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Enrollment & Assignment

Welcome to Orange County Schools! Ready to Enroll?

Registration for the upcoming school year, 2025-26 is now open for all 13 Orange County Schools!

Please note, there are two "choice" programs in Orange County Schools; 

The application window for these programs is open from now to Friday, February 14 at 5:00 p.m.

Current School Year (24-25)

If your student will be attending an Orange County School before June 7, 2025, click the button below to apply. 

apply to the current school year

Upcoming School Year (25-26)

If your child will be attending an Orange County School after July 4, 2025, click the button below to apply. 

apply to the upcoming school year

In Orange County Schools, each student is assigned to a base elementary, middle and high school based on their Orange County home address. Your address is also referred to as your domicile in Orange County School Board Policy 4120.


Fill out a New Student Registration if:

  • Your student is not currently attending any of our 13 schools
  • You have specifically been asked to fill out a new student registration form by an Orange County Schools representative
  • Your student withdrew from one of our 13 Orange County Schools and is returning to re-enroll

Required Registration Documents

Before applying to any Orange County School, gather the following documents.

Reassignment Request Form

If you want your child  to attend a different school other than the school assigned based on your home address, you must fill out the Reassignment Request Form.

This is for the 2025-26 school year only. 

Students with an "approved transfer" do not need to submit a new form until the child moves to the next grade span. For example, if your child is in elementary school, a new form will only need to be filled out once the child is entering middle school.

FAQs

Kindergarten Registration

When Can I Register My Child for Kindergarten?

  • Kindergarten registration for the 2025-26 school year will open January 6, 2025 for students on the traditional and year round calendar.
  • If you are interested in applying for the Hillsborough Elementary School (year-round) lottery, applications will be accepted from January 6 until 5:00 p.m. on February 14, 2025. Please scroll down to see more information below about Choice Schools.
     
Banner with school supplies for Kindergarten Readiness


Join us at the "Ready, Set, Kindergarten!" Family Welcome Event
January 23, 2025 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the Orange County Sportsplex

  • Meet school representatives 
  • Find answers to your questions 
  • Explore resources to enroll and support your student 
  • Get ready for Kindergarten, and get a free book!
     

click here to pre-register for the event and receive a free book

 

Pre-K Registration

Orange County Schools provides Pre-Kindergarten Services.

Will your child be age 4 on or before August 31, 2024? 2024-2025 Pre-K Applications are here!

2024-2025 Pre-K Application Packet (English)

2024-2025 Pre-K Application Packet (Spanish)

There is no deadline to apply for Pre-K services and applications will continue to be accepted into the 2024-25 school year. You will be contacted if your child is eligible and there is an opportunity to enroll.

The 2025-26 Pre-K application process will begin in February 2025. 

Magnet or Other Schools of Choice

The application window for the magnet/choice programs for the 2025-2026 school year:

Window Opens:  January 6, 2025 at 9:00am
Window Closes:  February 14, 2025 at 5:00pm

The following programs will be considered as "Choice":

**Applications for the 2024-25 school year are closed. 

2025-2026 Magnet/Choice Program Lottery Information

For magnet/choice programs, a random lottery of applications is conducted. 

The lottery for Hillsborough Elementary will be conducted after the processing of all applications submitted by the deadline above is concluded.  Attendees for Hillsborough Elementary will be randomly selected in the following order of priorities:

  1. Returning students who have been continuously enrolled at HES. 
  2. New student who is a sibling of a currently attending and returning student (current K-4th grade).
  3. Child of an employee who is assigned to Hillsborough Elementary. 
  4. Students domiciled in the attendance zone of a designated low-performing school.
  5. Students domiciled in the Orange County Schools district not assigned to any higher priority weights (1-4 above).
  6. Out of district students accepted for admission with the payment of tuition.

Students selected through the lottery to attend Hillsborough Elementary will be notified via the email provided in the application in early March 2025.  Once an applicant is offered a seat, the parent/guardian will have 3 business days after receiving the notification to accept or decline the offered seat.  Seats not accepted by the deadline will automatically be declined.  

Applicants that do not receive a seat offer in the first seating will be placed in an applicant pool (non-numeric waitlist).  Seats that become available will be offered to the applicant pool utilizing the seating priorities listed above.  Once an applicant is offered a seat, the parent/guardian will have 3 business days after receiving notification to accept or decline the offered seat.  Seats not accepted by the deadline will automatically be declined.

Upon acceptance of a seat at a magnet/choice school, the assignment is binding for the duration of the school grade span unless a transfer to the base neighborhood school is approved through the OCS transfer process.

Note:  Siblings for the purposes of this process are defined as children domiciled in the same residence. When applying, the parent/guardian will be asked to indicate if currently non-attending siblings are applying together or separate. 

  • Applying together--all siblings at the same domicile will be seated or none will be seated. 
  • Applying separate--siblings will be considered independently from one another.  If one is seated, no priority for seating is provided to the non-seated sibling.

If your student will be attending an Orange County School for the 2024-25 school year before June 7, 2025, click below.

click here to begin the registration process or return to a saved registration (2024-25)

Contact

For more information, please contact your child's school or:

Joy Toellen, Director of Student Assignment

919-245-4020 x12512
Email: joy.toellen@orange.k12.nc.us

or  Sandra Blefko al 919-644-3200 x15508.