Danbury magnet elementary school holds annual lottery for enrollment

Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding students invited to apply              

The Western Connecticut Academy for International Studies (“AIS”), Danbury’s magnet elementary school, is inviting parents to apply for enrollment of their elementary school-age children beginning now through Jan. 19.

Student selection to AIS is made through application and lottery. Parents from districts other than Danbury are also encouraged to apply for the lottery, as a certain number of seats and busing are available to students from other districts. The lottery will be conducted on Jan. 25 and the results will be mailed to families on Feb. 1. Families must confirm acceptance by Feb. 15.

The kindergarten through the fifth-grade school of global studies is located on Danbury’s Westside, adjacent to the Westside campus of Western Connecticut State University. AIS operates under the state guidelines as a “public school of choice” and is governed by the Danbury Board of Education. AIS was selected by the Connecticut Association of Schools as “Elementary School of the Year” for 2014-15. The school was chosen from a number of Connecticut elementary schools and “clearly distinguished itself as a consummate elementary school,” according to the non-profit organization.

Applications for admission and additional information are available online at the Danbury Public Schools website: www.danbury.k12.ct.us. Parents may also contact their local school district for additional information. Applications for the school are being accepted beginning Jan. 1, 2018. Students who applied last year and were placed on a waiting list must reapply. Families with a child in the school that have a sibling interested in applying must submit an application for that sibling. Applicants for kindergarten must be eligible for kindergarten in the 2018-19 school year.

AIS engages students in a curriculum and a structure that encourages them to develop and use a global perspective early in their education. The international theme is woven through all subjects and supported with units of study based on countries, continents, and cultures and thus engages students’ innate curiosity and openness to learning. Spanish, one of the leading world languages, is taught beginning in kindergarten.