LASA Application Checklist

[  ] ENROLL AUSTIN APPLICATION

This is submitted by parents. Go to austinisd.org/enroll to get started. 

Parents with students in AISD should use the email address associated with their Parent Portal account to log in. 

New to AISD parents do not have to create a Parent Portal account. 

Please direct any technical questions or issues to the Enroll Austin Hotline at 512-414-SEAT. (We will also have several opportunities for on site technical help in January.) If there are issues specifically with the login, try using a different browser or clearing your cache before reaching out.

If you are applying with an address that is not zoned for AISD, and your parent is not an AISD employee, LASA will not be able to see your Enroll Austin application. 

Within the Enroll Austin application parents will be asked to:

• Upload Report Card

• Upload Test Scores

• Upload Proof of Residence

• Rank Schools 1-7 by Preference

• Provide teacher email addresses for teacher recommendation forms to be sent to teachers (under Next Steps)

All students must upload proof of residence, provide a core math/science teacher email address, provide a core English/social studies teacher email address, and rank their chosen schools by the deadline. 

Report Cards

Students with grades from a non-AISD school from this school year or last, must upload their report card. Students with grades from an AISD school from this school year or last who are only applying to LASA, may upload a blank document to the report card slot. If you are applying to other schools, we recommend following their guidelines for report card upload.

Test Scores

LASA does not require test scores as part of our application, but other schools might. If you are applying to other schools, we recommend following their guidelines for test score upload. If you are only applying to LASA, you may upload a blank document or use this slot to submit a second report card.

Remember:  LASA is unable to consider any student who does not have an Enroll Austin application submitted by 11:59 PM on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.

[  ] LASA SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS FORM

All applicants are required to complete the Supplemental Materials form. It may be submitted online HERE.

This form cannot be saved and edited! Please save all of your answers and materials in a separate place and complete the form only once you are ready to submit. 

The form includes three short answer questions, a creator’s statement, your creative work (either uploaded or linked), and proof of residence. 

If you are required to upload report cards, you will be prompted to do so by the form as you answer the questions whether you were enrolled in an AISD school this year or last.

Yes, there is redundancy in having to upload the forms to two different places. It’s bureaucracy at its finest, but we appreciate you bearing with us.

Since only students who have submitted this form, and their Enroll Austin application are allowed to request a date to shadow at LASA, you can submit this form before you receive your semester 1 report card. Just leave that section blank and use the LASA Upload form to submit it as soon as you receive it. 

In January, students who have submitted their Supplemental Materials form will begin to receive personalized application status update emails as LASA reviews your submitted materials to ensure they follow guidelines and are accessible.

[  ] TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS

• Teacher recommendations are submitted via Enroll Austin through the NEXT STEPS tab. 
• Once you have asked a teacher to provide a recommendation, simply put their email address into the Enroll Austin application and an email link will be sent to them. 
• When they submit their recommendation, Enroll Austin will update to show that the recommendation has been completed.
• If a teacher does not receive the emailed link, you can go back to Enroll Austin and resend the email at any time. Most of the time, if a teacher does not receive the emailed link, it is due to a spelling error in their email address. Ensure you double check the spelling of the entire email address before you resend the email. 
• LASA is unable to resend these links as we do not have access to your Enroll Austin application.
• A common mistake is that students ask a non-core subject teacher for a recommendation (such as their robotics teacher, or model UN coach). LASA only accepts recommendations from your core science/math teacher or core English/social studies teacher. 
• If the elective teacher has not yet filled out the recommendation, it’s an easy fix. Just take out their email address and replace it with the email address of a core subject teacher.
• If the elective teacher has filled out the recommendation, please reach out to LASAadmissions@austinisd.org as we have a work around for this issue. 
• You will note that there is a spot for a Fine Arts teacher email address. This is not required for LASA, but may be for other schools such as McCallum. If you are only applying to LASA, you can safely leave that spot blank.
• LASA will only consider two teacher recommendations, even if more are submitted. If more than one core teacher submits a recommendation (say a math teacher and a science teacher both submit a recommendation for a student), LASA will pick one of them at random to consider.

[  ] REPORT CARDS

• Students who only have grades from AISD schools:
  • LASA will be given access to AISD report cards as students submit their Enroll Austin applications. There is no need for parents to upload them to Enroll Austin or the LASA Supplemental materials form. 
  • That being said, there is a spot to upload report cards to the Enroll Austin application. If you are a student with report cards from only AISD schools and you are only applying to LASA you can upload a blank document. If you are applying to any other schools, we recommend following their guidelines.
  • Grades will still be checked manually, and it looks like AISD will be providing them to us in a batch closer to the deadline so we appreciate your patience!
• Students with report cards from non-AISD schools:
  • You have to submit two report cards. One from last year, showing your final year grades. One from this school year showing your semester 1 grades. 

IMPORTANT! Before you upload your report card make sure it has the following information:

• Student first and last name

• Student grade level or school year

• Is from the correct grading cycle (final report card from last year, and first semester - or equivalent – report card from this year)

• Grades in English, Social Studies, Science, and Math

Also, make sure you are able to read all of the information (including the individual grades in the four core subjects) on the document before you upload it. Remember, if you can’t read it, neither can we!

The most common issues we see with report cards are:

• The digital copy is too blurry for us to read

• It’s a screenshot that does not have all the information we need (it’s usually missing student name!)

• It’s from the wrong grading cycle (we only look at final year average, and semester 1 average)

For last year’s report cards, we do not accept report cards showing only first semester or partial year grades unless you switched schools in the middle of the school year. If that is the case, please upload the latest report cards you received from both schools.

For this year’s report card, you are welcome to submit your LASA Supplemental Materials form without it. We know most students won’t receive it until January and may want to submit their application early for a chance at shadowing. 

Once you receive your fall semester report card, use the LASA Upload form to submit it. If your school will not release the first semester (or equivalent) report card by February 6, 2024, upload your most recent report card to the LASA Upload form and make a note that it is the latest report card you will have available by the deadline. 

[  ] PROOF OF RESIDENCE

New for this year is that ALL students, regardless of where they are enrolled, have to submit proof of residence. This is due to a change in district policy. Previously, students only had to provide proof of residence upon initial enrollment or if they changed their address. Now, all students are being asked to provide proof of residence as a part of the annual forms every year. 

While not required, it is very helpful if the parent submitting the Enroll Austin application is also the one named on the proof of residence. 

We ask that parents upload their City of Austin utility bill. It must:

• show the full first page of the bill

• be in the name of the student’s parent/legal guardian

• show the home address

• be dated within 45 days of submission

If you do not have a City of Austin utility bill, you may submit any of the following:

• Electricity bill from a different company

• Mortgage statement in the name of the student’s parent/legal guardian

• Lease in the name of the student’s parent/legal guardian

Common errors include: sending a photo of the closed envelope of a bill, sending a screenshot of the payment portal rather than the bill itself, sending a random utility bill (like cable), sending only the top half of the bill. I cannot use any of those documents to verify a student’s address and you will have to resubmit.

The only exception to the residency requirement is students of AISD employees. Those students may apply to any school within the district regardless of their address. As proof of residence you can upload a document with your E# or AISD email address in the Supplemental Materials form. 

Unfortunately, AISD substitutes or temp/hourly employees do not qualify for the exemption. 

Remember, we cannot consider an application until we have received proof of residence! In the same vein, if your current and primary address is not within the boundaries of AISD by the application deadline, we cannot consider your application.