Can you believe it? Our regional lotteries are about to begin! If you are interested in becoming a new IDEA Public Schools family, please review the list below for information on the lottery in your region, including steps to submit your scholar’s application and key dates to remember.
*Photo Courtesy of Olga Gomez
Before the lottery process begins, you need to make sure your application is submitted! To be part of our student lottery, you must submit your child’s application by 11:59 p.m. CST the evening before the lottery. We strongly encourage parents to apply before this time to have the best chance to attend IDEA! You may choose to apply to multiple IDEA schools and submit one application per child. Families can submit an application at any time.
Once your application is submitted via STREAM (or Apply Midland for IDEA Travis), you will be contacted by an IDEA Public Schools team member about the next steps in the process. After our first touchpoint, you can expect to hear from us several times before lottery day. You can always reach out to us if you have questions – find your enrollment coordinator contact information here!
IDEA Oscar Dunn in New Orleans follows the Enroll NOLA One App process and will reach out to families as soon as they have been placed with our school.
Lottery Schedule for the 2021-22 School Year
IDEA Tampa Bay – First Lottery: Saturday, November 14, 2020
IDEA Tampa Bay will host three lottery events to randomly select students to fill spots for the school year. During the lottery, applicants in each grade level offered will be selected at random and placed on a lottery – ordered applicant roster.
Tampa Bay Lottery Dates:
- Saturday, November 14, 2020 (Focus: Lottery priorities 1 – 4)
- Saturday, January 16, 2021 (Focus: Lottery Priorities 1 – 6)
- Saturday, February 27, 2021 (Focus: Lottery Priorities 1 – 7)
Lottery priorities are listed below. If you do not fall into priority group 1-4, your lottery will be conducted on or after January 16, 2021. Please visit the IDEA Tampa Bay webpage to see details on priorities 4 – 6 to learn more about the schools/zones that fall under these categories.
- Priority 1 – Siblings of IDEA Students
- Priority 2 – Children of IDEA Employees
- Priority 3 – Existing Students / Transfers
- Priority 4 – Students residing in or attending list of nine PLPs
- Priority 5 – Students residing in or attending PLPs in Hillsborough County:
- Priority 6 – Students living in opportunity zones
- Priority 7 – Anyone that has applied within the Tampa Bay region and does not fall into the above priorities
IDEA Southern Louisiana – First Lottery: Tuesday, February 2, 2021
IDEA Southern Louisiana will have two different lottery schedules for the 2021-22 school year – one for Baton Rouge and UP Academy through STREAM and one for New Orleans through enrollnola.org.
Baton Rouge: Tuesday, February 2, 2021
New Orleans: Applications for 2021-22 school year through Enroll NOLA open on Friday, November 20.
Round 1 One App Dates (K-12)
- Friday, November 20 – Application Window Opens for Round 1
- Friday, January 29 – Application closes for Round 1
- Late March – Results/Placements from Round 1 Applicants
Round 2 One App Dates (K-12)
- End of March/1st week in April (Estimated) – Round 2 Opens One Week After Round 1 Results Released
- Beginning of May – Round 2 Application Closes
- June – Results/Placements from Round 2 Applicants
IDEA Permian Basin (IDEA Travis ONLY) – Lottery: Friday, February 19, 2021
- Intent to Apply: September 1, 2020
- Round 1/App Launch: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 – Application available through Midland Independent School District
- Round 1/App Closes: Monday, February 1, 2021
*For information on IDEA Yukon, please see the Texas lottery schedule below.
IDEA Texas – Lottery: Saturday, February 27, 2021
All regions in Texas will observe the same lottery day, except for IDEA Travis in the Permian Basin. IDEA Yukon in the Permian Basin will observe the same schedule as other Texas regions, as seen below.
- Austin: February 27, 2021
- El Paso: February 27, 2021
- Greater Houston: February 27, 2021
- Permian Basin (IDEA Yukon): February 27, 2021
- Rio Grande Valley: February 27, 2021
- San Antonio: February 27, 2021
- Tarrant County: February 27, 2021
Interested in learning more about the IDEA lottery process? Please visit our Lottery FAQ page for more background on the lottery, notification of lottery results, how to respond to your lottery offer, information on the waitlist and more. You can also reach out to our enrollment team at apply@ideapublicschools.org for more information. We cannot wait to welcome you into our Team & Family!
Apply now at ideapublicschools.org/apply!
