Admissions Guidelines

When to apply

Académie Lafayette offers a full French immersion program from kindergarten to 8th grade. Math, science, social studies, physical education, art, music and computer classes are all taught in French. Students have one hour of English class per day.

In high school, all subjects are taught in English but students have to take French classes.

Since all subjects are taught in French in k-8, students applying to enter in 2nd to 8th grade without prior French experience may be placed at a lower grade based on their French proficiency assessment.

• Open application period: the application period typically begins the first week of November and ends the first week of March. Watch the How to Apply page for dates.
• Lottery date: typically the first week of March
• Letters sent by: typically the second week of March

Age and residency requirements

Kindergarten applicants must be five (5) years old BEFORE August 1 to start kindergarten.

The AL pre-K requirements are: child must be age 4 prior to August 1, live within the KCPS school district boundaries, and qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Children MUST live within the boundaries of the Kansas City Public Schools District, and parents/guardians will be asked to show proof of residency in the application. Académie Lafayette cannot enroll students who live outside the KCPSD boundaries. Charter schools cannot accept tuition from any applicant or student (RSMO 160.415 (8)).

During enrollment, families must provide two proofs of residence, one from List A and one from List B:

• List A: Residential rental/lease contract, purchase agreement/real estate contract, deed, or mortgage statement for the home you are residing in currently.
• List B: These must be from the current month — original utility bill in the parent/guardian resident’s name (electric, gas, or water only), or paycheck stub listing resident address.

If a family is having difficulty providing proof of residency for any reason, please contact Admissions & Enrollment.

Tuition

Charter schools cannot accept tuition from any applicant or student (RSMO 160.415 (11))  “11. A charter school may not charge tuition, nor may it impose fees that a school district is prohibited from imposing.”

Lottery procedures

Kindergarten

Académie Lafayette will accept 210 kindergarten students starting in the year 2020. Families apply online using the SchoolAppKC application system. At the end of the open application period, if the number of applications exceeds available space, all eligible students will be entered into a lottery. The SchoolAppKC generated list will determine both who is accepted and the order of the waiting list for the remaining applicants. If the number of applications received is fewer than spaces available, all applications will be accepted and the remaining spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis until full. Applicants will receive an email with their application status within 24 hours of the lottery.

Siblings of current Académie Lafayette students and children of Académie Lafayette current, full-time employees will receive priority in the lottery but must adhere to the residency and application policies. Applications for these students must be turned in during the open application period. A sibling that is not enrolled within the enrollment period will fill out an application on SchoolAppKC and will be placed on the waitlist. As a sibling, that student will have priority for the next seat available.

Académie Lafayette will accept applications for other grades if students are fluent in French and there are seats available. Parents interested in enrolling their child must contact Admissions & Enrollment.

Pre-K

The Pre-K partnership through the Kansas City Pre-K Cooperative offers families that qualify for free and reduced lunch the opportunity to apply for a limited number of free Pre-K seats.

Please note that there are a limited number of Pre-K seats for each school year available for qualified applicants and all qualified current AL siblings will not be guaranteed a seat. If there are more sibling applicants than there are seats available, seats will be given in accordance with our lottery process. The Pre-K classroom will be off site at Emmanuel Family and Child Development Center located at 4736 Prospect Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64130.

9th Grade

There are a limited number of 9th-grade seats available. Académie Lafayette 8th grade graduates have first priority. Other applicants will be a part of a lottery if needed. If there are any remaining seats, they will be filled by applicants from the lottery.

The Académie Lafayette lottery will be held on the date after the application period ends yet prior to seat offers going public. The lottery will take place at the Académie Lafayette administration offices, 201 E Armour Boulevard. The required stakeholders in attendance will include: Head of School, Director of Admissions, Cherry and Oak principals, Cherry and Oak office managers, Académie Lafayette parent representatives, sponsor representative, Académie Lafayette Board of Directors president.

Campus placement

All newly admitted 9th graders will be placed at the Armour Campus (located at 201 E Armour Boulevard).

Newly admitted K–1 students will be placed at either the Oak Campus (located at 6903 Oak Street) or the Cherry Campus (located at 3421 Cherry Street) based on whether the student’s address falls within the designated zone that surrounds each respective campus.

The zones are as follows:

• Cherry Campus Zone: 39th Street and 27th Street between Southwest Trafficway and Prospect Avenue.
• Oak Campus Zone: 63rd Street to 75th Street between Main Street and the eastern boundary of the KCPS school district boundary.

After admitted applicants have been assigned based on the applicable zone, the remaining admitted applicants will be assigned to each campus using a blind, computer-aided selection process (no names or addresses will be shown) all done in compliance with RSMo. Sec. 160.410.2(1). Once campus placement has been assigned, it is not subject to change for any reason whatsoever.

Admitted applicants will be notified of campus assignment after the lottery and acceptance of admission. Admitted applicants will have a deadline to accept admission into Académie Lafayette and complete all enrollment documentation.

Applicants who are on the waitlist (for K–1) will not receive a campus placement until they are admitted into Académie Lafayette. Open spaces are offered to the next family on the waiting list. Waitlisted families will be assigned to the building that has an opening. There is no zone preference for families on the waiting list. Siblings are placed at the same campus as their siblings if space is available.