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Admission

Please use the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District's Centralized Application Portal to submit an application.

Application and Lottery Process

  1. The application window closes on April 10, 2026 at 3:00 PM.
  2. During the application process, parents and guardians are strongly encouraged to attend the informational meeting on March 25 at 6:00 PM  to learn about the philosophy, curriculum, daily operation, and unique requirements (i.e. cross-country skis!) of the school.
  3. If more students apply than can be accommodated (class sizes are set at 22), applicants will be drawn by lottery for admission. The lottery will be held on April 15. 
  4. Lottery results will be released and viewable in the Central Application Portal on April 17. We will contact families via phone or email as spots become available. You will have 48 hours from that point of contact to accept or decline the spot. If a spot is offered in August, you will have 24 hours to accept or decline the spot.

Admission Criteria:

The Watershed Charter School is a school of choice within the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. A student enrolling at The Watershed School must be between the ages of five and fourteen. To be eligible to apply for kindergarten, children must be 5 years old on or before September 1. Children must be 6 years old on or before September 1 to attend first grade.  A copy of the child's birth certificate is required for each pupil entering kindergarten or first grade.  All new students must submit proof of immunization or a waiver before being admitted into the school.  At least one parent, or legal guardian, must be a resident of the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

Selection Process 

Enrollment at The Watershed School is voluntary.  As per AS 14.03.265 (b) the school shall strive to enroll all eligible students who submit a timely and accurate application. If there are too many eligible applicants, a lottery will be held.  The lottery will be held for enrollment for the following fall and will be conducted in accordance with district policy. The lottery determines the waiting list for the following school year.

The Watershed School keeps a waitlist of students who have applied but were unsuccessful in being chosen through the lottery. When there are openings in the school between annual lotteries, the waitlist is used to fill vacancies. Waitlists do not carry over to next year’s lottery. All unsuccessful applicants are welcome to reapply the following year.

In keeping with the Watershed School's philosophy of long-term connection to family, community, and geographical place, in subsequent years all students who have previously attended The Watershed School are automatically re-enrolled in the program. Siblings are admitted as a unit so that families can attend the same school (ie: when one child in a family is admitted through the lottery, the other siblings will move up to the next available spot in their respective grade). Although all new applicants must meet the application requirements, future students who already have siblings enrolled in the school are given priority for enrollment in the Watershed School, provided space is available at the sibling’s grade level. Siblings are defined as permanent, immediate family members. 

In order to accommodate children from the Smith Ranch Subdivision area, when openings arise in a grade level, we will give preference to Smith Ranch children. This preference will be closed when two seats in a classroom are occupied by Smith Ranch children.

Once enrolled at The Watershed School, parents or guardians will complete an “Intent to Reenroll” form in February for the following school year and are expected to notify the school of any change in plans. 

If students withdraw from The Watershed School to attend another school, they must complete the application and lottery process again before readmission. If a parent pulls a student mid-year and puts them in a different school or homeschool, and later on reapplies to Watershed School, the ability to use sibling preference cannot be used.  They must go back into the lottery. If a student is withdrawn for attendance violations, they are returned to the lottery and lose the ability to use sibling preference to get back into Watershed.

Nondiscrimination Disclosure

The Watershed School does not discriminate towards any individual as defined in District Policy 1011 nor does it require any student to attend the program. The Watershed School will not discriminate by race or special needs or other inappropriate criteria. No student shall be denied participation because of a learning disability, handicapping condition, or special need.