Enroll Today!

Apply now through our online application: https://gala-oh.finalforms.com/

If you need support in another language or have questions, call/text (216) 370-8006 or email MRogers@GALACleveland.org

*You can enroll anytime throughout the school year for our tuition-free public school.

  • Students must be 5 years old by September 30 to enroll in Kindergarten, unless otherwise determined by the GALA Student Acceleration Policy (GALA Early Kindergarten Application)
  • Students can only enroll in one language program (Mandarin or Spanish) and switching languages after starting is not permitted.

ENROLLMENT POLICY

Admission to the School is open to student grades kindergarten through eight who resides in any district in the State of Ohio.

Language immersion students are an at-risk group of learners. GALA serves emerging bilingual and bi-literate students in English-Spanish and English-Mandarin. To demonstrate proficiency in the target language, students in grades 2 – 7 who did not attend GALA within the last school year must successfully complete the following assessments:

  1. Demonstrate reading and writing grade level proficiency in the target language (either Spanish or Mandarin) via a reading and writing test administered by GALA. The student will be given immediately preceding grade-level text to read in the target language and will be required to respond in writing to comprehension questions in the target language. (In Mandarin, this may include both characters and pinyin.).  AND
  2. Demonstrate grade-level conversational fluency in the target language via an oral comprehension screening administered by GALA. The student will be engaged in an oral conversation with a screener (GALA staff member or contractor) who is orally fluent in the target language. The student must demonstrate to the screener appropriate immediately preceding grade-level conversational fluency and comprehension in the target language.

A student must pass all assessments and screeners listed above. If the student fails the reading assessment, the writing assessment, or the oral comprehension screener, they will not be admitted to GALA. These requirements are for any student enrolling at GALA in grades 2 through 7 regardless of whether the student has previous target language experience from another language immersion school, living abroad, being a heritage or at-home speaker of the target language, or any other scenario. The only exception is for students who were previously enrolled in GALA within the last school year. For these students returning to GALA, admission assessments and screeners are not required. However, caps on grade level or overall capacity may still limit enrollment. Admission assessments will be conducted with the accommodations as included in a student’s IEP or 504 plan.

Appeal: A student who is denied admission due to not passing all assessments may appeal for re-testing by GALA one time at the reasonable discretion of the school leader.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL POLICY HERE:  GALA Admission Enrollment Residency Policy 06.30.2022

LOTTERY AND ACCEPTANCE

During Open Enrollment, if GALA receives more applications than there are seats available for any given grade level or program, we will hold a random lottery as required by law. Once the lottery is held, we will contact all applicants to notify them of their enrollment status. All applications received after 4:00 p.m. on the date of the lottery deadline will be entered into the second pool of first come, first serve applicants and wait-listed by the date they are received.

Accepted families will receive a phone call and email after the lottery, notifying them of the student(s) acceptance. Please make sure the contact information you provide on this application is current. You will have one week to accept or decline your seat. If no response is received after one week, your application will be moved to the waitlist.

 

DOCUMENTATION CHECKLIST

Before any student can attend GALA, the following items must be provided to complete your student(s) enrollment before the beginning of the school year. Your child will not be considered enrolled at GALA until we receive all of the following documents:

  1. Birth Certificate (certified copy or passport showing date and place of birth)
  2. Immunization / Shot Records (official copy from the previous school or signed/stamped copy from physician)
  3. Proof of Current Residency (copy of current lease, OR mortgage statement/property deed/property tax bill, OR current utility bill: water, gas, electric – dated within the last 2 months with parent / legal guardian’s name and address).  If the parent(s) does not have any residency documents with their name, an Alternative Proof of Residency letter that is notarized can be used.
  4. If applicable: Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Multi-Factor Evaluation (MFE)
  5. If applicable: Proof of Custody (stamped certified copy of judgment or journal entry regarding custody or letters of guardianship from probate court)