Requirements for Optional Schools

Schools require copies of the most recent comprehensive report card showing satisfactory grades, conduct
and attendance. Copies of current nationally-normed or TCAPAchievement Test scores and Gateway scores
from the past year should also be submitted.
For some high schools, tenth through twelfth grade applicants should also submit PSAT, ACT, and SAT
scores.
The spring 2008 TCAP Achievement Test will consist of criterion-referenced (CRT) items aligned to state
standards. The Tennessee State Department of Education will translate the CRT results into state percentiles.
District staff will provide state percentiles for determining optional school eligibility.
In a number of cases, the school will specify in its entrance requirements that first and second grade applicants
will be required to take the district’s admittance tests at the requested school. No other tests will be
accepted for admittance into grades one and two. Only one admittance test per student is given annually.
All optional schools agree that daily attendance—which includes arriving at school and each class on
time—is very important for all students. A total of more than 15 absences, tardies and/or early dismissals a
year is considered unsatisfactory.
Transportation to the school is the responsibility of the student’s parents/legal guardians.

Achievement Tests

Entrance requirements vary by school. Eligible students must score at or above a specified percentile on a current nationally-normed or TCAP Achievement Test on grade-level norms. The only acceptable achievement tests from licensed psychological examiners are the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, 2nd Edition and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, 2nd Edition (WIAT-II).

The Reading/Language Arts test score must include content, meaning, vocabulary, writing/organization,
writing/process, grammar/conventions and techniques and skills. Total/broad reading and total language
scores are required.

The Mathematics test score must include number sense/theory, computation, algebraic thinking, real-world
problem solving, data analysis and probability, measurement, geometry, number and operations and graphs
and graphing. A total/broad mathematics score is required.

Other Requirements

The Application for Optional Schools requires the applicant’s Social Security number.
If, at the time of application, the student does not meet the school’s entrance requirements, he or she will not be approved to attend that school. If, at a later date, the student’s performance improves and he or she meets the entrance requirements of the school of choice, he or she may re-apply. The student’s new application will be assigned a new priority number and will be accepted on a space availability basis.
It is mandatory that new seventh through 12th grade students and their parents sign a disavowal statement. This statement certifies that neither student nor parent has been encouraged by any Memphis City Schools employee to obtain an optional transfer for the purpose of athletic participation at the requested school. This disavowal is printed on the actual Application for Optional Schools form. For that reason, parents and students must have the forms before February 1, 2008. Both signatures are required before the completed transfer application form is processed at the Board of Education.
Newly approved applicants who are Memphis residents must continue to reside within the Memphis city limits to maintain an approved status in schools where space availability is limited.
Final approval into the optional program is held until final report cards are submitted and reviewed by the schools. Students’ second semester grades must meet the school’s requirements.