Open Enrollment at Ben Franklin Academy
Thank you for considering Open Enrollment at Ben Franklin Academy (BFA), a John Irwin School of Excellence, voted Best of the Best in 2023, and The STEAM School of Choice in Douglas County. Click here to read our mission and vision as well as how our proven curriculum fosters the success of individual students. Want to learn more about BFA? Click here to watch a video about our amazing school!
BFA participates in the annual Douglas County School District (DCSD) online Open Enrollment (OE) to fill K-8 openings. Parents interested in K-8 enrollment need to complete OE for their child to be eligible for an offer. (Previous year’s OE lists do not “roll forward.”) Please direct questions about K-8 enrollment to our director of admissions.
Click here for preschool enrollment information.
How Open Enrollment Works
Parents must complete Open Enrollment from the DCSD EngagED Parent Portal using their Portal account (username@p.dcsdk12.org and password).
Most parents who have had a student enrolled in a DCSD school should have a DCSD EnagED Parent Portal account already. Parents with issues logging in to their Parent Portal should either contact their child’s current DCSD school or DCSD Choice Programming for assistance. DO NOT create a new account. This may VOID the OE application.
Parents who do not have a Parent Portal account (username and password) can create one only after Open Enrollment begins.
Two Rounds of Open Enrollment
First Round: Nov. 1 – Dec. 1, 2023
When this round ends, all open enrolled students, regardless of when OE was completed, are randomly ordered (like a lottery) on their respective grade-level list. Students with a priority status earn priority placement.
- Login to the EngagED Parent Portal to check for offers beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 11.
- BFA Offer? Accept via the OE tool by 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 18.
- Receive Enrollment Packet via email by Dec. 22.
- Enrollment Packets are due no later than 8 a.m., Monday, Jan. 8.
- No BFA Offer? Students are on BFA’s waitlist for possible future openings.
- Another School’s Offer? If the parent accepts, the child will remain on BFA’s waitlist for a possible future opening.
- BFA Offer? Accept via the OE tool by 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 18.
- Note: If you did not receive a first round offer through the EngagED Parent Portal, please keep watching your email as our director of admissions will start extending offers to fill any new openings beginning Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. Offers will be sent to parents using the email provided on the DCSD OE tool ONLY.
Second Round: Open Jan. 22, 2024
Parents who were unable to complete the online OE process during the First Round can do so during the Second. Second-round submissions are added to the bottom of any existing waitlists from the First Round in timestamped order.
- Offers will be made via the parent email provided during OE ONLY.
- Parents usually have 24-36 hours to accept the offer.
Important Tips for Open Enrollment:
When prompted at the end of the OE process, parents can and should email themselves the school selections made. This is the only way to confirm OE submission.
Email offers will include specific instructions and deadlines. Unfortunately, if parents do not follow instructions or miss the deadlines outlined in the email, the enrollment offer will be withdrawn and extended to another student on the waitlist.
Enrollment Paperwork – Collect Important Documents Now!
In most situations if a parent accepts an OE offer, there will be a deadline to submit the enrollment packet. In addition to completing required DCSD forms that the director of admissions provides, parents should be prepared to submit copies of the following:
- Child’s birth certificate
- Child’s immunization record
- Proof of Residence (POR), Copy of ONE of the following:
- Warranty Deed
- Deed of Trust
- Property Tax Notice
- Signed Lease Agreement, including tenant names, address, lease term dates and signature of both the lessee and lessor.
- County Assessor Property Printout
- Signed Purchase Agreement, including address, buyers name(s) and signature of both the buyer and the seller.
- Notarized Proof of Residency Letter from the person you are living with AND a copy of their POR.
Enrollment for BFA preschool students will take place via the preschool webpage on the BFA website. For more information about the Ben Franklin Academy Preschool program, please click here.