Open Enrollment
Join LPS!
APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION OF OPEN ENROLLMENT
LPS offers many educational choices to resident and non-resident families and welcomes out-of-district students. Colorado state law allows nonresidents to enroll students in any Colorado school without paying tuition when state and district guidelines are followed. Resident families may attend their attendance-area school or apply for open enrollment at another LPS school.
LPS Open Enrollment Guidelines
- District residents have priority consideration over non-residents.
- There must be space available at the student’s grade level.
- There must be a school program appropriate for the enrolling student.
- The student must be in good standing, grades, attendance and behavior, in his or her previous school.
- Good standing applies to resident and non-resident students seeking new and continuing open enrollment.
- Open enrolled students must reapply at level changes, elementary to middle and middle to high.
What Does It Mean to be a Student in Good Standing?
Grades
Student overall academic performance will be considered in reviewing all open enrollment applications. Students applying for open enrollment will be required to provide their classroom grades and/or standardized assessments for review. Academic performance concerns may result in denied open enrollment requests or denial of continuing open enrollment requests.
Attendance
Student attendance will be considered in reviewing all open enrollment applications. Students applying for open enrollment will be required to provide attendance records from their previous school(s) for at least the last two school years. Both excused and unexcused absences will be considered. Students applying for open enrollment who have 10 or more absences and/or 15 or more tardies during a single school year may be required to provide additional documentation related to those absences. Attendance concerns may result in denied open enrollment requests or denial of continuing open enrollment requests.
Behavior
Student behavior will be considered in reviewing all open enrollment applications. Students applying for open enrollment will be required to provide copies of their behavior records from their previous school(s). The number of behavior incidents and the severity of the behavior incidents will be considered. This includes behavior that may or may not result in suspensions, expulsions, safety plans, etc. Behavior concerns may result in denied open enrollment requests or denial of continuing open enrollment requests.
LPS Open Enrollment Window
During its regularly scheduled meeting September 26, 2024, the LPS Board of Education approved changes recommended earlier in September by district administration to Board policies JFBA and JFBB and regulations JFBA-R and JFBB-R related to open enrollment. The two policies are combined into one and streamline the open enrollment process for new and returning families.
The changes come after parents and school leaders expressed a desire to streamline the process for families and to be more aligned with neighboring districts.
- There is now only one open enrollment window instead of two. The window runs October 1 through November 15. LPS will continue to accept open enrollment throughout the year on a first-come, first-served basis after November 15.
- Returning open enrolled families are no longer required to submit an Intent To Renew Form each year. A student who is open enrolled will remain open enrolled for the duration of attendance at that level (elementary, middle, or high) as long as space is available and the student remains in good standing. Open enrolled students are still required to apply for open enrollment again when they move from an elementary school to a middle school, and from a middle school to a high school, just as they have in the past.
- The two policies regarding open enrollment – JFBA and JFBB– are now merged into one policy JFBA and revised regulation JFBA-R. Language regarding kindergarten enrollment has been added to the policy for clarity.
The policies, all enrollment forms, and the step-by-step process can be found on the How to Enroll page of the district website.
The Board of Education and district administration are optimistic that these changes will positively impact the open enrollment process for families and schools.
Open Enrollment for the 2025–2026 school year is as follows:
- The Open Enrollment Window for all grades is October 1, 2024 through November 15, 2024.
- Qualified students who apply within the window will be randomly chosen for admittance from the pool of qualified applicants after November 15, with priority given to students who are residents of the district as follows:
- District residents
- Children of employees of the school requested
- Children who have a sibling attending the school requested, although the presence of one child in a family will not necessarily ensure enrollment of another child from the same family.
- Children of district employees
- Nonresidents
- Children of employees of the school requested
- Children who have a sibling attending the school requested, although the presence of one child in a family will not necessarily ensure enrollment of another child from the same family.
- Children of district employees
- Other nonresident children
- Students applying for open enrollment during this window will be notified by the school by the end of the first full week in December whether their application was approved.
- Open enrollment granted in this window must be accepted no later than the last Monday prior to winter break.
- Qualified students who apply within the window will be randomly chosen for admittance from the pool of qualified applicants after November 15, with priority given to students who are residents of the district as follows:
- Kindergarten registration window is December 1, 2024 through January 15, 2025.
- Families will be notified by the school by the end of the first full week after kindergarten registration ends whether their application was approved for admittance.
- Kindergarten open enrollment granted in this window must be accepted no later than one week after receiving their approval notification.
- Parents and students will receive notification about the availability of services from the requested school.
- If, based upon the unavailability of services, enrollment in the requested school would constitute a change of placement for the student, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team will be convened to determine whether the student can receive a free, appropriate, public education in the least restrictive environment at the requested school.
- Qualified students who apply for open enrollment and are not accepted at the time of application will be placed on a waiting list and will be considered for approval at a later date if space becomes available. The waiting list will be maintained until September 30 of each school year.
Littleton Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, creed, age, religion, sex (which includes transgender and gender identity), marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or need for special education services in its programs or activities.
For additional details and deadlines, see Board of Education policies related to open enrollment:
Application for Admission of Open Enrollment
- Email the Application for Admission for Open Enrollment form with supporting documentation to the school(s)
- Check with the school(s) to which you are applying to verify their requested supporting documentation and additional application materials. See the list of contacts in the dark blue box on this page.
If you are new to LPS: once accepted by the school, you will register with the district central registrar.
- All students NEW to LPS must register by completing an online pre-registration form and provide documentation to the Central Registrar. Please follow the Parent Checklist on the How to Enroll page.
If you are an existing LPS student: you do not need to register with Central Registration.
Open Enrollment Reminders
- Open enrollment applications must be provided directly to the school. All open enrollment requests must be approved before students can be registered.
- Existing open enrolled elementary and middle school students who will be moving to a different school (5th-6th grade or 8th-9th grade transition) must complete a new open enrollment application.
Parents are responsible for providing transportation for open enrolled students. District transportation may be provided when space is available on established bus route. To see if bus transportation may be available, please visit the Bus Transportation page on the district website and complete an online “space availability” form. Keep in mind that space available transportation requests may not be processed until October.
If you need to submit an Open Enrollment application for the current 2024-2025 school year:
Application for Admission of Open Enrollment or Transfer 2024-2025 English
Application for Admission of Open Enrollment or Transfer 2024-2025 Spanish