Additional Enrollment Information 
 

Admissions Policy

Cosmos Montessori is an affiliate of Minnesota Wildflower Montessori School, a tuition free public charter school serving grades preK-8, and Cosmos Montessori serves grades preK - 1st, and is adding 2nd grade the fall of 2022 and 3rd grade the fall of 2023. Three and four year olds at Cosmos Montessori may apply for admission to the fee-based preschool program. Children who will be 5 years old on or before September 1 of the school year, may apply for admission to the tuition free Kindergarten. Children entering 1st or 2nd grade may apply for admission to the tuition free Lower Elementary.

 

Open Enrollment period

Cosmos Montessori admits students to its tuition free public elementary program annually. The Open Enrollment Period is the last two weeks of November annually. Open Enrollment is determined by the Teacher Leaders using the advice process and will determine the enrollment period annually with enough time to allow families to plan appropriately for the following year.

 

Preference

As outlined in MN Statute 124E.11 enrollment preference for Cosmos Montessori’s Elementary program must be given to siblings of students currently enrolled in Cosmos Montessori’s Elementary program, foster children of parents of enrolled Elementary children, and children of school employees.

 

All students enrolled in Cosmos Montessori’s PreK program must submit a Kindergarten enrollment application as any other incoming Kindergarten student would. Preference is only given to PreK students who qualify for free and reduced lunch or who meet the above enrollment preferences. Students who do not qualify for a preference will partake in our Kindergarten lottery if there are more applicants than slots, just as any other incoming student would. 

 

All students enrolled in Cosmos Montessori’s Kindergarten program are given automatic placement into our lower elementary program. All other students must submit an enrollment application during the enrollment period. Preference in the Elementary program, grades 1 and higher, will be given to siblings of students currently enrolled in Cosmos Montessori’s Kindergarten program, foster children of parents of enrolled Kindergarten children, children of school employees, and children currently enrolled at other MWMS sites. 

 

As provided in MN Statutes 124E.11, subd. a(3), Cosmos Montessori will limit its enrollment to students residing in the geographic boundaries of the Minneapolis Public Schools District. Cosmos Montessori will continue to limit enrollment to these boundaries as long as the majority of its students are members of underserved populations and as long as the number of students enrolling exceeds the number of spaces available by grade.

 

Lottery 

If more enrollment applications are received during the Open Enrollment period than available openings, students will be admitted by lottery, with preference as outlined above. To be included in the lottery, guardians must apply during the schools Open Enrollment Period. Any students who are not enrolled will be placed on a waitlist. If openings become available, they will be offered to families on the waitlist in the order they appeared on the list.

 

If the number of enrollment preference candidates exceeds the number of slots, Cosmos Montessori will hold an enrollment lottery for those with preference separate from its standard lottery.

 

First Come First Served (Kindergarten only)

If the Open Enrollment period ends and there are still openings for enrollment, those seats will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis for children whose guardians submit completed applications in the order those applications are received. Once all openings are filled, any child whose guardian submits a complete application will be placed on the Waitlist in the order in which their application was received.

 

Kindergarten Transition

Families who opt not to continue to enroll their child in Cosmos Montessori for Kindergarten, or who are unable to obtain a seat in Kindergarten due to a competitive lottery process, will receive educational materials and coaching from Cosmos Montessori teacher leaders regarding how to support their child in the transition to a new school environment. Parents will be invited to a one-on-one conference to discuss their Kindergarten plans and their child’s unique needs and development. This conference will be an extension of the ongoing, close relationship between parents and teachers described elsewhere throughout this proposal.