New to 
the Valley?

The different school districts start at different times. So, for example, in SE Chandler, schools started the third week in July, Gilbert started about a week later, the Christian schools started the first or second week of August, and up in Scottsdale, the Christian academy started late August. For a family with multiple children, getting them all in the same district so they are on the same vacation and break schedule is helpful.

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Arizona is an “open enrollment” school choice state. This means you have options:
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1) You can find out what your “assigned” school is. Your assigned school is the one that has to allow you to attend and you don’t need a formal process of application. It can be tough to find out what your assigned school is so you can try and plug in your address at www.azcharters.org and click the bottom left blue link, or you can call the school district and ask them.
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2). If you want to attend a public or charter school that is not your assigned school, you can apply for any school you like but it’s a two-fold process. One, you have to fill out an “open enrollment” form at the District, and also a second application at the school you want. Some schools have a waiting list so it can take a few weeks to get this all done. It’s a lot of paperwork but opens a wide range of good school options.
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When it comes to schools, there are a lot of options. Traditional academies often have uniforms and run a more classic program with a focus on reading and writing. Charter schools tend to also have uniforms and higher academic expectations. The larger public schools have to compete for students and so they often have great programming and options that the smaller academies and charter schools cannot provide. Lots of families will apply to more than one district to keep their options open and hold spots until right around the time school starts. The key seems to be to apply early, such as in February, for the following school year. Otherwise, waitlists develop.
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For private Christian schools, there are also some nice incentives. There are tax benefits for paying tuition. Also, Arizona has a plan where people can designate the first $2000 of their tax money to a Christian school to cover the child from another family, but you cannot do this for your own family.