2024-25 Student Transfer Information
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Monday, January 29, 2024
Dear Aiken County Public Schools District Families,
It is our desire that your student be in an educational environment most suited to his or her learning and individual achievement. While it is our hope that the school to which your student is zoned is your school of choice, there are options and opportunities for transfer should that be of interest or need to your student and family. Information about school choice for the various options are available on the Aiken County Public Schools website, www.acpsd.net. On the navigation bar select “I AM …” and then “A Parent/Guardian”. Scroll down and select “School Choice” on the left-hand side of the page. Your student’s current school can also provide you with information. To access the application, please go to your Parent Portal account, click on Forms, and click on 2024-2025 Out of Zone Special Permission Application. Complete the form and click Submit. For students not currently enrolled in Aiken County Public School District who wish to apply for School Choice, please email transfers@acpsd.net for an application.
HARDSHIP TRANSFERSWhile every effort will be made to honor hardship transfers, no transfers will be accepted to the following schools as the number of students currently enrolled and expected for the 2024-2025 school year already substantially exceed the total amount to which those facilities were designed.
The schools NOT available for Hardship Transfer include the following:
Millbrook Elementary Graniteville Elementary Gloverville Elementary
Other schools that are at or near capacity will be considered only in extreme hardship cases. These include:
Byrd Elementary Belvedere Elementary Hammond Hill Elementary
Kennedy Middle North Augusta High Midland Valley High
Special exceptions will be considered but are not guaranteed for siblings of currently enrolled transfer students. Transfers may be granted for all other schools based on capacity on a first-come, first-served basis. Friday, March 29, 2024, is the deadline to submit hardship transfer requests for the 2024-2025 school year. If anticipated capacity at a particular school is reached prior to the deadline, that school will no longer be an available option for transfer. Please note that there are no transfer options for four-year-old kindergarten.MAGNET SCHOOL THEMATIC PROGRAM TRANSFERS
Requests for attendance to one of Aiken County’s magnet schools, including East Aiken School of the Arts (elementary), Jackson STEM Middle School (Science Technology Engineering & Math), or New Ellenton STEAM Middle School (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math) or to the various thematic programs in the district, may be made on the Student Transfer Request link. The deadline for submitting paperwork for these transfers is also Friday, March 29, 2024.
KINDERGARTEN TRANSFERSAll requests for five-year-old kindergarten transfers must be made as part of the online kindergarten registration process. Because of the uncertainty of kindergarten enrollment, parents may not be notified of approval until July 2024. As noted above, there are no transfer options for four-year-old kindergarten.
If a request for transfer was previously approved, you do not need to request transfers each year. Transfers are approved through the fifth grade for elementary, through the eighth grade for middle, and through graduation for high school. While every effort will be made to keep students at their school of transfer, space limitations may make it necessary to rescind previously approved transfers.
Continued approval of a transfer is contingent upon the student following the Code of Student Conduct. Transfer students must be in regular attendance, arrive at school on time, and be picked up promptly afterwards. Excessive code of conduct violations, poor grades and/or poor attendance in previous years may be used as a determining factor in denying a transfer. The transportation of transfer students is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardian.
Key dates to remember:
January 29, 2024
Choice/transfer information is available on the district website by the end of the day. 2024-2025 Out of Zone Special Permission Application is available in Forms in Parent Portal.January 29 – March 29, 2024
Choice/transfer applications will be accepted by application in Parent Portal. A statement of why the transfer is requested should be included in the application. For students not currently enrolled in ACPSD, please email transfers@acpsd.net for an application.March 29, 2024
Choice/transfer application deadlineApril 19, 2024
Parents who submitted applications by the deadline will be notified of their choice/transfer application status.April 29, 2024
Deadline for appealing transfer decisions to the Area Advisory CouncilAs a reminder, schools that are at capacity will not be available for transfer. While we cannot guarantee every request will be approved, we have been able to approve many requests in recent years. If you have any questions about the process, please call (803) 641-2420 or email transfers@acpsd.net.
Sincerely,
King Laurence
Superintendent