Frequently Asked Questions

Admission to LCS is determined by lottery. Each year, usually in the first week of October, our online application window opens and those who are interested in applying to our school are encouraged to fill out an application online by visiting the enrollment page of our website. The application window closes approximately one week before the actual lottery is held. The application is very simple and usually takes only a few minutes to complete. If you need assistance, please contact the main office at 323.836.0860. The lottery is held usually in the first or second week of February.

The lottery usually occurs within the first or second week of February. Within two weeks of the lottery ALL applicants will receive a letter notifying them of either their admission OR their placement and number on the waitlist. We greatly appreciate everyone’s patience during these two weeks. If you have NOT received a notification and it has been four weeks since the lottery date, please contact the office.

Yes!  Each year, we have a number of students who change schools, usually because their families move to another location. When this occurs, we immediately call the next number on the waitlist and offer that family the vacated spot at our school. If the spot is not filled, we continue down the list in sequential order until the spot is filled. If you have a relatively low number on the waitlist, we encourage you to contact the office and arrange for a tour so that you can be familiar with LCS, if you aren’t already, should a spot become available.

If you currently have a student enrolled in LCS, then the sibling(s) of that student receive first priority in the enrollment lottery. For example, let’s assume you have a 3rd grade student currently enrolled in LCS and you have a younger child who is eligible for Kindergarten. You enter your younger child in the lottery (all children who wish to enroll must be entered into the lottery; siblings included!). Due to his/her sibling priority status, he/she would move to the very top of the lottery draw list, regardless of what number he/she actually receives in the draw, and receives a spot for Kindergarten in the Fall. If there are more siblings entering the lottery in a given year than there are sibling spots in the Kindergarten class, which is highly unlikely, the sibling spots are filled in the order of their draw.

LCS is a charter school within LAUSD and has historically followed the same general calendar as LAUSD schools.  However, LCS has opted not to move our start date forward to mid-August for the 2012 school year.  For 2012-2013, the first day of school is September 4 and the last day is June 14.

LCS is a continuous K-9 program (and will be K-12 as of 2015) and students admitted into LCS at any grade level are secured a spot through their completion of school. Currently, the program resides on two campuses, one for K-5th and one for 6th-9th grades.  The Heads of our two campuses work diligently to ensure there is maximum continuity of program and community between the two campuses.  Beginning in the Fall of 2013, LCS will add a high school campus to the network, Larchmont Charter High.

For more information on applying to LCHS, please visit one of our campuses, call our Middle School at 213-384-0040 or call our Elementary School at 323-836-0860 or e-mail: lcshighschool@larchmontcharter.org.

Yes, all children enrolled in 5th grade at LCS elementary automatically matriculate to 6th grade at LCS middle, without having to reapply.  Likewise, if your child is enrolled in 8th grade at LCS middle, he/she automatically matriculates to 9th grade at LCS high.