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Every year David Ellis Academy – Detroit holds a two-week “open enrollment” for the upcoming school year for interested parents during times convenient to their schedules including day, evening, and weekend hours. We will announce the initial enrollment period in the major, local community newspapers. During the "open enrollment," an enrollment application needs to be submitted to the school. If more new applicants apply during “open enrollment" than spaces available (per grade level), then we will put all applications into a lottery.

When the holding of a lottery is required, the following procedures will be used:

• During the advertised enrollment period, each family interested in enrolling one or more of their children in our academy must submit a full and complete application for each child. The Academy will advertise its enrollment period in major, local media advertisements and/or public service announcements. The enrollment period will be at least two weeks in length or as otherwise required by law.
• If the number of applicants for any grade level exceeds the number of spaces available, the Academy will schedule a lottery to take place at an official public board meeting, no later than four weeks following the closing date of the initial enrollment period. We will also advertise the date, time, and location of the lottery in the major, local newspapers. Further, we will notify the parents or legal guardians who submitted one or more completed applications by first-class mail, and a phone call of the date, time, and location of the scheduled lottery.
• For each grade level where there are more applications than spaces available, we will enter each applicant into the grade level pool via an identically sized postcard. Then, an impartial party will draw names from the pool one at a time, and they will record each name in order until they draw all names the names.

Those applicants contained on the list beyond the total number of seats available remain on the list without further action necessary up until the beginning of the next enrollment period. This establishes the official waiting list for that grade level. If spaces become available during the school year in any grade, we inform applicants, parents, or legal guardians of the opening through a written notification sent via first class mail, as well as a phone call. The applicant’s parent or legal guardian must inform the Academy within five (5) days following the receipt of this notification if they wish to enroll their child by returning the acknowledgement card via mail or personal delivery to the address/location provided. We will fill all openings occurring during the year from the current year’s waiting list.

We require the following immunizations as outlined by the state of Michigan:

Michigan recently modified the administrative rules that change how school/childcare programs will process non-medical waivers for immunizations. The new rule went into effect on January 1, 2015.

With Michigan having one of the highest waiver rates in the country, a proactive approach has been established to help inform everyone regarding the benefits of vaccinations and the risks of disease. Some counties in Michigan have waiver rates as high as 20.7%. This means that more than 20% of the students in those counties have not received all their vaccines. Some school buildings have even higher waiver rates. The hope is that the new rule will help answer any questions/concerns one may have regarding immunizations.

Key Points

• The new rule applies to all children who are enrolled in public or private:
  • Licensed childcare, preschool, and Head Start programs.
  • Kindergarten, 7th grade, and any newly-enrolled student into the school district.
• The new rule does not take away your right to obtain a non-medical waiver.
• Non-medical waivers (religious or philosophical (other) objections) will need to be obtained from a county health department; the schools/childcare centers will not have them.
• Parents/Guardians must follow these steps when requesting a non-medical waiver:
  • Contact your county health department for an appointment to speak with a health educator.
  • During the visit, there will be an opportunity to have a discussion about immunizations with the county health department staff.
  • If at the end of the visit, you request a non-medical waiver for your child, you will receive a copy of the current, certified (stamped and signed) State of Michigan Non-medical Waiver Form.
    • Schools/childcare centers will only accept the current, official State of Michigan form (Current date: January 1, 2015).
    • Forms cannot be altered in any way (such as crossing information out).
  • Take completed, certified waiver form to your child’s school or childcare center.
• If your child has a medical reason (a true contraindication or precaution) for not receiving a vaccine, a physician must sign the State of Michigan Medical Contraindication form; this form is available at your doctor’s office (not the county health department).
• Based on the public health code, a child without either an up-to-date immunization record, a certified non-medical waiver form, or a physician-signed medical waiver form can be excluded from school/childcare.

For more information, please visit the Michigan Department of Community Health website > then click on Local Health Departments > then click on Immunization Waiver Information. There is a list of all the county health departments on this website, along with their addresses and phone numbers.