The Lincoln Academy (TLA)
ENROLLMENT and LOTTERY PROCESS
The Lincoln Academy (TLA) is a tuition-free public charter school in Beloit,
WI. TLA is accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year beginning February 1, 2025. The lottery process is required if TLA has more scholars who apply than seats available. For the 2025-26 school year, TLA will have seats available in each grade level, K4 through 12th. If there are fewer applicants than seats, all applicants will be offered enrollment until the seats are filled. After seats are filled and the enrollment period has concluded, scholars will be offered spots on a first-come, first-serve basis, and scholars will be added to the waitlist in the order they are received. Complete applications, including the scholar's birth certificate and proof of residency, must be submitted by midnight on February 28, 2025, to be considered for the lottery. Applications received after the deadline will not be included in the lottery process. Instead, they will be added to the waitlist in the order of receipt, following the waitlisted scholars from the lottery. Scholars must complete the re-enrollment process annually to maintain their seats.
If there is a lottery process, TLA will give preference in the order as follows:
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Scholars who were enrolled in the charter school in the previous year
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Siblings of scholars enrolled in the charter school
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Children/Siblings of Full-time staff and TLA Board members
(A sibling is defined as: biological siblings that share parents, siblings that share a single parent, siblings that share a parent through marriage, children who share a parent through adoption or guardianship, siblings who reside in different households or foster children.)
This means that if a scholar is offered enrollment, all siblings of that scholar will be offered enrollment in their respective grades. If that grade is filled and/or has a waitlist, the sibling will be offered enrollment in their corresponding grade, and the last individual offered enrollment into that grade will be shifted to the foremost position on the waitlist.
February 1 - 28, 2025: The application period (waitlist if needed after 2-28-25).
March 7, 2025: Applicants will be notified via email that a lottery is required and assigned a lottery number based on their grade level ( i.e., K4-#1, 2nd-#8, 9th-#14). Applicants with identified siblings will have an "S" in front of their number. Additionally, all applicants will be given details about the lottery procedure.
March 12, 2025: The TLA lottery is scheduled to occur publicly at 2:00 p.m.
March 17, 2025: Applicants will be provided with either an enrollment offer or a waitlist number via email (indicating a reserved seat or their position on the waitlist, such as 1st, 2nd, etc.).
April 1, 2025: The deadline to accept enrollment. If a parent/guardian does not respond to the acceptance email accepting the offer of enrollment, the offer will be rescinded and the first scholar on the waitlist will be offered enrollment.
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There will be no less than four participants in the lottery. These participants will include:
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Number Caller
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Number Verifier
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Number Recorder
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Sibling Identifier
Role of each participant:
Number Caller: Starting with the lowest grade, the Number Caller will draw a number, announce it aloud, and pass the number to the Number Verifier. Once all seats are filled, the Number Caller will continue drawing numbers and place scholars on a waitlist in the order in which they are drawn.
Number Verifier: The Number Verifier has a document with designated slots for all numbers in that grade, recording the drawn numbers in sequential order on a lottery tracking document.
Number Recorder: The Number Recorder keeps a record of the drawn numbers on a lottery tracking document.
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Sibling Identifier: The Sibling Identifier maintains a comprehensive list of grades requiring a lottery, including the lottery identifier number and scholar names. As numbers are drawn, they cross-reference with any lower/upper-grade siblings. If a sibling is selected, the Sibling Identifier promptly informs the Number Verifier and Number Recorder, who record the sibling in the last available seat (potentially moving another scholar to the waitlist). The Sibling Identifier then excludes that sibling from future draws.
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