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Schools

Parents, go ahead and start your school choice homework now

By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published October 21, 2006

Families with children who will enter the Pinellas school system next year or who will change schools might want to start researching their options.

The first of two application periods for the 2007-08 academic year is less than three months away, the school district announced this week.

Families interested in a magnet program, a fundamental school or a high school academy will have from Jan. 15 to Feb. 3 to submit an application.

Those interested in regular schools, known as "choice attendance area" schools, will need to apply from March 5 to March 24.

The new schedule also includes events that can help families make a decision. The district will hold "Discovery Nights" and school tours from Jan. 18 to March 21. An information fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 20 at Pinellas Park High School. The fair will offer information on magnet and fundamental schools, high schools, high school academies and some other schools.

The district will announce more details on those events later.

The application period is for students who next year:

- Will enter kindergarten.

- Will enter sixth grade or ninth grade and do not qualify for, or want to use, their "extended grandfathering" option. That option allows students to attend the school they were zoned for before the choice system began.

- Will enter the public school system at any other level.

- Want to move from their existing school, regardless of their grade.

An estimated 20,000 students participate in the application period each year.

The schedule is designed to give families a chance to first apply for much-sought-after seats in magnet schools, fundamental schools and high school academies. Enrollment in these programs is often limited and a lottery system is used when the number of applicants outnumbers the seats available.

Families invited to these special programs must accept the invitation by phone between Feb. 22 and 28.

Those who are not invited or who did not apply for those programs can apply in March for an attendance area school.

The district will notify families of their school assignments by April 13.

In addition, the district has streamlined its rules for students - primarily kindergartners - entering the school system for the first time. Families need to register these students and acquire a student identification number before they can apply for a school.

The new system lets them accomplish this by phone. In the past, parents and guardians had to show up at a Family Education and Information Center with proof of residence and birth records in hand.

Now they can read the information over the phone and show the documents to officials later, after their child is assigned to a school.

"I think parents will find it to be very convenient," said district spokeswoman Andrea Zahn.

To learn more

BY PHONE

Call a Family Education and Information Center.

In Clearwater: 298-2858

In St. Petersburg: 552-1595

To learn more about school choice, go to www.pinellas.k12.fl.us/Choice

Discovery Nights: From Jan. 18 through March 21

Information fair: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 20 at Pinellas Park High School

[Last modified October 21, 2006, 08:14:46]