Lottery FAQs

YES Prep is an open enrollment free-tuition school. To enroll, all interested families should apply through our student lottery application. The application for the 2026-2027 school year opens Wednesday, October 1, 2025. 

As a public charter network, applicants must apply for our enrollment. Families must create an account via SchoolMint Enroll and submit an application online.  YES Prep uses a computer system to run a random lottery each year in February.  After the lottery is run, students who are not selected are placed on a waiting list.  Applications and waitlists do not roll over from year to year. If you are placed on the waitlist and are not selected to attend at YES Prep, we invite you to please submit an application in the following application year!

The open enrollment season begins on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 and ends on Friday, February 13, 2026. Once the open enrollment deadline has passed, you may submit an application to be placed on our waitlist. Our YES Prep campuses continue to backfill all seats until meeting enrollment. 

This year, the lottery will run on February 23, 2026. 

All K-12 families will be notified of the lottery results beginning February 23, 2026. Pre-K families will receive lottery notifications on  April 1, 2026.

All families submitting a lottery application will receive an electronic communication (email or text message, depending on selected preference on application) stating whether or not their child was offered by the lottery or if they are on the waitlist.

Unfortunately, multiple applications to the same YES Prep school do not increase your chances of receiving a seat at YES Prep. However, all interested families are encouraged to select up to 3 schools to apply to. If a family falls in a YES Prep zone, they will default an application to their zoned school. Duplicate applications are flagged and removed from the enrollment platform system. 

YES Prep is a free, open enrollment public school.  We do not charge tuition to attend.

If the student lives more than 2 miles away from their primary campus, within a YES zone, YES Prep will provide transportation to that campus. Applicants will be notified whether they are in the primary zone when applying to the lottery. For more transportation information, please visit the YES Prep Transportation page. 

Applicants can apply to up to 3 YES Prep campuses. If an applicant lives within a YES Prep campus zone, an applicant must apply to that campus as part of the 3 YES Prep campuses.

No existing YES Prep students do not need to complete another application for enrollment. Returning students are automatically enrolled in the subsequent school year. However, existing families should look to complete Intent to Return in early January to confirm they will continue with YES Prep. If you are looking to transfer to another YES Prep campus, you may request a transfer request. Additional information on transfers will be communicated leading up to the 2025 new year.