Ector County Independent School District Choice Schools

CHOICE SCHOOLS:  

ELEMENTARY:  Austin, Blackshear, Cameron, GP Alamo, Hays, Milam, Reagan, Travis & Zavala

MIDDLE SCHOOL: Ector College Prep

HIGH SCHOOL:  New Tech Odessa (NTO); Odessa Collegiate Academy (OCA); Odessa Career & Technical Early College High School (OCTECHS)  (application for Choice high schools can be found on their school website.)

Letters of Intent will be sent home with current Choice students in December to reserve their seat for the upcoming school year.  Do NOT submit an online application for returning Choice students.

Phase Two: Incoming Siblings

Incoming siblings will be given priority, room permitting.

 Application must be submitted on-line by the designated deadline.

Phase Three: General Enrollment

Placement will occur from the following groups, in this order, using a randomized selection process:

'Eligible' applicants who are Ector County residents, and

  'Eligible' applicants who are non-residents of Ector County.  

TRANSPORTATION:

Morning and afternoon transportation will be provided to all Choice students who reside outside a two-mile radius from the assigned Choice campus (excludes PK students).  Transportation is not available for non-residents of Ector County.

Q&A

Q. How long does it take to complete the online application?  Typically, the process should take about 10 minutes.

Q. What if I do not have access to a computer?  Please contact the Choice School or the office of Student Admissions for assistance.

Q. Is there another way of submitting an application other than online?  No, the application process is strictly online.

Q. Once I've submitted the application, how will I know the submission was successful?  When you submit the application, you will immediately receive an automated message to the email address you provided stating the application was submitted successfully.

Q. Should I allow family or friends to use my account?  It is the user's responsibility to protect the integrity of any information entered in the system. This includes, but is not limited to, passwords or personal information about you or your child.

Q. My account has been disabled because I've attempted to login too many times. Should I set up another account?  No. Call the office of Student Admissions to assist you. 

Selection Process

Q. Are students selected on a first-come, first serve basis?  ‘Eligible' students will be entered into a randomized lottery. Students are selected based on pre-defined Board-approved criteria (if applicable) such as: sibling and staff priorities.

Q. How is the lottery conducted?  A computerized software is used to conduct a randomized automated selection of students to our Choice Schools using Board approved criteria.

Q. How will parents be notified if their child was selected to participate in a program?  Parents will receive notification of the lottery results via email.

Q. What happens after the initial lottery process?  Once the notifications have been emailed, parents of students who were accepted must Accept/Decline the seat via their dashboard.  Students who were not selected are randomly placed on the waitlist and are contacted if and when openings become available. If students are not called from the waitlist by the end of December of the current school year, the waitlist is dissolved and the process will start over for the following school year.  The online application is re-opened to continue accepting late applications to fill seats which were not filled during lottery or to be placed on the waitlist.