Admission Information

2025 - 2026 School Year 

Open Enrollment for the 2025-26 school year will be from January 27, 2025, through February 28, 2025.

Important Dates:

January 27, 2025 - Application site opens at 12:01 AM PST: www.applyopa.com

February 28, 2025 - Application site closes at 11:59 PM PST. 

March 14, 2025 - Lottery will be held via Zoom.

May 1, 2025 - Post-Lottery application period opens.

Parent Information Meetings

Parent Information Meetings and school tours will be held for prospective parents to learn more about our school sites. 

In person information meetings:

OPA-South Orange County: January 28, 2025 - 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM   Register Here

OPA-Saddleback Valley: January 30, 2025 - 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM   Register Here

OPA-Middle School: January 29, 2025 - 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM  Register Here

 

Virtual information meetings:

Elementary schools: TBD

Middle school: TBD

Admission Preferences/Priority

Following the Open Enrollment period each year, applications will be counted to determine whether any grade level has received more applications than availability. In the event that this happens, admission will be offered according to the priority criteria sections listed below. If the number of remaining available spaces does not accomodate all students within a single priority section, the school will hold a random public lottery to determine enrollment for the impacted grade levels.
 
Those individuals whose names are drawn after all spaces have been filled will be placed on the waiting list in the order drawn, except if the preferences described below require otherwise.
 
OPA - Saddleback Valley
  1. Children of OPA staff (not to exceed 10% of total enrollment)
  2. Siblings of students admitted to or attending OPA-SV
  3. Siblings of students admitted to or attending OPA-MS
  4. Children residing within the former Aliso Elementary School Attendance Boundary
  5. Children residing within Saddleback Valley Unified School District
  6. Children enrolled in OPA-Virtual Learning
  7. All other applicants
OPA - South Orange County
  1. Children of OPA staff (not to exceed 10% of total enrollment)
  2. Siblings of students admitted to or attending OPA-SOC
  3. Siblings of students admitted to or attending OPA-MS who previously attended OPA-SOC
  4. Children residing within the former Barcelona Hills Elementary School Attendance Boundary
  5. Children enrolled in OPA-Virtual Learning
  6. Children residing within the Capistrano Valley Unified School District
  7. All other applicants
OPA - Middle School
  1. Students currently attending OPA-SV or OPA-SOC in grade 5
  2. Children of OPA staff (not to exceed 10% of total enrollment)
  3. Siblings of students admitted to or attending OPA-SOC, OPA-SV, and OPA-MS
  4. Children residing within the former Aliso Elementary School Attendance Boundary
  5. Children residing within the Saddleback Valley Unified School District
  6. Children residing within the Capistrano Unified School District
  7. All other applicants

Post-Lottery Applications

Post-lottery applications are for anyone who would like to apply to OPA but missed the Open Enrollment period and the lottery process.
 
Post-lottery portal opens at 12:01 AM on May 1, 2025. Access the application portal: www.applyopa.com
 
Applications submitted will be placed on the waitlist in the order received, except for those who qualify for sibling preference and current OPA 5th-grade students applying to the Middle School, as outlined in the admission preference/priority below.   
 

Frequently Asked Questions

Please visit our application page (www.applyOPA.com ) during Open Enrollment to access our online application.  To successfully apply, you will need to fill out the online application and submit it.  Enrollment will be offered based on available openings for each grade.  Waiting lists will be formed for grades with more applicants than openings.  The waiting lists will expire at the end of each school year.

Oxford Preparatory Academy Open Enrollment for the 2025-26 school year will be from January 27, 2025 through February 28, 2025. The lottery will be held on March 14, 2025. 

Parent Information Meetings and school tours will be held for prospective parents to learn more about our school sites.

 

In-person information meetings:

OPA-South Orange County: January 28, 2025 - 4:00 - 5:30 PM  Register Here

OPA-Saddleback Valley: January 20, 2025- 4:00 - 5:30 PM  Register Here

OPA-Middle School: January 29, 2025 - 4:00 - 5:30 PM  Register Here

 

Virtual information meetings:

Elementary schools: TBD

Middle school: TBD

Links to virtual meetings will be posted here 24 hours prior to the event.

You may also visit the school websites for additional information.

A recording of a virtual Parent Information Meeting will be made available in early February 2025.

 

You may also visit our websites for additional information, or call our campuses if you have specific questions. 
  

You can apply to Oxford Preparatory Academy from anywhere; but in order to enroll, you need to be a resident of Orange County or an adjacent county.  Those students who are applying to the South Orange County Campus in Mission Viejo who reside within the Capistrano Unified School District boundaries will be given a preference in the lottery. Those students who are applying to the Saddleback Valley Campus in Lake Forest who reside within the Saddleback Valley Unified School District boundaries will be given a preference in the lottery.

No, you do not. On our application site, you will have the option to apply to both our Elementary school campuses and our Middle School campus. Applying at any of our sites will not have any affect on your chance for placement at any of our locations. You may also apply for the OPA Virtual Learning Program on the same application.

It depends.

Refer to the admissions preferences/priority list above for specifics for each school. 

No. Entry into Oxford’s programs are not on a first-come, first-served basis. Families have 30 days to complete the online application form during Open Enrollment. All verified, eligible online applications submitted during the Open Enrollment period will be entered into the lottery. Open Enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year is from January 27, 2025 - February 28, 2025.

Following the Open Enrollment period each year, applications will be counted to determine whether any grade level has received more applications than availability. In the event that this happens, the school will hold a random public lottery to determine enrollment for the impacted grade levels.

  • The lottery will take place on a given published date. (The lottery for the 2025-2026 school year will take place on March 14, 2025.)
  • OPA will comply with all applicable state and federal laws and with the Chartering Authority policy as it relates to the oversight of charter schools.
  • The lottery shall draw names from a general pool of ballots.
  • Siblings of students placed during the random public lottery will also be placed depending upon space available at the given grade level during the lottery process.
  • The drawing shall continue until all names are drawn. Those individuals whose names are drawn after all spaces have been filled will be placed on the waiting list in the order drawn, except if the preferences described above require otherwise.

Siblings of students placed during the random public lottery will also be placed depending upon space available at the given grade level during the lottery process. If space is not available in the sibling’s grade level, that sibling will be placed on the Sibling Priority Wait List. The remaining names will be placed on a waiting list based on the order drawn from the random public lottery (at each grade level).

After the lottery, you will receive an email with your waitlist number. You may also log in to our application page (applyopa.com) at any time to see your child’s current waitlist number. Lottery results will also be posted on campus for a week following the lottery.

After the lottery, you may log in to our application page (applyopa.com) any time to see your child’s current waitlist number.  Please note: If another applicant becomes eligible for the Sibling Priority in the grade to which your student applied, your student’s waitlist number could go up.

Yes! Families who have missed the Open Enrollment window can be added to our Post Lottery Wait List after the lottery has taken place. The waiting lists will expire at the end of each school year.

Yes, Oxford Preparatory Academy has full day kindergarten. Kindergarten starts at 8:30am every day and ends at 2:25pm Monday through Thursday and at 12:10pm on Fridays during our regular bell schedule. 

No, Oxford Preparatory Academy Transitional Kindergarten (TK) has an AM and a PM class. The AM TK class begins at 8:30am and ends at 11:40am Monday through Thursday and the PM TK class begins at 11:35am and ends at 2:45pm Monday through Thursday during our regular bell schedule. Both the AM and the PM classes begin at 8:30am and end at 12:30pm on Fridays during our regular bell schedule. Placement into the AM or PM class is based on your position on the lottery list. 
No. Oxford Preparatory Academy is a tuition-free public charter school.
At this time, Oxford Preparatory Academy does not provide bus transportation.
Students at Oxford Preparatory Academy follow a dress code while at school. Our dress code policy and guidelines can be found on our Dress Code page