As of October 1, 2024 (Posted March 2025)
Each spring, charter schools send the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) the number of students enrolled for the upcoming school year as well as the number of students who were placed on the schools' waitlists through each school's initial lottery, which is typically held in February or March. The Department's March 2024 waitlist collection included students who applied for admission for the 2024-2025 school year (the initial waitlist).
The information provided below is an update to the initial (March 2024) waitlist data as of October 1, 2024. The information reflects late offers of admission, which may result in acceptances or declines, as well as any new lotteries for seats that may have opened up over the summer and into the school year.
For the March 2024 initial waitlist, 65 out of 76 charter schools had waitlists for which they reported 33,115 entries, with 21,120 unique students identified. Of that unique student headcount, 15,897 students newly applied for admittance to at least one charter school for the 2024-2025 school year and 5,223 students appeared on more than one waitlist.
The information provided below reflects the number of students who applied to charter schools for the 2024-2025 school year (FY25), but did not gain admittance and were reported on a charter school waitlist as of October 1, 2024. This updated 2024-2025 waitlist report finds the following:
The table below (Figure 2) identifies charter schools that have held subsequent lotteries and the number of students who were added to each school's waitlist.
*There are 15 schools that utilize the Boston Charter School Application online application system, 13 schools still maintained a waitlist as of October 1, 2024.
^Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy Charter Public School surrendered its charter and closed prior to the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
The unique waitlist counts provided in this current report should be taken as the Department's best understanding and representation of the updated demand for the current 2024-2025 school year rather than exact numbers of students willing to accept offers at each school.
Each charter school is responsible for maintaining its own individual waitlist. To ensure uniformity, the Department created a waitlist collection template and required charter schools to use the template to update waitlist data that was originally submitted by March 15, 2024, as well as input any new waitlist data. The template also embedded tools that flagged the waitlist for other inconsistencies, such as unrealistic dates of birth (e.g., 2/28/2024) and student age. In order to verify student information and address overall waitlist accuracy, the Department corrected any transcription errors or inconsistencies in submitted charter school waitlists. Finally, the Department continues to implement its matching process, which is refined and updated to increase accuracy in identifying students who applied for admission to more than one charter school.
The Department thanks all of the charter school administrators and staff who worked diligently to report their waitlists as accurately as possible. The Department appreciates the efforts made by schools to submit their waitlist reports as promptly as possible.
The appendix to this report contains the following numbers based on an October 1, 2024 data collection:
For more information on waitlist policies and procedures and the number of students found on previous cycles of charter school waitlists, see Charter School Technical Advisory 16-3: Enrollment Processes and FAQs and Pre-Enrollment and Waitlist Data. For further information regarding this report, please contact Brenton Stewart or the Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign at charterschools@mass.gov .
FY2025 Updated Waitlist Appendix
Last Updated: March 5, 2025