Copy
Monday, Nov. 25, 2019

Hi Friend,

As school registration season continues, families move into the next phase of exploring their school options: applying to METCO. After 53 years of paper applications—and parents literally bringing their newborns to sign up, then waiting years on a waitlist with thousands of other hopeful families—METCO has moved to an online lottery system. 

Moving from a paper waitlist process to an online lottery system is no easy task, especially when METCO sends more than 3,000 Boston students to over 30 suburban partner districts throughout the state. We've created an online guide, How to Apply to the METCO Lottery, to help you assist your families who are interested in applying to METCO.

Here are 4 more important messages to share with your families about METCO this week:

1. Tell Families to Apply by Midnight on Sunday, Dec. 8th

METCO requires a specific set of documents as part of its application and each document for each application must be verified by METCO. Here is the full list of all required documents. A family's METCO application is not complete—nor can it be submitted—without these documents.

Even though the Final Deadline is Jan. 3, 2020, families who complete their METCO application by the Dec. 8th Verification Deadline will have a much greater chance of participating in the lottery. Tell your families that if they wait to apply for METCO until the final deadline and there are issues with verifying their documentation, they will likely be excluded from the lottery. 

Share our graphic below on social media to help spread the word and direct your followers to http://www.metcoinc.org/apply.

2. Support Families in Their Native Language

You can download METCO Lottery Application flyers in the following languages:

(Our online How to Apply to the METCO Lottery guide is also available in 8 languages at our website.)

3. Tell Families to Text METCO to 33-777

Your families can apply right from their phones when they text METCO to 33-777. After completing a few prompts, they'll be taken to the mobile-friendly version of the application. The mobile version makes it even easier to apply as they can take photos of their required documentation right from their phone as they fill out their application.

4. Remind Families: Explore Your Options in Addition to METCO

The METCO Lottery will take place in early/mid January (official date TBA). Participating METCO districts can make placement offers to students anytime between February and October 1st.

As such, we recommend our partners tell every family applying to METCO they should also register and apply for other Boston school options. Our School Registration Toolkit has everything your families needs to explore their options across all school sectors in Boston.

Thank you again for all the work that you do and for helping us to support METCO, the nation's largest voluntary school desegregation program with a robust 53-year history. Have a wonderful weekend!
 

Warmly,
Latoya Gayle, Executive Director
Boston School Finder

Forward This Email to a Colleague
Click the image below to view all School Preview schedules.
Like Like
Heart Heart
Tweet Tweet
Subscribe Subscribe
Follow Follow
Copyright © 2019 Boston School Finder, All rights reserved.
Boston School Finder, 46 Waltham Ave., Suite 2A, Boston, MA 02118

view this email in your browser | update your preferences | unsubscribe