FAQ s

• Applicants must have parents/guardians who are currently legal residents of North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Division of Charter Schools, mandates that out-of-state residents are not eligible to participate in the lottery.
• Union Academy admits students without regard to ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability. Our state-mandated lottery process results in a random sampling of applicants.
• According to state law, a child must be 5 years old on or before August 31 of the applying school year to attend kindergarten. Lottery applicants must meet the same criteria.

No, students must be a resident of the state of North Carolina at the time their application is submitted. 

• As a public charter school, we are required to conduct an annual admissions lottery for any opening in every grade.
• Once enrolled, the student may attend through the 12th grade without further application as long as North Carolina residency is maintained.
• Before the lottery opens, Union Academy administrators determine the number of seats that will be available in each grade level. This is based on several factors, including the number of current UA students moving to the next grade and available classroom space.
• According to the law governing charter schools in North Carolina, all new students who wish to be part of the Union Academy lottery must complete an application for admission.
• Only one application per child will be accepted. Submitting duplicate applications to gain an advantage will result in disqualifying the student’s application(s).
• If a family has more than one child applying for admission, separate applications must be completed for each child.
• All applicants to the lottery must be North Carolina residents at the time of the lottery with a physical North Carolina address. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Division of Charter Schools, mandates that out-of-state residents are not eligible to participate in the lottery.
• According to state law, a child must be 5 years old on or before August 31 of the applying school year to attend kindergarten.
• Lottery applicants must meet the same criteria.

• A separate application must be submitted for each twin or multiple-birth child.
• State law allows one lottery number per family surname to be entered into the lottery for twins and multiple-birth siblings. For example, the lottery program identifies the students as twins prior to the public lottery. If one twin’s number is drawn, the other is automatically accepted. That also applies to multiple-birth siblings who are placed on the waitlist.

No, per state law, you must apply every year for the appropriate grade.

• Families must fill out applications online while the application period is open.
• Families need to enter a valid email address and create a password to create a free account. If you created a username/password for the previous admissions year, you may still use the same login information. If you forget your password, you may reset it at any time in the SchoolAdmin Parent Portal.
• All applications must be completed online. The order in which the application is submitted does not impact the selection process. It does not matter whether a family submits an application on the first day or the last day, since the lottery is a random, computer-based drawing.
• Within 24 hours, parents will receive confirmation that their child’s online application was submitted successfully and entered into the lottery database. If you do not receive a confirmation within 24 hours, please email lottery@uamail.unionacademy.org.
• All applications are entered into the lottery software program and stored. The software generates a number for each application.
• The computer program will randomly select applications for admission at the public lottery. You are welcome to attend, but it is not mandatory. Attending the lottery does not improve or lessen the chances of admission.
• Families will be notified by email within 24 hours of the public lottery whether their application was selected, or whether they are on a waitlist. If applicants are on a waitlist, we will also provide the waitlist number.
• Families may also log into the account they created to check the results of the lottery and, if applicable, the waitlist number per grade level.

• Open seats will be offered to eligible student applicants immediately following the lottery. These applicants will receive an email that contains enrollment information. Applicants will be given a maximum of five business days to make a decision on the offer and submit the online enrollment form.
• If the offer is denied or not claimed by submitting the completed online enrollment form within the five-day period, the seat will be offered to the first student on the waitlist.

• Please note: Acceptance into the lottery and completion of enrollment forms and registration paperwork does not constitute enrollment.  A student is not enrolled until they have met all requirements for enrollment (as determined solely by Union Academy), including but limited to proof of residency,  completion of all courses by the first day of the Union Academy school year for the grade level he/she was accepted into, and other requirements as determined by Union Academy.  Any student who does not meet these requirements will not be allowed to enroll for the 2026-27 year. In order to enroll, students accepting enrollment spots must meet grade level requirements.

• If there are no spaces available at the grade level for which the student is applying, the lottery will generate a waitlist number assigned to that student based on the order in which his/her name is selected for the grade he/she is applying for. This will be the student’s waitlist number for the school year. Per state law, North Carolina Charter Schools are not permitted to carry-over waitlists year to year; therefore, it is necessary to apply for each school year.
• If one child in a family receives an admissions offer, other siblings are not automatically included in the offer. Other family siblings will only receive an offer if their waitlist number moves up to an offer for the grade they are applying. If no offer is made, they will be considered “siblings” for the next year (after one child in the family is attending) and will receive sibling priority in the lottery for the following academic year.
• Please keep in mind, most natural attrition or movement will happen over the summer; we will continue to use the waitlist to fill any openings until the 20th day of the school year (August).

• No. The waitlist does not carry over to the following year. Per state law, you will have to submit a new application every year for the appropriate grade. Once you are enrolled at Union Academy, you are guaranteed a slot in subsequent years (as long as you remain a North Carolina resident) and do not have to reapply. We do not accept students past the 20th day of the school year.

• Union Academy will continue to use the waitlist to fill open seats until the 20th day of the school year.
• As seats open, we will offer them to eligible student applicants according to their number on the waitlist. These applicants will receive an email that contains enrollment information. Applicants will be given a maximum of five business days to make a decision on the offer and submit the online enrollment form.
• If your child is accepted to Union Academy, it is mandatory that you attend a registration meeting, time and date to be determined.
• If the offer is denied or not claimed by submitting the completed online enrollment form within the five-day period AND attending the registration meeting, the seat will be offered to the next student on the waitlist.

• Please note: Acceptance into the lottery and completion of enrollment forms and registration paperwork does not constitute enrollment.  A student is not enrolled until they have met all requirements for enrollment (as determined solely by Union Academy), including but limited to proof of residency,  completion of all courses by the first day of the Union Academy school year for the grade level he/she was accepted into, and other requirements as determined by Union Academy.  Any student who does not meet these requirements will not be allowed to enroll for the 2026-27 year. In order to enroll, students accepting enrollment spots must meet grade level requirements.

• If one child in a family receives an admissions offer, other siblings are not automatically included in the offer. Other family siblings will only receive an offer if their waitlist number moves up to an offer for the grade they are applying. If no offer is made, they will be considered “siblings” for the next year (after one child in the family is attending) and will receive sibling priority in the lottery for the following academic year.
• Siblings of students currently attending Union Academy will be given sibling priority for placement in subsequent years. While we are hopeful to place these siblings within a year, it is possible that it could take longer, depending upon the number of siblings for a specific grade level and the number of available slots that year.

Union Academy may give enrollment priority in certain instances as stated in G.S. 115C-218.45(f). The School has decided to offer the following enrollment priorities and will implement them in the order listed below:

1. Children and Grandchildren of school’s full-time employees (minimum of 30 hours a week). 
   (The law limits the amount of staff and/or board children to no more than 15 percent of the school’s total enrollment.)
2. Siblings of currently enrolled students who were admitted to Union Academy in a previous year. For the purposes of this subsection, the term “siblings” includes any of the following who reside in the same household: half siblings, step-siblings, and children residing in a family foster home.
3. Children and Grandchildren of the Board of Directors. 
   (The law limits the amount of staff and/or board children to no more than 15 percent of the school’s total enrollment.)
4. Pre-Kindergarten: Limited to up to 25% of the School’s total Kindergarten enrollment, a student who was enrolled for at least 75 consecutive days in the prior semester in a preschool program operated by an entity other than the School and the School has a written enrollment articulation agreement with the program operator to give the program's students enrollment priority. 
   1. The Head of School or designee shall develop a list of criteria for eligibility and an application for Pre-Kindergarten schools to apply to partner with the School. The Head of School or designee will manage this application process. The Board shall approve, at the recommendation of the Head of School and at the Board’s sole discretion, all partnership agreements with any eligible Pre-Kindergarten school. A partnership agreement must be approved by the Board prior to the opening of the lottery application in any given year for preferential enrollment to apply for that year’s lottery. Any approved partnership agreements must be renewed every three years in the same manner as the original application process.
5. Opportunity Preference – At the Head of School ’s discretion, enrollment preference can be granted if a former student was enrolled in our charter school within the last two academic years, but left due to an academic study abroad program, competitive admission residential program, or vocational opportunities of the parents. Enrollment depends upon availability and must be before the 20th day of school.
6. Legacy Preference
   1. Siblings of students that have graduated from Union Academy and were enrolled at least four years at the school may receive preference at Head of School ’s discretion.
7. Applicants of the general public