New Charter School Prepares For Its First Lottery

Although the opening of Hoboken's newest charter school, HoLa, is still about eight months away, parents will know if their child has a spot by tonight.

The lottery for HoLa's 132 spots will be held at 8 p.m. in the Boys and Girls Club on 123 Jefferson St., the school's location for at least the coming year. 

Parents got the chance to ask questions about the Spanish Immersion school on Saturday afternoon, during an open house. Many parents showed up, most of them interested in the opportunity for their child to have a bilingual education.

HoLa will accept 132 students, but already has at least 180 applications. The lottery will be held per grade, said Jennifer Hindman Sargent, one of the school's five founding parents.

Every grade (kindergarten, first and second) will have 44 students, divided into two classes of 22. The school will add a grade each year until it reaches fifth grade. The lottery is at random, but Hoboken residents have preference.

"We definitely need a lottery for kindergarten and first grade," Hindman Sargent said. Hindman Sargent has her two children in the lottery, one for kindergarten and one for second grade. The founder's kids have to enter the lottery just like any other applicant. 

"We all promised to stay on as volunteers," she said, "it's kind of like giving birth, no way that I can abandon this project even if my kid wouldn't get in."

Opening up a new school from scratch has been challenging for the five founders.

"It's been hard to be everywhere at once," Hindman Sargent said. Another challenge is working together with the public schools in town, she added.

Telling the children in traditional public school about this new option has been hard, Hindman Sargent said. "We haven't had any interaction with them." 

A charter school, although public and free, is essentially its own school district, with its own board and with the principal serving as a superintendent. The five founders of the school will be serving on the board. 

"We're hoping for a collaborative spirit," Hindman Sargent said about working with the public school district. So far, there has been little communication, but "a peaceful co-existence."

The school's principal has not been hired yet, but the founders are in the process of interviewing candidates (who so far have mostly been female, Hindman Sargent said). The principal will likely be hired by mid-February. 

Six full-time classroom teachers as well as five full-time assistants will also be hired. The school will also have between two and four student-teachers from Rutgers University. 

While there is a lot of interest in the school, many parents refused to give their names when interviewed, because they were still in the process of registering their children into other public and private schools.

"It's a bit of a touchy issue," one father said. 

The lottery will be held Thursday, Jan. 14, at the Boys and Girls Club on 123 Jefferson St. Although parents who applied are welcome to attend, they will be notified if their child gets in.