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Take Your Next Step…

Find the application steps, eligibility information, lottery dates, and answers your family needs to apply to Jackson Day School.

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Getting Started

Your Path to Jackson Day

Explore the school, review application information, and stay connected throughout the enrollment process.

1Apply for Your Preferred Program

Complete a lottery application for the program you wish your student to attend. Admission applies only to the program for which a student applies, is offered, and accepts enrollment. A seat in one program does not guarantee a seat in the other.

Submit a separate, complete lottery application for each student for the program they wish to attend. Online applications are preferred. Paper applications are also available from the front office during office hours, 8:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. The application method does not affect admission chances.

2

Lottery & Waitlist

Lottery applications are available beginning November 1. Families who apply between November 1 and the last day of February are included in the March lottery. Students are admitted through a random lottery based on available space. Students who are not admitted through the lottery are placed on a waitlist.

Jackson Day School offers rolling admissions. Students who apply after the lottery are added to the waitlist and admitted as space becomes available.

Lottery date: March 18, 2027, at 4:00 p.m.

3

Complete Enrollment

Families offered a seat receive registration information, enrollment documents, and opportunities to tour our campus.

Families receive a timeline to complete the enrollment process. If the process is not completed within that timeline, the student is removed from the admitted list and the seat is offered to a student on the waitlist.

A Jackson Day School student reading in class

Who Is Eligible to Apply?

  • Jackson Day School (JDS) is a tuition-free public charter school.
  • Applicants’ parents or guardians must be residents of North Carolina.
  • JDS admits students without regard to disability, race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or ancestry.
  • JDS may refuse admission to any student who has been expelled or suspended from a public school under North Carolina General Statute (G.S. 115C-218.45).
  • JDS reserves the right to refuse admission to any student who has not met the academic requirements for the grade level they have applied to enter.
  • Applicants entering Kindergarten must be five years old by August 31, 2026.
Read Admission & Enrollment Policy →

Application Timing

Lottery applications are available beginning November 1. Families who apply through the last day of February are included in the March lottery. Applications received after the lottery are added to the waitlist.

Jackson Day School has rolling admissions. As space becomes available throughout the year, students are admitted from the waitlist to fill available seats.

2027 Lottery
March 18, 2027, at 4:00 p.m.

Questions Families Ask

Do returning students need to reapply?

Currently enrolled students do not reapply annually. New siblings need their own lottery application.

What if my child is on a previous year’s waitlist?

Apply again each year until admitted; waitlist positions do not carry forward.

Can we visit the school?

Families offered a seat receive opportunities to tour our campus. Contact the registrar for details.

Why do some charter schools have such long waitlists?

Waitlists occur because charter schools are market-driven schools of choice. Parents decide whether they want their child to attend. A successful school may have greater demand than available seats, requiring a lottery and waitlist.

What is the preference or order for the lottery process?

The lottery process follows this order:

  1. A student of a JDS staff member.
  2. A currently enrolled JDS student requesting transfer from one program to another.
  3. Siblings of a currently enrolled student. This may include step-siblings living in the same home, adopted children, and foster children living in the same home, as permitted by school and/or state policy.
  4. Students enrolled in Early Beginnings Child Development Center.
  5. All students not included in the previous categories.
Is there a preference for siblings?

Siblings of currently enrolled students receive sibling priority and are admitted in the order of the lottery process outlined above.

What is the process for multiple-birth siblings?

If one multiple-birth sibling (twins, triplets, etc.) is admitted to Jackson Day School, all of the multiple-birth siblings shall be admitted.

What are the immunization requirements?

View North Carolina immunization requirements →

Will I be contacted about my status in the lottery?

You can check the waitlist status on our website or contact the registrar at registrar@jacksonday.org.