UPDATE: The Rochester City School District is extending its special school choice lottery deadline to Jan. 12.
A new website will help families in the Rochester City School District decide which schools to enroll in during the district’s school choice lottery.
Parent advocates with the organization Rochester Education and Development for Youth (READY) and a city official on Friday announced the new online tool.
“Preparing children for successful futures is one of the highest priorities at City Hall,” Commissioner Shirley Green with the city Department of Recreation and Human Services said. “This has the potential to be an incredibly valuable resource for parents and caregivers.”
Shanai Lee, recipient of the Rochester Education Fellowship, teamed up with a group of parent advocates and others to build a website that details what each school in the district has to offer.
The fellowship was created by multiple community organizations and foundations including Action for a Beter Community and the Faresh Foundation to bolster leadership that would give “an innovative vision for the future of education in Rochester, and to lead an enduring organization."
“I really wanted to help spare families the difficulties because it's already a hard choice to make,” Lee said. "You want what's best for your kid, so any barriers that can be eliminated, and that I can support with my experiences, I was definitely inspired to do.”
The website, ReadySchoolFinder.org, was launched at the same time families are grappling with the district’s school reconfiguration. Some schools will close and others will relocate by the next school year.
The project began before the school reconfiguration plan was finalized, Lee said, but it will be especially helpful given upcoming changes.
“Those schools that have been impacted by that plan, be it by their program of study and or their grade configuration, had been flagged in the tool,” Lee said. "So, parents will see and know which schools might be impacted and how they may be shifted.”
Lee wanted to demystify the process and make it easier for families to make educated decisions for their children's academic journey, she said.
Tianna Johnson is a parent who worked on the project. She said her experience was also what drove her to get involved.
"We were just kind of directed ‘This is what you have to do. This is what is available.’ So with the limited knowledge being presented, that was an issue,” Johnson said. “Just being a young parent, just new to the whole experience of parenthood and navigating systems that are so huge and impactful was intimidating.”
The site includes information on school performance, extracurricular activities, and academic supports at schools across the district, plus charter schools.
The city district’s school choice lottery application period is open through mid-January.
