Enrollment Policy

AXIS International Academy is a State Institute Charter School and is open free of charge to any child who resides in the state of Colorado, meets minimum age requirements set forth by state law and school policy, and has not been expelled from a school in the preceding 12 months. Kindergarten students must meet a minimum age of 5 years by October 1. Students are eligible for first grade if they are a minimum age of 6 years by October 1. AXIS may approve enrollment of students eligible for Early Access in accordance with state law, please see AXIS Early Access Policy for more information. Half-day kindergarten is state funded and free of charge for 0.6 hours of the day (8:05am-12:25pm). Parents seeking full-day kindergarten options are welcome to consider the fee-based AXIS International Academy Extended Kinder Program.

All eligible applicants for admission must apply to AXIS through the appropriate process, which includes the submission of a Letter of Intent to Enroll. A paper copy can be requested via email at info@AXIScolorado.org or by calling (970) 658-4199. Letters of Intent expire at the end of the academic year and do NOT carry over from year to year. A new Letter of Intent must be completed each school year.

If during the open enrollment period, more students submit Letters of Intent to AXIS International Academy than can be admitted, a lottery will be conducted. Our lottery is a computerized random selection process held in public at AXIS International Academy on the dates set forth in the Enrollment Timeline. There will only be a lottery for grade levels where the number of applicants exceed the number of spots available. The lottery will begin with the highest-grade level and end with the lowest-grade level.

Students not selected via lottery will be randomly placed on a waitlist based on the student’s randomly generated lottery number. Fourteen days following the lottery, available seats will be offered to the prospective students at the top of the waitlist. Upon notification of admittance, families will have four business days upon verbal notification to accept the position. AXIS will attempt to contact the family for only four business days. AXIS will monitor and maintain four waitlists: staff/founding family, sibling, enrollment, and future Kindergarten. Waitlists do not reset each year, but to remain on the waitlist year to year the parent must submit a new Letter of Intent during open enrollment each academic year.

Once all the slots are drawn in the lottery, then the student’s partner language placement will be determined. Partner language preference has no bearing on the results of the lottery. On the student’s Letter of Intent, the parent will indicate 1) which language(s) they speak at home and 2) a preference for each of the AXIS partner languages: first, second, and third. Using the same order students were drawn in the lottery, AXIS staff will first assign students to partner language classes based on which language they indicate they speak at home. Then AXIS staff will assign students in the order they were selected in the lottery based on identified partner language preference. Parents will receive notification of acceptance into AXIS and which partner language placement their child has received.

Once a student is selected, either via lottery or from the waitlist, AXIS will attempt to contact the family using the contact information provided on the Letter of Intent on the same day as the lottery or draw from waitlist. If the family cannot be reached on the same day, AXIS will continue to attempt to contact the family for the next four business days. If the family cannot be reached during that time, they will forfeit their child/children’s enrollment and the child/children will be placed at the bottom of the wait list. Notification to families will be made in the preferred language or mode of communication indicated on the Letter of Intent. Please remember it is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to provide AXIS with any updates regarding contact information.

Students withdrawing from the school will be asked to complete the withdrawal packet which includes a parent survey/questionnaire regarding reasons for withdrawal from the school, the contact information for the new school, and a release form so that AXIS can send any pertinent academic records and all legally required documents to the new school. Students withdrawing from the Extended Kinder Program after the 15th of the month will be expected to pay the entire month's tuition where applicable. General student fees are nonrefundable.

Parents of students transferring to AXIS after the start of the academic year will submit/sign transfer paperwork and be encouraged to meet with their child’s new teacher and/or the principal before or within the first week the child begins school where possible. Teachers will offer to meet with transfer parents within one week of the time they are informed by the office of a new transfer student being assigned to their class. These orientation meetings are important for building a relationship with the new parents/student, educating the parents about the nature of the program, and informing the teacher about the students' level and academic/social progress so that they can begin with high-quality, differentiated instruction from the first day the child enters the school. This meeting is encouraged, but is optional and will not be a barrier to enrollment. AXIS will request academic records from the student's previous school.

AXIS wants to ensure all students accepted via the lottery that want to attend AXIS, can attend AXIS. We want to remove any barriers for families that may prevent children from attending after they are accepted and enrolled. Many potential barriers may be financial: Extended Kinder Program fees, general student fees, uniform costs, food insecurity, transportation, or other. Students that qualify for free and reduced lunch will not be required to pay Extended Kinder Program fees or general student fees. The AXIS International Academy Board of Directors Social Justice Committee will also offer scholarships to families who may need additional financial assistance with items above to others, even those experiencing financial hardship that do not qualify for free and reduced lunch. The opportunities for scholarships and supports with the items listed above will be shared in English and Spanish on our website and included in our marketing packet and enrollment packet. More information on scholarships, including the decision process, will be voted on by the Board and will be found in a specific Scholarship and Supports document and on the AXIS website.