Thank you for your interest in attending Cypress Junction Montessori (CJM). It is our goal to make an quality Montessori education available to all students in Greater Winter Haven. All students who complete an application have an equal opportunity to attend.

The Open Enrollment period for the 2025-26 school year will be December 1, 2024 – February 28, 2025.

The Controll Open Enrollment period for the 2025-2026 school year will begin April 1st, 2025.

Please read through the information provided on this page. If you have any additional questions, please email us at info@cypressjunction.org.  We look forward to a great school year!

Info about Lotterease:

Parents, please be advised we will be using a third-party system, Lotterease, to run our enrollment lottery for transparency and fairness. Since Lotterease is an independent system, the school staff do not have the ability to manipulate or adjust the lottery outcome.  In addition, all activity that takes place with your application is tracked in a history log that you can view at any time by logging into the parent portal.

After our open registration period closes, we will be uploading all applications into Lotterease. At that time, you will receive emails from Cypress Junction Montessori that an account has been created for you and your child(ren) and that they were entered into the lottery. You will be able to login to your account and change the password once it is created.

NOTE: If you have not received any emails from Cypress Junction Montessori, please be sure to check your spam folder. Cypress Junction Montessori is not responsible for emails or deadlines that are missed.

The emails will contain a new Applicant ID number that will be used to identify your child on the Applicant List after the lottery has been run. We will use this Applicant List to display the lottery results online.

Lottery Results

After the lottery is run, you will receive an email and a text message if your child was selected, and an email if your child was waitlisted.

Student Eligibility

CJM accepts applications from any student eligible to attend a Polk County public school. Our primary focus is to serve families in the Greater Winter Haven area. (We provide free busing within a certain radius of the school for our K-8 students. Please contact the office for full details.)

All students must have successfully completed the previous grade level, or be the correct age on or before September 1st the year they are applying for.

Lottery Process – Kindergarten through 8th Grade

CJM’s Kindergarten through 8th grade programs operate as a Polk County Charter School. This allows us to offer an quality Montessori education that is equally accessible to all families. CJM will not discriminate based upon factors such as race, religion or disability.

How to Obtain a VPK Certificate

For more information on obtaining a VPK Certificate, please click here.

Open Enrollment Applications

Each year, we accept applications for all our current grades during Open Enrollment.

Selection Process

If more students apply than we have opening for, we select students for enrollment in a random lottery drawing. This means that all students who submit a complete application on or before the deadline will have an equal opportunity to attend CJM. The following students will have preference in admission:

• Children of current full-time CJM staff and current CJM board of directors.

• Students entering kindergarten who have completed the full-day VPK program at CJM.

• Students entering kindergarten who have completed the half-day VPK program at CJM.

• Siblings of students currently enrolled at CJM.

  • NOTE: This enrollment preference does not apply to siblings of students who have been dismissed, have withdrawn, or have declined seats.

• Siblings of students selected within the same lottery.

• Students who have completed a full academic school year or contiguous time equivalent (8 consecutive months) within the prior 24 months at CJM or another Montessori school that has been recognized by AMI or AMS as an Associated/Associate Member school, or a membership level of greater value.

After the initial lottery drawing, an applicant waiting pool will be established. As a space becomes available during the school year, an eligible student will be randomly selected from the applicant waiting pool.

Year-Round Applications

Applications will be accepted year-round. Any applications received after the deadline will be placed in the secondary waiting pool. In the event the applicant waiting pool is exhausted and there is an availability, an eligible student will be randomly selected from the secondary waiting pool to fill the space.

Future School Years

The applicant pools do not carry over to the following year school year. Those still interested in CJM will need to reapply during the next open enrollment period to enter the random lottery process again.

Removal From Waiting Pool

Students can only be removed from waiting pools if the parent/guardian requests, in writing, the student be removed. Submitting an application to CJM does not remove you from any other charter, magnet or choice school waiting lists or lottery pools.

Enrollment Procedures – Kindergarten through 8th Grade

When a student’s name has been selected by the lottery, the parent/guardian will be notified by email and text message. The parent/guardian must log into Lotterease and accept the seat. Once the parent/guardian has agreed to accept a seat at CJM parents will be automatically taken to the Enrollment Paperwork. The enrollment paperwork must be completed by the due date to finalize enrollment. Failure to complete and return the packet will result in forfeiting the seat.

Disclaimer for Parents: Please be advised that if you falsify any information during registration or enrollment, your child’s application will be null and void, and admittance will be revoked. Any applications found to be falsified will be placed at the bottom of the waitlist.