which is guided by the Core Principles of Public Waldorf Education.
Our waitlists for the 2025-2026 school year will remain open through February 27, 2026.
Entering the 2026-2027 Lottery
Our Main Lottery is open to applications and closes on Monday, March 2, 2026.
The Waldorf curriculum followed at Sebastopol Independent Charter School is based on a developmental model that is linked to the age of the student. Below is our grade assignment by student age (birth date):
Transitional Kindergarten: age 4 by September 1
Kindergarten: age 5 by September 1
First Grade: age 6 by September 1
Second Grade: age 7 by September 1
Third Grade: age 8 by September 1
Fourth Grade: age 9 by September 1
Fifth Grade: age 10 by September 1
Sixth Grade: age 11 by September 1
Seventh Grade: age 12 by September 1
Eighth Grade: age 13 by September 1
Helpful Information about our Lottery and Admission Process:
- Sign up to attend our Annual School Open House and Orientation (for parents only)
- Sign up to Attend an Enrollment Tour (these are for parents only).
- Enter the Enrollment Lottery by filling out our Online 2026-27 Enrollment Lottery Registration. The Filing Deadline is 2pm on March 2, 2026 (click on Entering our Lottery link above). Our Late Lottery will open on March 3, 2026.
- For more information, email our Enrollment Director at [email protected].
Enrollment Admissions Policy
The lottery will be held in early March at our school, as required by law and according to our school’s charter with preference given in the following order :
- Children or grandchildren of school staff members or board members
- Siblings of currently enrolled students
- Children in foster care or in homeless shelters
- Children who live in the Sebastopol Union School District (check your district here) *policy explained below
- All other students residing in California
A student stays on the appropriate waiting list for the year you entered, after which time you need to submit another entry. If you are seeking more information about education guided by the Core Principles of Public Waldorf Education, please view our Curriculum pages or visit our Charter Notes and News where helpful videos and articles related to Waldorf Education are listed.
- In-District Residence Requirements Board Policy: The student’s primary residence as of the date of their application AND as of the date of their submission of their completed enrollment packet lies within SUSD. The in-district residence has been the student’s primary residence for at least one month prior to the admission lottery, or the family otherwise demonstrates an intention to continue long-term residency within SUSD. The student’s family provides proof of residency by providing the school with two formal documents.
Vaccination Requirements for New Enrollment and Continued Enrollment
All families are required to be in compliance with SB277 and SB276
They apply to all students who are :
(1) entering TK/Kindergarten for the first time, or
(2) entering 7th Grade, or
(3) transferring from out-of-state, or
(4) do not have a valid California Immunization Registry (CAIR) Medical Exemption (ME) on file
Students who have a ME on file with a California school prior to December 31, 2020 will have to meet the CDPH requirements by the time they are ready to enter the next grade span (either Kindergarten or 7th grade).
In addition, any medical exemption issued before January 1, 2020 is not valid if it was issued by a physician who has had a disciplinary action taken in any year by the Medical Board of California or Osteopathic Medical Board of California. ME issued by an M.D. are no longer valid after Jan. 1, 2021.
You can find out if a physician has been disciplined by looking up an issuing physician’s name or medical license number on the list of disciplined physicians.
Homeoprophylaxis or Homeopathic vaccinations are not valid at any CA TK-12 school.
If your child is not fully immunized prior to enrollment, CDPH regulations allow for “conditional admission.” What this requires is:
(1) Your child receives at least the first dose of all required vaccines prior to admission;
(2) Your child not be currently due for any doses at the time of admission; and
(3) Your child completes all the remaining doses when they become due in accordance with the official Conditional Admission Immunization Schedule for Grade K-12.
If a student is conditionally admitted and does not receive the remaining doses when due, the law states that the student must be excluded from attending school.
Full details of the CDPH Immunization Requirements can be found here.
Sebastopol Charter shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations, shall not charge tuition, and shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, race, gender, disability, or any other characteristic designated in SB777 and as set forth in Section 47605(d) of the Education Code.
