Pacific Collegiate School

Skip to main content
Mobile Menu
Please Create A Marquee

Apply

ENROLLING ALL GRADES

Applications for the PCS Admissions Lottery

Pacific Collegiate School (PCS) is a tuition-free public charter school open to any student in 7th through 12th grade seeking a rigorous college-preparatory education. Admission to PCS is through a public, random lottery, as required by California law. There are no student admission tests, tuition, fees of any kind, or any other requirements except to fill out the online application. Like many other public charter schools, PCS conducts an annual lottery, because there are more requests to enroll than there are seats available. Preference in the public random drawing for Grades 7-12 shall be given to the following students in the following order per the PCS Charter Renewal (Renewal Term: July 1, 2020-June 30, 2025), approved by the PCS Board of Directors on November 6, 2019:

  1. Applicants From Traditionally Underrepresented Populations. Thirty percent (30%) of seats in the 7th Grade are reserved for applicants to the 7th Grade from traditionally underrepresented populations, further prioritized as follows:
    1. A first rank priority for this preference shall be established for applicants who are siblings of current pupils of Pacific Collegiate School and both an FRPM eligible applicant and a first-generation college-bound applicant.
    2. A second rank priority (if space remains after the application of the first ranking preference) shall be established for non-sibling applicants to the 7th grade who are both an FRPM eligible applicant and a first-generation college-bound applicant.).
    3. A third rank priority (if space remains after the application of the first two ranking preferences) shall be established for applicants who are siblings of current pupils of Pacific Collegiate School and either an FRPM eligible applicant or a first-generation college-bound applicant.
    4. A fourth ranking priority (if space remains after the application of the first three ranking preferences) shall be established for non-sibling applicants who are either an FRPM eligible applicant or a first-generation college-bound applicant. An “FRPM eligible applicant” is defined as an applicant eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the regulations and guidelines used by schools, institutions, and facilities participating in the National School Lunch Program. A “first-generation college-bound applicant” is defined as one whose parents’ or chief guardians’ highest level of education is less than a Bachelor’s Degree. An eligible applicant for this preference who is not selected may then receive preference in the lottery in accordance with other preferences listed below. In the event that a sixth grade is approved as a material revision to the charter, this preference for grade 7 shall only be applicable so long as PCS maintains less than (4) sections of sixth-grade enrollment. If PCS maintains four (4) or more Sections of sixth-grade enrollment, the preference for traditionally underrepresented applicants shall be applicable only to sixth-grade enrollment pursuant to the sixth-grade preferences above and this section shall not apply.
  2. Children of current faculty or staff of Pacific Collegiate School.
  3. Siblings of current pupils of Pacific Collegiate School, or surviving siblings of any student deceased while enrolled at Pacific Collegiate School.
  4. Children of current or past members of the PCS Board of Directors who served or committed to serving a full term on the Board of Directors, and who met other prerequisites as may be defined by the Board of Directors pursuant to the adopted policy.
  5. Residents of the Santa Cruz City Secondary Schools District. In-district applicants are awarded a weighted advantage in the lottery process such that their chances of being selected are greater than those of out-of-district applicants.

The only requirement to enter the Pacific Collegiate School admissions lottery is to submit an application by the annual deadline. The deadline for the 2023-2024 admissions lottery is February 28, 2023.

Applications submitted after the lottery deadline are still accepted. Please note that applications submitted AFTER the application deadline will be automatically placed at the bottom of the applicable grade waitlist in the order received.

The lottery for the 2023-2024 school year was held on March 16, 2023.

Applications submitted after the lottery will be placed on the waitlist.

The deadline for submitting a 2023-2024 lottery application was 3:00pm on 2/28/23.  PCS has temporarily paused accepting lottery applications, but will resume accepting them again on March 17, 2023.  Please revisit our website after 3/17/23 and submit your lottery application.

 

Applications will be accepted November 1, 2021 – February 28, 2023. Several information meetings will be scheduled while the lottery application is open, as listed below. Space is limited, so please use the links below to register for an information session and/or campus tour. Please note that attendance at an information meeting is recommended, but not required. 

  • November 5, 2022 (11:00am-1:00pm) at the Davenport Resource Center

Sign - Up for November 5 Meeting

  • November 10, 2022 (5:30pm – 7:00pm) at the Watsonville Public Library

Sign- Up  for November 10 Meeting 


January 28, 2023 (9:00am-11:00am) at Pacific Collegiate School
Note: an optional school tour is included in this session
 Sign-Up for January 28 Meeting

February 9, 2023 (7:00pm-8:30pm) online via Zoom
Sign-Up for February 9 Meeting

February 25, 2023 (9:00am-11:00am) at Pacific Collegiate School
Note: an optional school tour is included in this session          
Sign-Up for February 25 Meeting

* The PCS admissions lottery for 2023-2024 will be held March 16 at 5:00pm at Pacific Collegiate School. Although the lottery is open to the public, it is not necessary to attend in person. You will receive an email either informing you that your student received a seat, or that your student has been waitlisted. You can log into your Lotterease account immediately after the lottery to view your students' position on the waitlist.

 

Interested in submitting a lottery application? Create an account in our new lottery application portal, Lotterease, at: https://app.lotterease.com/cgi-bin/sl_V2_1.pl?account_id=542&nav=Parents_Registration

Have you already created a Lotterease lottery application portal account and want to log in? If so, you may access the login page at: https://app.lotterease.com/cgi-bin/sl_V2_1.pl?nav=Parents_Login