You are receiving this email because we believe you are intending to apply to LASA. This email is the first of several designed to help you make sure you have all of the necessary pieces to submit your LASA application by the deadline at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, February 4, 2024. If you have changed your mind or don’t wish to receive these emails, please fill out this form.
Good afternoon everyone,
This is your favorite (hopefully!) 50% of LASA’s nonexistent admissions department, and principal’s secretary, Jo Koerth. We have a big week ahead of us!
Tonight marks the final LASA Info Night. It’s the same as the previous ones, with one (big) exception. It’s virtual! So, if you haven’t had a chance to attend any of the presentations yet and want to hear from our administrators and current students, I definitely recommend tuning in.
The link to the livestream will be available on our website (lasahighschool.org) about 10-15 minutes before the presentation starts. There will be a presentation in English, and one in Spanish.
Then, on Thursday, we open up the campus for prospective applicants and their families for the:
LASA Showcase
This is our annual open house and the place to be this Thursday. If your family can only attend one informational event this application season, this is definitely the one I recommend!
The event is come and go, so you don’t have to arrive right at 6 PM or spend the full two hours. We do have a jam-packed agenda though, so be prepared to make some tough choices!
During the open house we have:
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Fine Arts Performances in the Cafeteria
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“Deep Dive into the LASA Application”- presentations in the library
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Drop-in Sports Questions Q&A in the Gym
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Drop-in Parent-to Parent Q&A
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Student-to-Student Information Sessions
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The opportunity to visit classrooms of different subjects and chat with teachers
Presentations or performances that aren’t drop-in are given twice.
PLUS, an Enroll Austin representative will be available all evening to answer questions and help parents submit Enroll Austin applications for their students.
Don’t worry, when you arrive on campus you will get an agenda and a map to help you navigate. (There’s also a little QR code on the agenda. Please scan it to sign-in. It’s just a couple of questions to help us when we plan for next year. There’s also a section for you to leave us notes if you have any feedback. This is not required but always appreciated!)
Parking on campus is limited. If you end up having to park on the neighborhood side of the street make sure you’re not blocking any mailboxes or driveways. We try to be good neighbors and we appreciate your help!
When you enter the school, make sure you take a picture of the parking sign to remember which entrance you came in through. That way, we can help you find your way back to your car at the end of the night!
Enroll Austin Help on (mostly) Campus
I cannot stress enough how important it is for all applicants to have submitted their Enroll Austin application by the deadline. This is required for us to even consider their applications.
If a student doesn’t have a submitted Enroll Austin application – even if they have submitted everything else – there is nothing LASA can do. We cannot consider their application. Even if we were to score the application, we wouldn’t be able to admit the student to LASA since they’re not in the system.
LASA cannot submit an Enroll Austin application for you. If one is not submitted by the deadline, that’s it. No appeal. No exceptions. No mitigating circumstances.
So parents, please please please, take care of this part of the application as soon as possible! Do not make your students work hard on their parts of the application for nothing.
We know it can be challenging, so we have several opportunities where you can get Enroll Austin help in person.
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Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 6-8 PM during the LASA Showcase (on campus)
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Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 9-11 AM or 1-3 PM during the Virtual Help Sessions sponsored by our Parent Organization (virtual - sign up here for the zoom link)
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Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 9-11 AM or 12:30 to 2:30 PM (while the students are taking the CogAT) in the parent organization portable on the LASA campus
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Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 9-11 AM or 1-3 PM during the Virtual Help Sessions sponsored by our Parent Organization (virtual - sign up here for the zoom link)
Please take advantage of one of these times if you are having issues!
Also please note that the Virtual Help Sessions (On Saturday, Jan 18 and Saturday, Feb 1) are run by parent volunteers. I do not have access to the Zoom link.
There will be no LASA employees present and the Enroll Austin representative can only help with the Enroll Austin part of the application.
Uploading Requested Materials and AISD Report Cards
Students who had submitted their supplemental materials form by 8 AM on Friday (1/10/25) received an application status update email from admissions@lasahighschool.org
Anyone who was asked to re-submit something was given a link to the LASA Upload form and asked to upload any materials labelled pending to it.
No, I am not going to link it here. I’ve made it easily available in the past and what invariably happens is that applicants and their families use the upload form to upload documents before they’ve submitted the supplemental materials form. This creates extra work for them, since they then have to upload it to the supplemental materials form anyway. And for me, since I then have to check the documents against each other to see if it’s something new. Just trust me, if you need the link, I will send it your way.
I don’t accept documents via email anymore. It’s too easy for them to go astray in my inbox. The upload form helps me keep track of them. Some of you might be wondering why I don’t just ask you to upload things to Enroll Austin.
The easy answer is time. Like I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have enough hours in the day during application season. Accessing documents in Enroll Austin takes several “clicks” whereas with the supplemental materials form and the upload form, I have access to everything immediately. But also, Enroll Austin doesn’t notify me when someone has uploaded something new. So rather than going back and clicking documents just to see if maybe they’ve been uploaded again, I prefer them all easily accessible in one place.
I am so grateful for your understanding and help!
Applicants who are currently attending an AISD school (and attended an AISD school last school year) do not have to submit report cards. I will get access to the grades we need.
I am still waiting for the report from district. Once I have the report, it will be easy-peasy to update everyone’s status. Until then though, everyone with AISD grades will have the previous year and current year report cards show as pending. You can disregard this!
I notice some families have uploaded AISD report cards to the upload form, and wanted to assure everyone there is no need for that. We just need to be patient for a little bit longer.
Common Questions
I signed up to shadow on [DATE]. When will I know if I’m allowed to shadow on that date?
Plan on shadowing on the date you requested. Majority of students will be invited to shadow on the date they selected as long as their Enroll Austin application and Supplemental Materials form have been submitted.
You will receive an email a couple of days before the shadow date with all the information you need.
I’m an AISD student, and I thought my grades would be automatically uploaded, why don’t you have them yet?
I am waiting for a report from district. The person who is generating the report is as swamped as I am. But there’s no need to worry and no need to upload AISD report cards anywhere. I will get access to the report before the deadline.
How can I see if teachers have completed their recommendations?
Easy! Head to Enroll Austin. Click “Edit” under the student you want to check. Then click “NEXT STEPS” on top of the page. Then click the button under “Teacher Recommendations”. It will either say sent or complete.
Should I talk to the teacher if the recommendation just says sent?
We recommend that students check in with their teacher and make sure the teacher has received the link and it’s working for them. But, remember, their deadline is the same as yours. They have until February 4 at 11:59 PM too.
The link for the teacher recommendation doesn’t work for the teacher. What should they do?
First, try going back to Enroll Austin and sending the recommendation again in case the link expired. Ask the teacher to start by copy-pasting the link into the browser window rather than clicking it. If that doesn’t work, ask the teacher to try a different web browser (like Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, or Mozilla). If it still doesn’t work, have them try on a desktop computer if they were trying on their cell phone and vice versa. If it still doesn’t work, please email student name and teacher name to LASAadmissions@austinisd.org
I think I’ve submitted everything, but Enroll Austin still says incomplete, what’s wrong?
Likely, nothing is wrong. Enroll Austin is just a computer program and it’s reacting to the test score and or report card upload slot being empty. As students finish the next steps (and I have time) I will go in and mark them as complete on my end in Enroll Austin. Until then, you can safely ignore the incomplete messages as long as the only thing you haven’t uploaded is test scores. Or, if you’re a current AISD student and attended an AISD school last school year, and you haven’t uploaded test scores or a report card.
Can I submit my supplemental materials form without the creative work/three short answer questions/creator’s statement so I can get a shadow spot?
No. In order to shadow at LASA you must have submitted the Enroll Austin application, and completed the LASA Supplemental Materials form. We can accept report cards (from students with grades from a non-AISD school) after the fact, but everything else should be complete.
That’s “all” I have for today. Best of luck with your applications!
All LASA Info Emails will be available on the Application Updates & Announcements blog within 24 hours of being sent.
IMPORTANT LINKS
Jo Koerth (she/her/hers)
LASA ADMISSIONS