School Assignment Overview by Grade Level

An Assigned School is a school near your home to which your child is guaranteed admission and transportation is provided, if needed. Click here to find your child’s assigned school.

A Year-Round School offers the North Carolina Standard Course of Study on a nine-week on, three-week intercession (off) schedule. NHCS offers two year-round schools: Codington and Eaton which follow the year-round calendar. Click here for a link to the NHCS calendars. If interested in attending a year-round school, the parent/guardian must apply to the school that is located in the assigned territory based on where the parent/guardian is domiciled. Students are selected for attendance by random lottery. Transportation is provided, if needed, as long as the student remains domiciled in the transportation zone. Accepting a seat requires a year-long commitment and once selected, the student may attend through the last grade level offered at the school.

Please contact the Enrollment Office in Student Support Services at 910-251-2929 to find the year-round school in your child’s attendance zone.

• Applications accepted for Kindergarten March 1 – April 12, 2024* will be included in the lottery draw.
• Click here to submit a Kindergarten application for a year-round school using ScribEnroll. Click here to learn more about Kindergarten registration.
• Kindergarten notifications will be sent by April 30, 2024.
• Grades 1-5 applications accepted March 1 - April 12, 2024* will be included in the lottery draw. Click here to submit an application for grades 1-5 for a year-round school using ScribEnroll.
• NHCS will continue to accept new applications for year-round until the day before school begins. *Applications received after April 12, 2024 will not be included in the initial notification process and will automatically be added to the waitlist for consideration if seats remain available.
• Sibling privilege will only be guaranteed as long as the parent/guardian adheres to all application requirements and noted deadlines. 
• For students entering Kindergarten and those in grades 1-5 that are newly enrolling with New Hanover County Schools, the parent/guardian must first submit a new enrollment application to their assigned (zoned) school using ScribEnroll. The application must be complete including required documentation of certified birth certificate, proof of domicile, parent/guardian identification (if available), and custody documentation (if applicable). Lottery applications will be denied if these requirements are not met.

A Specialty Program School is a school with a specific focus that draws students from all over the county. The North Carolina Standard Course of Study is taught using this area of emphasis as an approach. There are three elementary specialty program schools: Rachel Freeman School of Engineering, The International School at Gregory, and Annie Snipes Academy of Arts & Design. If the parent/guardian is already domiciled in the attendance zone for a specialty program school, you do not need to apply to that specific school. Otherwise, the parent/guardian must apply and students are selected for attendance by random lottery. Rachel Freeman School of Engineering and Annie Snipes Academy of Arts & Design are on the restart year-round calendar. Click here for a link to the NHCS calendars. Accepting a seat requires a year-long commitment and once selected, the student may attend through the last grade level offered at the school.

• If you live outside a specialty program school’s attendance zone, you must apply. Click here to submit a specialty program school Kindergarten application using ScribEnroll.
• Applications accepted for Kindergarten March 1 – April 12, 2024* and click here to learn more about Kindergarten registration.
• Kindergarten notifications will be sent by April 30, 2024.
• Grades 1-5 applications accepted March 1 – April 12, 2024* and click here to submit an application for a specialty program school using ScribEnroll.
• Transportation is provided if needed once accepted.
• NHCS will continue to accept new applications for specialty program schools until the day before the December holiday break begins. *Applications received after April 12, 2024 will not be included in the initial notification process and will automatically be added to the waitlist for consideration if seats remain available.
• Sibling privilege will only be guaranteed as long as the parent/guardian adheres to all application requirements and noted deadlines. 
• For students entering Kindergarten and those in grades 1-5 that are newly enrolling with New Hanover County Schools, the parent/guardian must first submit a new enrollment application to their assigned (zoned) school using ScribEnroll. The application must be complete including required documentation of certified birth certificate, proof of domicile, parent/guardian identification (if available), and custody documentation (if applicable). Lottery applications will be denied if these requirements are not met.

Open Choice - A school outside a student’s assigned school area for which the student may apply for a lottery assignment as an “open choice” placement if there is space available at the school within the student’s grade level. Once selected, the student may attend through the last grade level offered at the school.

• Applications Accepted March 1 - April 12, 2024.
• Random lottery will be held to select students for available spaces.
• Applications for Open Choice cannot be submitted after April 12, 2024. The only means for change in school assignment after this date will be through a hardship transfer.
• Public school transportation WILL NOT be provided.
• Click here to submit an Open Choice Application using ScribEnroll.
• In order to remain at the school under Open Choice, the following criteria must met:
  • Regular attendance without excessive tardiness, absences, or early checkouts:
  • Timely pick-up of student;
  • No patterns of disruptive behavior or disciplinary referrals;
  • The parent/legal guardian must not violate the conduct requirements as outlined in the Board Policy 5020 and must maintain positive communications with the school and its employees with no history of disruptive, volatile, hostile, or aggressive communications or actions.  

A parent/legal guardian may submit up to a maximum of three (3) application requests for reassignment through a combination of year-round, specialty program, and/or open choice applications. Students applying for enrollment to first grade from a non-public Kindergarten program must contact their assigned (zoned) school to schedule testing for grade placement.