Magnet Schools

District Residents: Any elementary student who lives within District 196 can apply to any of the magnet schools. Only two of the elementary magnet schools, Cedar Park Elementary and Glacier Hills Elementary, are eligible for busing for students who do not live in the school's attendance area. 

Non-Residents: Students who live outside the district can apply to any magnet school. However, they will only be considered after all students living within District 196 have been placed.

Before you apply, please know that free school bus rides are only available for three magnet schools and specific rules apply:

• Cedar Park Elementary: Families must live in the South zone (generally South of McAndrews Road) and more than a mile from the school.
• Glacier Hills Elementary: Families must live in the North zone (generally North of McAndrews Road) and more than a mile from the school.
• School of Environmental Studies (SES): Students who live more than 1.5 miles from their attendance area high school will be bused to there and then shuttled to SES.

Note: Families can apply to any magnet school. However, if you live outside the school's attendance area, you must provide your own transportation for your student. Free district busing and pay-to-ride are not available for other magnet programs. Families can request intradistrict transfer transportation, however, transportation is not guaranteed unless the following conditions are met:

• There is an existing bus route
• No changes are made to the bus route
• There is an open seat available on the bus

Families who live outside the district who apply and are approved to attend our schools can receive free district provided transportation if the family is able to get their student to the closest bus stop to the school's boundary each day.

• Elementary: Families may only apply to one school for the lottery.
• Late Applications: Any application received after the deadline will go to the bottom of the waitlist.
• Waitlist Deadlines: After March 31 students will no longer be moved off the waitlist. Families can reapply the following year.

How the Lottery Works

• If a school gets more applicants than it has open seats, a random computer drawing (lottery) will decide who gets in and who goes on a waiting list.
• Families will find out if their student got a spot or if they are on the waitlist by mid-January.

How Spots are Given Out

Automatic Enrollment (No Application Needed)

Students get into the magnet school automatically if:

1. They live in the schools attendance area
2. They live in District 196 and go to a daycare located in that magnet schools' attendance area. *A daycare transfer form is required. A daycare transportation request form may also be required.

The Magnet Application Lottery

If there are still spots left after automatic enrollment, the district uses a random lottery to choose students from the remaining applications. They pull names in the following order, using a random selection process:

1. District residents who live outside the school's attendance area, but already have a sibling attending that magnet school. 
2. Students who live in one of the other magnet school attendance areas, but want to change to a different one. 
3. Students from a non-title District 196 school but want to attend the magnet school. 
4. All other students who live in District 196.
5. Siblings of current magnet students who live outside District 196 boundaries.
6. Current open-enrolled students who live outside District196.
7. All other students who live outside District 196.

Note: If the school runs out of room while names are being drawn, the student will be placed on a waiting list. 

The School of Environmental Studies (SES) is a unique magnet high school program in District 196. It gives students extra choices for learning and helps the school district meet state diversity and integration goals. 

Who Can Apply?

• District Residents: Any student in 10th or 11th grade who lives in District 196 can apply to attend 11th and/or 12th grade. 
• Non-Residents: Students who live outside the school district can also apply. However, they will only be looked at after all District 196 resident students have been placed. 

Important Rules and Timelines

• An application must be submitted by mid-December to be included in the enrollment process. 
• If more students apply than there are seats, a random lottery will decide who gets in and who will be added to a waiting list. 
• Families will learn if the student got a spot or if they are on the waitlist by mid-January.
• Once a student is accepted and enrolled at SES, they can stay there the rest of their high school years, as long as they take an uninterrupted break from school.

How Spot Are Given 

Unlike elementary schools, SES uses a two-step process to accept students. Half of the spots are given based on a written essay, and the other half are given through a lottery.

Student Narratives

• 50% of all District 196 spots are filled this way
• Students write a personal response (essay). The School reads these and the top scoring applicants are automatically acccepted.

Anyone who doesn't get in during this step are moved to step two, the enrollment lottery.

Enrollment Lottery

The remaining spots are filled using a random computer drawing. Names are pulled in this order, using a random selection process:

• 10th-grade district resident students who already have a sibling currently attending SES.
• District 196 residents who went to a District 196 elementary magnet school in the past. 
• All other applicants who live within District 196 boundaries. 
• 10th-grade applicants who have a sibling at SES but live outside District 196 boundaries.
• Applicants who went to a District 196 elementary magnet school but live outside District 196 boundaries.
• Students from outside the district who are already open-enrolled in a District 196 school. 
• All other applicants who live outside of District 196. 

Note: If the school runs out of open seats during the lottery, the remaining students are placed on a waiting list.

SES Transportation:

• Students who live more than 1.5 miles from their attendance area high school will be picked up and brought to that school. From there, a special shuttle bus will take them directly to SES. In the afternoon, the shuttle brings them back.
• Students who live less than 1.5 miles from their attendance area school can walk to the school and then get on the shuttle bus to SES.