All applicants must complete the LASA Application.  

You can’t save the form to edit later.  Please save all of your answers and materials in a separate place (like a google doc or Word document) and complete the form only when you are ready to submit the whole thing.

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

The very first question on the application form is for your email address. This email address is only used by the form to send you a copy of your responses once you submit your application. It is important that this is a valid email address. If you are a student, it is also important that you do not enter your school email address. If you do, you will not receive a copy of your responses.

Later, you will be asked for your email address and up to two email addresses for parents/guardians. These are the email addresses that LASA will use to communicate with you. It's also where the link to the shadow request form is sent once you've submitted your application. Your email address can be the same as the one you added above, unless it's a student email address. No student email addresses issued by your school (even if it's an AISD school!) can receive the shadow request link or the application status emails.

If you do not have an email address other than your school email address, we suggest that you create one with your parent/guardian. Gmail.com is a solid email provider that works well with all LASA forms. Make sure you check it with some frequency. Once a week through December and most of January, and more often as the deadline approaches.

If you need to upload report cards, you will be prompted to by the application form. 

Since you can’t request a shadow date at LASA until you have submitted your application, students who are required to upload their Fall, 2026 report card may submit this form before receiving the final semester report card. 

Report cards from an AISD school do not have to be submitted.

Starting in late December/early January, students who have submitted the LASA Application will get application status emails as LASA checks your submitted materials to make sure we can access them, and that they have the information we need.

If there are issues, we will explain what the issues are in the email. The email will have a link to the LASA Upload form so you can upload (or reupload) required documents. For instance, if you submitted your LASA Application without your Fall, 2026 report card, you can use the LASA Upload form to upload your report card once your school has issued it.

Follow the prompts and instructions in the LASA Application to answer the 3 short answer questions. Use the LASA Application Rubric to see what our scorers are looking for in the responses.

The suggested word limit is 150 words per answer. If you go too far under or too far over, that may be a sign of having structural issues with your response. (In the list question, the list itself is not considered included in the word count.)

Remember to read the questions carefully to make sure you answer them fully!

We suggest that you ask a trusted adult to read over your answers before submitting the LASA Application.

Unless the question calls for it, you should not use generative AI. No, not even for brainstorming. Most AI use the same sources and will generate the same or similar responses to a given prompt. We’re not interested in what AI thinks. We want to know what you think.

Follow the prompt in the LASA Application. (“We want to learn more about who you are beyond the classroom. [...] create something that represents you as an individual and gives us insight into your personality, passions, interests, experiences, or what makes you unique.”)

Choose a medium for your creative work; it can take any creative form you choose. There are suggestions in the LASA Application (“a piece of artwork, photograph, video, song, poem, short story, digital creation, performance, model, design, or other original work”), but you are not limited to these suggestions. 

Yes, this is very open-ended. That’s kind of the point. We don’t know you yet, or the best way to get to know you.

Your creative work MUST be created specifically for your LASA application. Do not submit a work you have previously created for a class assignment, competition, or other purpose. 

Creative Work Guidelines:

• must be your own
• must be created specifically for your LASA application
• should only be one work 
• use the Creative Work Rubric
• videos should not be more than 3 minutes long (5 minutes max!)

Creative Work Submission:

• Upload your Creative Work to the LASA Application
  • One work = one file
• File too large/unsupported?
  • Upload to google drive and submit a link (preferred)
    • Must be shared with LASACreativeWork@austinisd.org
• Submitting a link to your Creative Work (not on google drive)?
  • Check the link at school first
    • If it is blocked on your school WiFi, odds are we can’t access it.
    • YouTube is fine, but YouTube Shorts is blocked on AISD WiFi.
  • Ask a trusted friend or adult to access it from their device at home
    • If they can’t see it, we probably can’t either
  • Have a backup ready to go in case we cannot access your work
    • This could be an alternate link or a screen recording depending on your type of work
• Only submit your Creative Work once, either as an uploaded file or a link
  • Do NOT do both!
    • Your creative work should fit within one file/link
    • If you upload a file and submit a link to the same file, I have to check your work twice

This is your opportunity to reflect on your creative work. There is no suggested word limit for the Creator’s Statement. You should take the space you need to explain the creative choices you made with your work and help the reader understand the message you are trying to get across.

You don’t want to write something that’s so short it doesn’t answer the prompt. But longer isn’t always better either! Find a happy medium where you can express everything you need without rambling.

ALL students, regardless of where they are enrolled, have to submit proof of residence. Only students who live in AISD by the deadline are eligible to apply to LASA.

This means that with your LASA Application, you have to upload your family’s latest electricity bill.

If your family does not receive paper copies of the bill, your parent/guardian can go to their payment portal and download a .pdf copy of their most recent bill. You can’t just upload a screenshot of the payment portal or an email from the electricity company.

If you don’t have the utility bill in digital format, you can use google drive to upload it as a .pdf. Or, you can always take a picture or use a phone app like genius scan.

Electricity Bill must: 

• show the full first page of the bill
• show the name of your parent/legal guardian
• show the home address

• be less than 45 days old

   

If your family does not have an electricity bill, you may submit your gas bill instead. It should follow the same guidelines as above.

If your family’s electricity is included in your rent, please upload the page of the lease showing that utilities are included instead of a utility bill. 

Exception
If your parent/guardian is an AISD employee, you do not have to live in AISD in order to apply to LASA. (Unfortunately, substitutes and temp/hourly employees do not qualify for the exemption.)

You do still have to provide proof of residence for your current home following the above standards. 

If your home isn’t zoned to AISD, your parent/guardian must email LASAadmissions@austinisd.org with their AISD email address and provide their employee number. Make sure they include your name in the email!

Common Mistakes to Avoid
DO NOT submit a blurry, low-resolution file where the information cannot be read
DO NOT submit a photo of the envelope of your utility bill.
DO NOT submit a photo of just one corner of your utility bill.
DO NOT submit a photo of your utility bill still folded.
DO NOT submit a photo of your utility bill with the bottom portion torn off.
DO NOT submit a screenshot from the payment portal.
DO NOT submit the email telling you that your bill is due.
DO NOT submit a cable, Internet, or cell phone bill.
DO NOT submit your property tax bill. 

NOTE: We can’t consider an application until we have proof of residence! If you’re not (physically!) living in AISD by the deadline, we can’t even look at your application. LASA may ask for additional proof of residence as part of the application process.
 

Due to LASA’s residency requirement, we need two proofs of residence to help us verify your address. As the second proof of residence, submit your family’s latest mortgage statement or lease.

Mortgage Statement must: 

• show the full first page of the statement
• show the name of the applicant’s parent/legal guardian
• show the home address
• be dated within 45 days of submission
   

If your family owns the property outright, you may submit the latest tax bill for the property instead.

Lease must:

• be the full lease document
• show the name of the applicant’s parent/legal guardian
• show the home address

Exception

If your parent/guardian is an AISD employee, you do not have to live in AISD in order to apply to LASA. (Unfortunately, substitutes and temp/hourly employees do not qualify for the exemption.)

You do still have to provide proof of residence for your current home following the above standards. 

If your home isn’t zoned to AISD, your parent/guardian must email LASAadmissions@austinisd.org with their AISD email address and provide their employee number. Make sure they include your name in the email!

Common Mistakes to Avoid

DO NOT submit a blurry, low-resolution file where the information cannot be read.
DO NOT submit a photo of the envelope of your mortgage statement.
DO NOT submit a photo of just one part of your mortgage statement.
DO NOT submit a photo of your folded mortgage statement.
DO NOT submit only a page or two of your lease.
DO NOT submit a screenshot from a payment portal.
DO NOT submit a cable, Internet, or cell phone bill.
DO NOT submit your property tax bill (unless you own the property and no longer have a mortgage)
DO NOT submit your electricity bill.

NOTE: We can’t consider an application until we have proof of residence! If you’re not (physically!) living in AISD by the deadline, we can’t even look at your application. LASA may ask for additional proof of residence as part of the application process.

If you went to an AISD school last school year, you do not have to submit this report card.  LASA will get access to your grades once your parent/guardian has completed Round 1 in Enroll Austin. 
 

If you went to a private/charter school, or a school outside of AISD last year you have to submit your report card from that school.

Final Year Report Card from Last School Year (2025/2026) must show:

• your final year grades in core subjects (i.e. math, English, social studies, and science)
• your first and last name
• your grade level or the school year

NOTE! We only look at your grades in English, Social Studies, Science, and Math. So if, say, your Spanish grade is lower than you would like, that doesn’t matter for this application. 

Before You Upload Your Report Card

• Look at the digital copy. If you can’t read it, neither can we.
• Doublecheck that it:
  • is from the right grading cycle (eg. we can’t use your 1st 9 weeks report card etc.)
  • has your name on it
  • shows your grade level or the school year

Common Mistakes to Avoid
DO NOT submit a blurry, low-resolution file where the information cannot be read
DO NOT submit a screenshot of your grades that doesn’t also show your name and grade level
DO NOT send a screenshot of your grades where it’s unclear which courses the grades are for
DO NOT submit an incomplete report card 
DO NOT submit a report card from an earlier grading period (eg. showing only semester 1)

NOTE! We don’t 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.

If you go to an AISD school, you do not have to submit this report card. LASA will get access to your grades once your parent/guardian has completed Round 1 in Enroll Austin and the semester 1 grades have been released.

If you go to a private/charter school, or a school outside of AISD you have to submit your report card from that school.

Semester 1 Report Card from This School Year (Fall, 2026) must show:

• semester 1 (or equivalent) grades in core subjects (i.e. math, English, social studies, and science)
• your first and last name
• your grade level or the school year

NOTE! We only look at your grades in English, Social Studies, Science, and Math. So if your Spanish grade is lower than you would like, that doesn’t matter for this application. 

Before You Upload Your Report Card(s)

• Look at the digital copy. If you can’t read it, neither can we.
• Doublecheck that it:
  • is from the right grading cycle (semester 1)
  • has your name on it
  • shows your grade level or the school year

Common Mistakes to Avoid
DO NOT submit a blurry, low-resolution file where the information cannot be read
DO NOT submit a screenshot of your grades that doesn’t also show your name and grade level
DO NOT send a screenshot of your grades where it’s unclear which courses the grades are for
DO NOT submit an incomplete report card 
DO NOT submit a report card from an earlier grading period

NOTE! We know that by the time you’re ready to submit your LASA Application many of you won’t have received your report card for this year. You can go ahead and submit your LASA Application without it. Then once you get your Fall, 2026 report card, use the LASA Upload form to upload it.

IF your school won’t release your fall semester report card by January 29, 2027, take your most recent report card and write on it that it is the latest report card you will have available by the deadline and then upload it to the LASA Upload form.

First, pick two teachers who you think would give you a good recommendation. One who is teaching you in English or social studies, and one who is teaching you in math or science. 

(LASA prefers that you use your current year teachers. But if you feel like last year’s teachers know you better, you can ask them instead.)

Next, ask them if they are willing to write you a teacher recommendation. It’s a lot of work to write a good recommendation so recognize that they are doing you a favor. If they accept, they may ask you to provide them with a brag sheet or something similar in order to write the best recommendation possible. Please do so!

Once you have found two teachers willing to write teacher recommendations for you, please give their email addresses to your parent/guardian. (Make sure you note which teacher is your English/social studies teacher and which teacher is your math/science teacher.) Your parent/guardian will need this information when they complete Round 1 in Enroll Austin to send the recommendation form link to your teachers.

Because recommendations are tied to Enroll Austin, teachers cannot start writing your recommendation until your parent/guardian has started Round 1 in Enroll Austin. Since Enroll Austin does not open until January 5, that does not leave your teachers much time. Encourage your parent/guardian to start the Enroll Austin process as soon as it opens!

Remember: 

• LASA will only read two teacher recommendations per student, 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.
• LASA does not require (or read) recommendations from Fine Arts teachers. There’s a spot for them in Enroll Austin because other schools (like McCallum) require a Fine Arts recommendation.
• LASA is not able to send a link directly to your teacher. Your parent/guardian will have to go back to the recommendation portal to resend the link to your teachers.

Common Mistakes to Avoid
DO NOT ask a teacher who has never taught you in a core subject for a recommendation.
DO NOT ask a teacher who has only been your club sponsor for a recommendation.
DO NOT harass your teacher about when they will fill out your recommendation. Their deadline is the same as yours!
 

All students applying for LASA should take the CogAT Admissions test at LASA in January. The specific dates and times can be found on our admissions calendar.

You do not have to sign up in advance, just show up 15 minutes before the testing session for your last name is set to start. 

If you absolutely can’t attend the session for your last name on either testing date, it’s okay to attend the other session instead. You do not have to let us know.

You can only take the CogAT once at LASA.

Only students applying to LASA for next school year may take the test at LASA. 

The CogAT scores of all students who applied to LASA by the deadline will be mailed out to families in mid-March. We will not mail scores to students who did not apply to LASA.

Accommodations

• Only if you currently receive them at your school
• Parent/Guardian have to fill out accommodation request form (on admissions calendar) in advance
• Only offered during the morning session
• You must show up on the date you indicated on the form
• Can’t take the test with no accommodations and then take it with accommodations

Version: CogAT Form 7

• 8th graders: Test Level 13/14
• 9th & 10th graders: Test Level 15/16
• 11th graders: Test Level 17/18

You can google CogAT Form 7 and try the free sample questions to get an idea of what the test is like. We don’t recommend paying for practice tests.

On the Day of the Test:

• Show up 15 minutes early
• Bring something to drink and a light snack
• Dress in layers (the temperature is unpredictable!)
• LASA will provide everything else you need, including a pencil to fill out the scantron sheet
• Only students are allowed in the school building
• If you are not an 8th grader, let us know when you enter the building so we can give you the right level of the test
• If you have requested accommodations, let us know when you enter the building so we can get you to the right testing room

NOTE! If you’ve taken the CogAT within the last year, you do not have to take it again if you can share your scores with LASA. Please email LASAadmissions@austinisd.org for the link to the LASA Upload form. We ask that you upload the CogAT narrative report showing the raw scores and the percentile.  (On the LASA Upload Form, select the option “Something Else” when asked what you are uploading.)

Enroll Austin is AISD’s combined common app and registration portal. Round 1 opens on January 5, 2027.

NOTE: Round 1 is only for students applying for a school of choice. (Current LASA students, for instance, will complete Round 2 when it opens in February.)

Round 1 must be completed by the deadline or LASA will not be able to consider your student’s application. 

While Round 1 cannot be completed early, there are ways in which you can prepare so you’re ready to go as soon as it opens up.

WAYS TO PREPARE:

• Gather required documents
  • Immunization Records*
  • Birth Certificate*
  • Valid Driver’s License for both parents/guardians
  • Proof of Address (must be dated within 30 days of submission)
  • Report Card(s)**
• Families currently in AISD: double check address in Frontline
• Two teacher email addresses for recommendations

*not required for LASA Application, but requested in Enroll Austin
**report cards from AISD schools are not required to be submitted

ADDRESS CHECK FOR CURRENT AISD FAMILIES
Families with students in an AISD school should check that their address in Frontline is accurate and up to date. If it isn’t, please reach out to your school’s office to update it. (This will save so much time later!)

More information will be added as we approach January 5, 2027.