Applicants can be enrolled into KM Explore if there is space in the grade level and the maximum enrollment number for the school has not been reached. Students will be placed according to the procedures below.

For all grade levels where the enrollment cap has not been reached, students that have submitted applications first will be placed into those grade levels. An acceptance letter will need to be returned in order to fully secure each student’s place in KM Explore. If any of these students have siblings, they will also be placed into KM Explore if space is available in their respective grade levels. In the event that the cap has already been reached, siblings of accepted students will be given priority on the waiting list.

If more applications are received than space available, enrollment preference will be determined through a lottery process as required by federal charter law. The lottery will be held. New applicants will only be allowed into grade levels whose cap has not been exceeded. Per KM Explore school bylaws and charter law, if there are spots available under both the grade level and school enrollment cap, children of full-time staff members, siblings of students currently enrolled in KM Explore, or children of the Governance Council will be given preference. After this point, all other applicants will receive a number to be drawn at random by the governance council. Applicants entering any grade level will be drawn one at a time and placed into available spots until either the grade level cap or the total enrollment cap has been met. Once all open spots are filled, the lottery will determine the order of student placement on a waiting list for each grade level. Students are placed on the waiting list in the order in which they are drawn until all applicants have been placed on a waiting list. Following the lottery, parents will be notified of their child’s acceptance or waitlist status. Accepted students will be asked to confirm their intent to enroll in KM Explore to ensure placement.

Open Enrollment Students (KMSD is not your resident district)

The state law governing Open Enrollment requires that the application be made to the district, with the opportunity to indicate a preferred school placement. If a district has the ability to accept an open enrollment application, the district assigns the placement of the student, according to district policies. You MUST apply to KM Explore through our application process in addition to applying to the state for Open Enrollment.

According to state statute and in agreement with the charter school contract, the district does not have the ability to place a student in a charter school. If a student is accepted into the district via open enrollment, they may then be accepted into KM Explore, provided they have made an application to the charter school and there is a spot available. Open-enrollment applicants cannot participate in a lottery. However, they will be accepted if:

There are more openings in a grade level than applications received during the application window. Open Enrollment applicants will receive an acceptance to KM Explore contingent on their admission to the Kettle Moraine School District. Full acceptance into KM Explore cannot be made until the student has accepted the open enrollment placement into one of the district’s schools.
If a waitlist needs to be determined by a lottery, district residents will get preference in the lottery. Therefore, if an open enrollment applicant applied for KM Explore and a lottery is needed for that child's grade level, they will be placed at the bottom of the waiting list. If they get drawn up for an open spot, they will receive an acceptance to KM Explore contingent on their admission to the Kettle Moraine School District. Full acceptance into KM Explore cannot be made until the student has accepted the open enrollment placement into one of the district’s schools.

Open Enrollment applicants interested in applying to KM Explore outside of the charter school's enrollment window will be processed on the waiting list on a first come, first served basis.

How it Works

Families currently living or enrolled in the Kettle Moraine District will be enrolled in KM Explore in the order the application was received and only if the grade level cap has not been met. If the grade level cap has been met, applicants will be placed on the bottom of the waiting list that has been established through the lottery.

Lottery Procedures

Siblings of current students, children of current staff, or children of Governance Council members, per our chartering contract, will be placed in a grade level for enrollment, should space be available.
Once siblings of current students, children of current staff, or children of Governance Council members have been placed, the lottery will begin to fill open spots.

After open spots are filled, the waiting list in grades that have no more remaining openings will be established. Siblings of students enrolled in other grade levels will be placed at the front of each grade level waiting list in the order in which their enrolled siblings were drawn or enrolled. In the event that multiple siblings apply in the same grade level, the order will be decided by a lottery drawing only involving the siblings in that situation. All names of the remaining applicants will be drawn at random. Each will be placed on the waiting list in that order until every name is drawn.

Waiting List Procedures

After open spots are filled, a waiting list will be created in the order of which names are drawn through a lottery process. A separate waiting list will be created for each grade level.
If a student moves off the waiting list to fill an open spot, and they have a sibling on a waiting list for another grade, that sibling will move up to the top of the waiting list (as now the sibling clause is in effect).
Families that apply after the deadline will be placed on a waiting list in the order they are received up until the start of the school year.
If a student applies through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s Open Enrollment process to attend a KM Explore and is not granted a spot in Kettle Moraine School District, they will be removed from the KM Explore waiting list.
After August 1, families who have not accepted their open enrollment status to the district, or district residents who have open enrolled out of Kettle Moraine will be removed from the waiting list.
Waiting lists do not carry over year to year. Each February, an application window will be held to create enrollment for the following school year. Families can re-apply during that application window.