PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
KIPP students Angelica Castillo, Jessica Levasseur, Sarah Ko and Dana Gottlieb get ready to pass out numbers for the lottery.
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School accepted only a handful of its 556 applicants in its elementary lottery Thursday night.
There were only spots for 81 new kindergarten students, according to Eveleen Hsu, founding school principal of KIPP Academy. Last year, she said there were only 280 applications. With so many applications, and a cafeteria that has a max capacity of 270 people, she said the fire department had to be on scene.
Although each grade has 120 spots, Hsu said if a kindergarten applicant has a sibling at the charter school, that student gets in and doesn’t have to go through the lottery. All applicants who don’t get in through the lottery get placed on the waiting list.
“It’s both a devastating night and an exciting night,” Hsu said. “Our wait list is usually huge.”
Berenice Lujano said she was at the lottery for her daughter, who will be starting kindergarten next year. Lujano is a 2008 graduate of KIPP Academy, attending the school for her middle school years. She then attended Lynn Classical High School.
“It’s like nerve-racking just because I know it’s big competition,” Lujano said.
Lujano said if her daughter didn’t get in, she would be sending her to Lynn Public Schools.
“I came here,” Lujano said. “I loved it a lot. I wanted my daughter to go through the same thing I did.”
Hugo Carvajal, director of family and community engagement for KIPP Academy, said a lottery was held for fifth grade on Tuesday, with less than 40 seats open. Today, the high school lottery will be held.
“It’s a bittersweet reality,” Carvajal said. “It’s a day where a few families walk out of here happy. The majority go home wishing there were more opportunities for their kids.”
Latifah Akinniyi said she was praying her son, Sultan, who will be going into kindergarten next year, would get in.
“I want my son to be here,” Akinniyi said. “He’s very intelligent.”
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.