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ENROLLMENT AND LOTTERY POLICY 2027 - 2028
Applying for Admission
Maritime Academy Charter School uses Apply Philly Charter (APC) to manage its lottery and waitlist. Beginning with enrollment into the 2027-2028 school year, APC will utilize a “ranked choice” or “Single Best Offer” (SBO) process. When families apply through APC, they submit a ranked list of their preferred charter schools that participate in the lottery, listed in order of preference (e.g., 1st choice, 2nd choice, etc.). The APC system makes offers to students for their highest-ranked school where there is an available seat based on each school's individual lottery structure and the student's random lottery number, if applicable. Students are placed on waitlists only for schools ranked higher on their application than the school where they received an offer. For additional information and support, please visit applyphillycharter.org or call 1-800-891-3999.
Families can obtain and submit an application for admission through Apply Philly Charter. For information and details on how to submit an application, please visit www.applyphillycharter.org or scan the QR Code below.
Apply Philly Charter Lottery Process Description
When a school receives more applications to a grade or grades than the number of seats available in that grade or grades, a randomized lottery will determine which applicants are offered a seat for enrollment. All eligible applications submitted within the application window will be referred into the lottery. Reasons that an application may be determined ineligible include if it is a duplicate application or if the applicant already attends the school. The application window for enrollment for the following school year will open in September and close in January of the current school year.
Families interested in attending Maritime Academy Charter School must rank the school on their Apply Philly Charter application within the application window. Priority will be given to applicants in the following order:
PRIORITY PREFERENCES
Maritime Academy Charter Elementary/Middle School
1. Sibling Priority (Sibling accepted, sibling offered, or sibling attending)
(Traditional siblings are brothers and sisters) with the same mother and father. Half siblings share either the same mother or the same father. Stepsiblings are brothers and sisters who are not related biologically, but whose parents are married to each other. Sibling group means two or more children related to each other by blood, adoption, or affinity through a common legal or biological parent.)
- Sibling attending
- Sibling accepted
- Sibling offered
2. Child of Staff
(Staff Preferences include biological or adopted children of a full time or part time Employee of Maritime Academy Charter School.)
3. Philadelphia Resident
Maritime Academy Charter High School
1. Maritime Elementary 8th graders applying to 9th grade
2. Sibling Priority (Sibling accepted, sibling offered, or sibling attending)
(Traditional siblings are brothers and sisters with the same mother and father. Half siblings share either the same mother or the same father. Stepsiblings are brothers and sisters who are not related biologically, but whose parents are married to each other. Sibling group means two or more children related to each other by blood, adoption, or affinity through a common legal or biological parent.)
- Sibling attending
- Sibling accepted
- Sibling offered
3. Child of Staff
(Staff Preferences include biological or adopted children of a full time or part time Employee of Maritime Academy Charter School.)
4. Philadelphia Resident
When a parent/guardian voluntarily withdraws a cadet from Maritime Academy Charter School, all preference conditions will be forfeited if the cadet reapplies to Maritime Academy at a future date. The resubmitted application will then follow normal waitlist and lottery procedures.
Apply Philly Charter will run a single, unified lottery for all participating charter schools that run a lottery in February. All eligible applicants are first assigned a random lottery number. Once an applicant is assigned a random lottery number, that number does not change. When the lottery is run, applicants are sorted in order of a school’s priority structure, and then in order of their random lottery number. The lottery software seeks to assign every applicant to the applicant’s highest ranked school that has a seat available to accept them, based on the applicant’s priority group and random lottery number.
If an applicant receives an offer to the school, the applicant ranked number one on the application, the applicant will receive no other offers, or be placed on any waitlists, to other schools ranked lower.
If an applicant receives an offer to a school, the applicant ranked number two or below on the application, the applicant will be placed on the waiting list for the higher-ranked school(s). Applicants who are unable to be assigned to a school ranked on their application will be on the waitlist for all of the schools on their application.
Applicants will receive notification of lottery results two days after the lottery via email through Apply Philly Charter on a Common Notification date. Applicants will also be able to log in to their Apply Philly Charter accounts on the Common Notification date to view their lottery results.
Applicants who were offered a seat through the lottery will have 14 days until the Common Acceptance to accept their seat offer on Apply Philly Charter by clicking “accept” in their Apply Philly Charter accounts, or by calling the APC helpline. Applicants will then be required to submit enrollment paperwork to the school by the timeline summary listed below.
2027-2028 DEADLINE DATES
|
September 18, 2026 |
Applications open for the 2027-2028 school year on Apply Philly Charter (APC) |
|
January 15, 2027 |
Lottery Application Deadline |
|
January 15 – February 7, 2027 |
Application Pause Period |
|
February 1, 2027 |
Lottery Day |
|
February 8, 2027 |
Lottery Notification Day |
|
February 22, 2027 |
Deadline to Accept Lottery Offers |
|
February 23, 2027 |
Post-Deadline Application Period Begins on APC |
|
July 1, 2027 |
Applications Open for the Current (2028-2029) School Year |
Enrollment paperwork will not be collected through Apply Philly Charter. Families can receive support through the Apply Philly Charter helpline by calling 1-800-891-3999, emailing the info box at apc@applyphillycharter.org or by contacting the school directly.
Waitlist
Applicants that are not offered a seat via the Apply Philly Charter lottery will be placed on our waitlist. On the Monday following the initial seat offers, students on our waitlist can begin to receive offers. Students receiving offers from 9/18/26 until 6/30/27 will have 7 days to accept or decline the offer. Students from our waitlist that are offered seats on, or after, 7/1/27 will have 3 days to accept or decline the offer.
Seat Offer Timelines
|
When Offer Is Made |
Days to Accept or Decline |
|
Lottery Notification Date |
14 days |
|
Waitlist – The Monday after the Lottery Notification Date until 6/30/27 |
7 days |
|
Waitlist – On or After 7/1/27 |
3 days |
Confirming Enrollment
It is important to understand that being selected in the lottery is only one step involved in enrolling at Maritime Academy Charter School. The next step involves submitting the required documents by the proper deadline or your spot will be forfeited. Families are required to complete/submit the five documents below:
Required:
1. Proof of Child’s Age - Any one of the following seven (7) items constitutes acceptable forms of proof of age: 1) birth certificate; 2) notarized copy of birth certificate; 3) baptismal certificate; 4) copy of the record of baptism (notarized or duly certified and showing the date of birth); 5) notarized statement from the parents or another relative indicating the date of birth; 6) a valid passport; 7) a prior school record indicating the date of birth.
2. Immunizations Required by Law – Any one of the following three (3) items constitutes acceptable documentation: 1) the child’s immunization record, 2) a written statement from the former school or from a medical office that the required immunizations have been administered, or that a required series is in progress, 3) verbal assurances from the former school or a medical office that the required immunizations have been completed with records to follow.
3. Proof of Residency - Any one of the following ten (10) items constitutes acceptable forms of proof of residency: 1) a current deed, 2) a mortgage statement no more than three months old, 3) an active residential lease agreement, 4) a utility bill no more than three months old, 5) an internet bill no more than three months old, 6) a credit card bill no more than three months old, 7) a bank statement no more than three months old, 8) a tax bill no more than three months old, 9) an insurance document no more than three months old, 10) a piece of mail sent in the past three months by the federal or state government such as benefits information, voter registration, or tax documents. (For families who are housing insecure, please contact Mrs. Suzanne Lerner, Director of Specialized Services, at 215-535-4555, or via email at lerner.s@maritimecharter.org. Additional information regarding the McKinney-Vento Law can be found on our website at www.maritimecharter.org)
4. Parent Registration Statement (and attesting to the following)
· whether the student has been or is suspended or expelled for offenses involving drugs, alcohol, weapons, infliction of injury or violence on school property (24 P.S. §13-1304-A); and
· whether the student has been or is expelled under section 1318.1 of the School Code for being convicted or adjudicated delinquent of committing a sexual assault upon another student enrolled in the same school.
5. Home Language Survey – Completed and Signed
Materials can be submitted via email at enrollment@maritimecharter.org, mailed to the school address above, or delivered in person at either school location. If you have any questions or need assistance with the completion of these documents, please feel free to contact the school for assistance. Students who submit these five required documents are considered enrolled for the next school year. The deadline to receive the five required documents is four weeks from the date of notification of acceptance.
Failure to meet this deadline forfeits your spot at Maritime Academy Charter School. Exceptions will be made only for families with language barriers, and only when those families face extenuating circumstances.