Application Process

HOW TO APPLY:

Applying to our STEAM magnet schools is easy! Simply click on the link below to access our online application portal. We encourage all interested parents and guardians to submit their applications by May 1, 2025. Parents and/or guardians can also download a paper application and email or text magnet@stmartinschools.org. For convenience, applications can also be dropped off at the school board office or at any school in the District. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and parents and/or guardians will be notified within a week of submitting their child's application of eligibility confirmation.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

download PAper application

*NOTE: Students currently zoned for St. Martin Early STEAM Academy (SMESA) and St. Martin STEAM Academy (SMSA) will automatically be accepted into the academies as first priority. Students eligible for M-to-M transfer, per district policy, will be granted priority and no student shall be denied due to capacity.

 

ELIGIBILITY:

All St. Martin Parish students residing within the M-to-M eligible zones (currently Cecilia Primary and Teche Elementary), who wish to enroll in the STEAM Magnet Academies will use an application submission process. The annual selection process will be open to any rising students in all grades served by the magnet schools. Available space for each grade level will be annually determined by school capacity and existing enrollment projections (starting in year 2), and aligned with the District’s desegregation goals. Students in the St. Martinville zone do not need to apply to be selected into the magnet school and are automatically admitted to the school, per District zoning policy. Zoned students who wish to enroll in the magnet schools should register through the District’s general registration process.

All students enrolling in the magnet schools will have access to all educational opportunities, including curricular, extracurricular, after-school, and summer programming on a fair and free basis.

ELIGIBILITY for M-to-M PREFERNCE:

Students whose race is in the majority at the school they attend (i.e., Cecilia Primary, Teche Elementary) who wish to transfer to the St. Martin Early STEAM Academy or St. Martin STEAM Academy where their race is in the minority, will be eligible for admission under Tier 1 priority. Students from other M-to-M identified zones within St. Martin Parish, such as those enrolled in charter or private schools, or who are homeschooled, will be eligible for priority consideration if they meet the requirements of the District's M-to-M transfer policy. All students residing in the St. Martinville school zone, but currently not attending the schools, will be granted admission to the two magnet schools per District zone policies. \

APPLICATION PROCESS and TIMELINE:

The application process is designed to achieve the District’s desegregation goals and promote diverse campuses, utilizing a priority-based selection process as outlined in the Court Order. The first application period each year runs from the the first day of the Spring Semester each year to May 1 and does not require any special academic, behavioral, or other enrollment criteria for prospective or current students. If May 1 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the application period will close at 4:30 p.m. on the following Monday. The magnet school application period will run concurrently with the district's current Majority-to-Minority (M-to-M) application and transfer process, starting on the first day of the Spring semester each year. Beginning one month before the close of applications, a weekly reminder message will be sent through the District’s parent portal system to the email and phone number on file for all families in the District, notifying them that applications will be closing on May 1. Following the initial application season, eligible students enrolled in the STEAM summer program shall have an opportunity to apply for the magnet schools beginning the first day of summer programming. The applications for this period will close the second week of July, each year.

Each application will be reviewed for completion and accuracy beginning the first week of February of each year on a rolling basis. Parents will be notified by email and follow-up phone calls to correct any missing or inaccurate information on the applications. Magnet Academies staff are available to assist parents and/or guardians and families at recruitment events and at the magnet office with the application completion and submission. Applications can be submitted to any school in the St. Martin Parish School System or by email and/or text to magnet@saintmartinschools.org.

Activity

Date

Application period opens

1st day of Spring semester

Begin reviewing applications for accuracy

February 1, each year

Targeted Pre-K Application processing

Early-February, each year

Confirm existing seats available, per grade level

February 1, each year

Application window closes for students applying prior to the summer program

May 1, each year

Application period opens for students enrolled in summer program

1st day of summer program each year

Application window closes for students who attended the summer program

July 7, 2025, first Monday in July annually

Student notification of offer

One week after applications close

Welcome events to accepted students to assist in finalizing a decision to accept offer.

2-week period after acceptance letters are sent 

Deadline to accept offer 

Last business day of May each year

Post-Application Season Survey

Within one week of applications closing

 

ACCEPTANCE and CONTINUED ENROLLMENT:

Applications will be reviewed for completion, accuracy, and eligibility beginning the first week of February of each year. Parents and/or guardians will be notified by email and follow-up phone calls to correct any missing or inaccurate information on the applications. Acceptance notifications will be sent one (1) week after applications are submitted and reviewed, on a rolling basis. Parents and/or guardians will be notified of acceptance by phone calls to the phone number on file, by email through the application selection software, and paper notices will be mailed to the address on file and sent home with students if they are enrolled in district schools. Parents and/or guardians will have three (3) weeks to accept placement. Parents and/or guardians can accept via the application portal directly or through returning a paper acceptance to any district school. If students are offered enrollment and do not accept, they will be placed on the waitlist once the acceptance deadline has passed. Seats that remain open will be filled first by waitlisted applicants who match the racial demographics of the initial acceptance.

Once a student is enrolled, they will not need to reapply for the following years. Students attending St. Martin Early STEAM Academy for grade 1 will automatically be enrolled in grade 2 at the St. Martin STEAM Academy campus. Students attending Pre-K at the St. Martin Early STEAM Academy will automatically be enrolled in Kindergarten at the same magnet school.

PRIORITIES:

Aligned with the Consent Order, the District will implement a priority-tiered process, described below, to select students for enrollment in the two schools. If student demand exceeds capacity, this same priority system will apply to constitute a waitlist for students who apply but are not offered a spot to enroll. Applicants in each tier will be exhausted before considering students in the next tier. M-to-M eligible students will not be denied acceptances; however, may be placed on a waitlist until space is available. Students currently attending or zoned for St. Martin Early STEAM Academy and St. Martin STEAM Academy will be guaranteed automatic admission to the new whole-school magnet programs. Remaining seats in each grade level will be allocated by using tiers as follows, in order of priority consideration:

  1. Students who qualify for a Majority-to-Minority (M-to-M) transfer in accordance with district M-to-M policy. 
    1. Siblings of enrolled M-to-M magnet school students returning the following school year and M-to-M families applying together in the same application season will receive priority under the Tier 1 rule.
  2. Tier 2: Children of employees at St. Martin Early STEAM Academy and St. Martin STEAM Academy.
  3. Tier 3: Students who reside outside of the St. Martinville zone and who do not qualify for Tier 1 or Tier 2. The District will admit one Black student within this tier for each White student admitted within this tier, using a nondiscriminatory and randomized lottery process for each category of Black and White students. For each Black and White student admitted for this tier, the District may admit a non-Black, non-white student.

SIBLINGS:

Siblings of students who are enrolled or admitted through the enrollment process would automatically be given priority within each tier. For example, if a student is attending the magnet academies via M-to-M and their younger sibling becomes old enough to apply for the Early STEAM Academy, this applicant would have priority over other M-to-M applicants. If one sibling was admitted to Tier 1, then their siblings would be immediately given priority to be next considered for admission. Sibling preference applies to students who submit applications by the application deadline. Parents requesting sibling priority must provide documentation to the Magnet Academies office. The District recognizes siblings as any brothers and/or sisters by blood, adoption, marriage, or permanent court-appointed guardianship who reside at the same address. 

WAITLIST:

In the event that the Magnet Academy program applications exceed the capacity of the schools each year, the application selection software will create an automated waitlist process based on priority. It will be activated to offer admissions to racially matched students on the waitlist as space becomes available. The District may also expand the schools’ physical buildings or increase the student-to-teacher ratio to accommodate enrollment that exceeds capacity. In the event that a large number of students enroll after the first day of school, requiring a new grade-level section, the District will hire another teacher to accommodate students aligned with the 18-to-one student-teacher ratio. No M-to-M eligible students will be denied acceptance due to capacity issues, but they may be waitlisted while the District determines how best to accommodate enrollment that exceeds capacity.

ENROLLMENT POST-ACCEPTANCE and LATE ENTRY:

The St. Martin Parish School System considers student attendance and academic continuity crucial to student success. Therefore, for students enrolling via M-to-M transfer, they must be enrolled at the respective magnet school within two (2) weeks of the start of the new school year. Students enrolling in the District mid-year, and who qualify for M-to-M transfer options, will be granted immediate acceptance to the magnet schools upon successfully completing the application, unless there is a waitlist; these waitlisted student(s) will be placed on the existing waitlist accordingly.  Students not currently enrolled in the district and who are not zoned for either of the two magnet schools must follow the District’s current school M-to-M transfer policy. 

MAGNET ACADEMIES WITHDRAWAL:

St Martin Parish School System recognizes students may need to withdraw from the STEAM schools for various reasons throughout the year. For auditing purposes, parents and/or guardians will be asked to complete a magnet program withdrawal survey form to provide the District with important feedback and the reason for the withdrawal as listed below.

A. Majority-to-Minority Withdrawals (M-to-M): Students attending either of the two schools through M-to-M transfer shall follow the District’s M-to-M withdrawal process, which requires students to remain at the current schools of enrollment through the end of the school year unless there is an extenuating circumstance. Zoned Black students may also use the M-to-M transfer to eligible schools during the annual M-to-M transfer window.

B. District Exits: While it is the preference for students to remain in their school of enrollment for the duration of a school year to maintain the continuum of quality education, the District understands some students may move out of the parish or enroll in private or charter schools. Students leaving the District shall follow the District’s exit process found on the District’s website.

MAGNET RE-ENTRY:

In accordance with school board policy, students zoned for either of the magnet schools will receive priority placement upon returning and will not be waitlisted. If A
previous magnet student who is not zoned to the school would like to return to one of the magnet schools, parents and/or guardians will need to submit a new application. Students returning after exiting the magnet program will be accepted according to priority tiers. Once a school is at enrollment capacity, all returning students not zoned to the school will be placed on a waitlist.

TRANSPORTATION:

All students enrolled in the magnet schools will receive free, guaranteed door-to-door bus transportation. M-to-M students and other non-zoned magnet students will be provided parish-wide bus transportation to and from other attendance zones in St. Martin Schools, using the same door-to-door transportation routing system as other schools. Zoned students will continue to receive transportation according to the District’s zoned transportation routing. Additionally, free transportation will be provided to all students who participate in regular school, regular aftercare, after-school enrichment clubs, and summer extracurricular programs using door-to-door transportation. 

Transportation requests may be submitted directly to each magnet school of enrollment, by indicating transportation requested on the transfer application for non-zoned students, the regular aftercare/STEAM enrichment club application, or by completing the magnet transportation request form (link to form opens in new window). Parents and/or guardians can also contact the Magnet Academies office by email at magnet@saintmartinschools.org. Parents and/or guardians can also contact the schools by the phone numbers listed below for bus-specific information:

St. Martin Early STEAM Academy 337-909-3300

St. Martin STEAM Academy 337-394-6254