School Choice

Lottery only for CIA requests turned in during the CIA Lottery Window

Space by Grade Level Will Later Determine Assignments

Lottery results provide the selection order for each student's requested school(s). Please note these results are static and are not updated with post-lottery requests submitted. Parents who applied during the Change in Assignment (CIA) Choice Lottery Window can access their student’s information by using their choice form number. Students’ names are not listed.

The lottery order, step three of the process listed below, does not guarantee placement. Space by grade level will later determine school choice assignments. That information will be determined based on student projections for each school by grade. Change in Assignment Choice notification of approval or waiting list number will be determined and letters mailed to parents no later than Friday, March 31, 2025.

Change in Assignment Choice does not affect the process for applying to the District’s 11 magnet academies. Those schools are not included in the Change in Assignment Choice process. The three schools listed below have variations in the assignment/choice process. Assignments may be limited due to available space.

• Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School
  Population plan
• Sterling School – There is a First Choice geocode area, as well as the Change in Assignment Choice Process. Students for The Charles Townes Center are selected using Gifted and Talented criteria.
• Wade Hampton High School – Students selected for the Fine Arts Center may request to attend. Other students may attend through the Change in Assignment Choice Process.

(Note: Parents who have misplaced their choice form number will need to go to the school where they completed the request form and provide proper identification to receive a copy of their request form. It is suggested that you take a picture of the CIA request form.)

Questions? Email planning@greenville.k12.sc.us or call 355-7266 or 355-7263.

Step 1: Returning Students - No action necessary unless changing schools.

Step 2: Choice Lottery Window - From November 21, 2024 through December 6, 2024, parents/guardians go to their first choice school to complete a choice form for up to three schools (this form is not available online). Parents or guardians of rising kindergarten through second grade students interested in changing their assignment to the new Reedy Laurel Elementary School should complete the forms at Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School. Parents receive a copy of the choice form with the number to later check the lottery results.  Order of receipt of form during lottery window does not affect selection. (Note: Parents of 5K students for 2025-26 should submit choice requests during the Choice Lottery Window, and not wait until kindergarten registration. This includes parents who already have a sibling at the school. Space is the determining factor whether a child is granted a slot.)

Step 3: Lottery Results Posted - No later than Wednesday, February 12, 2025, lottery results reflecting the numerical order of applicants will be posted on the GCS website. Results provide the order of applicants by grade for each school only and do not reflect assignment or approval. This list is static and does not reflect waitlist number(s) after initial choice allocations. Parents can access lottery numerical order results by using their choice form number. Later, available space by grade level will determine the choice assignments for each school.

Order of Lottery Assignments (Based on space availability)

• Students with siblings who will return to the requested school on Change in Assignment Choice for the upcoming school year have first priority of assignment to their #1 choice school if space is available.
• Students from overcrowded schools may be given the next priority. Decisions made annually.
• All other students residing within the school system and children of full-time District employees have the next priority.
• Students residing outside the school system

Step 4: Change in Assignment Choice Notification - By Friday, March 31, 2025 notification letters will be mailed to parents/guardians advising if the student received a slot at a requested school or if placed on the wait list. Wait list number will be provided.

Step 5: Waiting Lists Established - Students who are not assigned to a requested choice school will be placed on a waiting list for each requested school. If space becomes available at the requested school(s), students on the waiting list are assigned based on their established ranking from the waiting list. This process will continue through the first eight days of the 2025-26 school year.

Additional Information

• Parents must provide transportation to/from school attending through Change in Assignment Choice.
• Attendance at a school other than home-based may render a student ineligible for athletic participation for one calendar year as determined by the SC High School League.
• Change in Assignment Choice requests for students qualifying for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or for accommodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act will be considered on an equal basis if the requested school provides an appropriate education in accordance with the student’s Individualized Education Program or Accommodation Plan, is appropriately accessible, and has space in the program the student requires.
• All Change in Assignment Choice requests are filled from lottery results and post lottery results if space is available; otherwise students are placed on waiting list.

Questions should be directed to Student Assignment Office at 355-7266 or 355-7263 or email Planning@greenville.k12.sc.us.

Each of the school system’s 11 magnet academies offer an academic theme or focus that allows students to explore a special interest, gift, talent and/or skill at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Applications for the following school year are accepted each year beginning in November. Magnet slots are limited at each magnet academy. Applications are available on the GCS website and from each magnet academy.

Students may apply to more than one magnet academy. Applications are scored based on four criteria: attendance, discipline, grade average (student interview in Grades 5K, 1 and 2), and a student statement indicating why the student would like to attend the magnet academy. Students who apply and qualify during the first application period have a greater chance of being offered a slot than those students who apply and qualify in later rounds.

Siblings of returning magnet students have priority of acceptance in Round 1. If magnet slots are available after all siblings who have qualified are placed, non-siblings will be accepted beginning with the highest to the lowest qualifying scores until the school’s assigned magnet slots have been filled. A lottery system is used when there are more qualifying students than available slots. Qualifying students not selected for a magnet academy are placed on a waiting list.

Magnet Academies

• Admission is open to all eligible students and students may apply to more than one magnet academy.
• Magnet slots at each school are limited.
• Students who apply and qualify during the first application period have a greater chance of being offered a slot than students who apply and qualify in later rounds.
• Qualifying siblings of magnet students who will return the following school year to the school have priority of acceptance in Round 1.

Magnet Academy Information

Some schools offer "choices" within the school such as single-gender and multi-level classes as well as an instructional focus. Examples of an instructional focus are engineering at A.J. Whittenberg Elementary, science and health at Monarch Elementary, and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses offered at various schools. Individual school websites offer additional information about specific school programs.

The District's four Career Technology Centers offer courses for high school students in a variety of career paths. The Fine Arts Center, located at Wade Hampton High School, accepts auditions for enrollment in various fields of the arts. Acceptance at the Fine Arts Center allow CIA request acceptance to Wade Hampton High School for core academic classes.

The Charles Townes Center, located at Sterling School, offers for qualifying students in grades three through eight, an advanced academic curriculum. All high schools offer college preparatory, honors and advanced placement coursework. Sterling School is a total choice elementary program for students residing in identified "first choice" geocodes surrounding the school and then to students whose parents reside outside the "first choice" geocodes.

No students in Greenville County Schools shall be denied equal opportunity to participate in any district program or activity on the basis of race, sex, religion, marital status or national origin, and no student shall be denied a free, appropriate education on account of any handicapping condition.

Charter Schools are independent public schools that are nonsectarian, nonreligious, nonhome-based, and nonprofit.