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 Enrollment Events and Tours so you can learn more about our school and curriculum which is guided by the Core Principles of Public Waldorf Education.
Sign Up For A School Tour or our Annual Open House Here (registration now open).
2024-25 Application and Lottery
Our Online Main Lottery Application will open for the 2024-25 School Year on December 1, 2023 (You may still submit a Late Lottery application for the 2023-24 school year). The 2024-25 Lottery will be held Wed., March 6, 2024. You will be notified of the results within 72 hours. Our 2024-25 Late Lottery will open on Tues., March 12, 2024.
The DEADLINE to submit your Lottery applications is 2pm, Fri., March 1, 2024. After this date, applicants can enter our Late Lottery.
The Waldorf-inspired curriculum followed at Sebastopol Independent Charter School is based on a developmental model that is directly linked to the age of the student. Below is our grade assignment by student age (birth date):
Kindergarten (2-year) 5 between Sept. 2, 2024 & June 2, 2025
Kindergarten (1-year) 5 by June 1
First Grade 6 by June 1
Second Grade 7 by June 1
Third Grade 8 by June 1
Fourth Grade 9 by June 1
Fifth Grade 10 by June 1
Sixth Grade 11 by June 1
Seventh Grade 12 by June 1
Eighth Grade 13 by June 1
We do not enroll students whose 4th birthday is between June 2 and September 1 of their entering year.
Helpful Information about our Lottery and Admission Process:
- Sign up to attend our Annual School Open House and Orientation on Sat. Feb. 4 from 10am to Noon (Parents Only)
- Sign up to Attend an Enrollment Tour (Parents Only).
- Submit Enrollment Lottery Application by filling out our Online 2024-25 Enrollment Lottery Application (opens in early December 2023). The Filing Deadline is 2pm on March 1, 2024. Click on Application and Lottery Button above. If you are applying after March 1, you will be added to our Late Lottery.
- For more information email the 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 :
- Presently enrolled students (do not need to enter Lottery)
- Children of school staff members (do not need to enter Lottery, but must contact the Enrollment Director)
- Siblings of currently enrolled students
- Children who live in the Sebastopol Union School District (to check your district, go here: District Look-up) *policy explained below
- All other students residing in California
An applicant stays on the appropriate waiting list for the year you applied, after which time you need to submit another application. We do not carry our waiting lists forward to the next year.
For those 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 Medical Exemption (ME) on file with a California school or
(5) have a previous medical exemption (ME) or personal belief exemption (PBE) but are entering a new grade span (TK/K or 7th grade)
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.
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.
https://eziz.org/assets/docs/shotsforschool/2021MBC_OMBCDisciplinedDoctors.pdf
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 at: www.shotsforschool.org
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.
