Unborn Children Join Charter School's Waiting List
Lewis Center conducts lottery to allow students in at odds of 13-to-1By Emily Berg, Staff Writer
APPLE VALLEY - Madison Grace Porter won't enter this world until about June 30, yet she's already waiting in line.
Kevin Porter, Madison's father, is one of four parents who have already put their unborn children on the waiting list to attend the Academy for Academic Excellence.
The charter school, associated with the Lewis Center for Educational Research, has 1,450 students on a waiting list to start at the school this coming school year but only 110 seats available, said Cheryl Thompson, spokeswoman for the charter schools.
There are another 322 children on the list who aren't ready to start school yet, Thompson said.
Porter serves on the school's board of directors but receives no special treatment to get his child into the school. He was told the sooner students are on the list, the better.
Porter likes the educational environment and focus on parent involvement in their children's educations.
"Five years from now, it's going to be that much better," he said.
Emily Janisse placed her 7-year-old daughter on a waiting list about a year ago and put her son, Owen, now 1 year old, on the list at the same time.
"I just figured while I was enrolling her, I would give him a head start," Janisse said.
She was about six months pregnant at the time.
Parents will go to great lengths to get their children into the school of their choice, even camping out for four days.
While the Academy for Academic Excellence uses a lottery system to determine which students get in, other parent-choice schools use the first-come, first-serve method.
The Academy of Performing Arts and Foreign Language in Victorville has a waiting list of about 100 students, but come registration time, parents will camp outside the school to make sure their child gets in, said Bob Cameron, the school administrative manager.
About 75 to 100 parents will camp out for about four days prior to registration, in hopes of getting one of the 30 open seats.
"We have an excellent reputation," Cameron said.
About seven years ago, the school tried the lottery system, but parents didn't like leaving their child's future up to luck, Cameron said.
"They had no control over whether their child got in or not," he said.
Siblings of students already attending the school get to register first, Cameron said.
The Academy for Academic Excellence will hold its 10th lottery in May. The lottery is divided into different categories, giving siblings of students already attending the school preference along with residents of Apple Valley and children of employees of the Lewis Center, Thompson said.
Emily Berg can be reached at emily_berg@link.freedom.com or 955-5358.
Used with permission by the Daily Press, Freedom Communication 2004