Student Selection Process

Bristow Middle School Incoming 6th Grade Orientation Slides - March 2025

The lottery process will be run for each of the 11 elementary schools. In total, 105 students will be admitted. The table below shows the number of slots for each school. This is subject to change based upon enrollment at the time that the process is performed.      

We will randomly assign each 5^th grade student a number by elementary school. This process will include non-public students who apply for admission. These students will be assigned to an elementary school based upon the attendance zone in which they live.

We will check the demographics of each school’s random sample to ensure that balance is maintained among the following characteristics:

Gender
Race/Ethnicity
Special/Regular education
Free/reduced lunch status

The purpose is to make sure that students are split equally across the sample (e.g. the first 10 students are not all boys.) If the first random sample is not uniform, then additional random samples are run until the sample is uniform. In practice, it takes numerous random samples to achieve a uniform sample.

We will communicate the results to parents. Based on the results of the 2024-25 and 2025-26 selection processes, the expected cut off numbers for each elementary school are detailed below. If a student receives a number equal to or less than the number of Bristow slots, then the student is guaranteed the option of going to Bristow. If a student receives a number less than the projected cutoff number then that student has a good chance of being able to choose Bristow, if not in the first round, then from the waitlist. These cutoff numbers are intended to help parents decide which middle school information sessions to attend.

We will take applications from students interested in the small number of vacancies we anticipate in grades 7 and 8 for the 2026-2027 school year. This process will be run later than the grade 6 process. Applications are due by March 13, 2026; you must apply in order to be considered.

This enrollment process will be a simple random selection. All students will be randomly assigned a number from 1 to the total number of applying students and that ordered list will be used to fill the vacancies that arise. The number of vacancies for grade 7 and grade 8 are both small and variable.

Students who live on Highland Street or at 684 Farmington Avenue are automatically admitted to Bristow.

Siblings of current Bristow 6^th and 7^th grade students will automatically be assigned the lowest numbers in the process.

Siblings of current 5^th grade students who indicate they are coming to Bristow prior to March 16^th will automatically be assigned the lowest numbers in the process.

Twins or triplets will be assigned the same lottery number.

If a student gets in as a 7^th or 8^th grader and is ENROLLED at Bristow and has a 6^th grader who did not receive a low enough number, we will accept the 6th grader as well in order to keep the family at the same school. This is only if the 7^th/8^th grader is enrolled. The 6^th grader would be an extra for that elementary school and not count as part of the original number we accept.