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Dual Language Lottery Procedure

2026-2027 School Year

In order to meet the needs of the diverse learners in the district, the goal of the Dual Language Program is to fill six classroom sections with the following make-up of students (Spots are reserved for English Learners (ELs)):

  • 1⁄3 native English
  • 1⁄3 native Spanish
  • 1⁄3 emerging bilinguals

The following requirements must be fulfilled in order for non-EL students to be considered for the Dual Language Program and to participate in the lottery:

  • New families must have attended one of the Parent Information meetings. Attendance will be recorded for families that attend either in-person or virtually at the time of the meeting.
  • All families must have submitted electronically a Dual Language Application prior to the deadline. The window for applying for the program will be January 30 - March 20, 2026. The application will close at 11:59 p.m. on March 20, 2026.
  • All families must have registered their child for kindergarten prior to the application deadline of March 20, 2026.
  • Families that move in D47 boundaries after the lottery deadlines can be placed on the waitlist if their kindergarten student was accepted into a dual language program in their previous district.  
  • ALL FAMILIES with kindergarten eligible students must complete the ONLINE Registration process via the District 47 website in ADDITION to the Dual Language Application, even if your student attended Glacier Ridge PreSchool. Registration opens on the first Monday of February.

The lottery will adhere to the following procedure:

  • Kindergarten siblings of students currently enrolled in D47’s Dual Language program MUST register their kindergarten student by March 20, 2026, to be guaranteed placement into the program. Kindergarten siblings registered after this date will be prioritized based on space availability.
  • As decided by the district ELL committee, all siblings will be placed in the current building where a sibling attends if the registration deadline criteria defined above have been met. If the sibling is no longer enrolled in an elementary building, the school location will be determined. This may impact the total number of available spots for the lottery at each specific location.
  • All students designated as English Learners (ELs) according to the WIDA Model Proficiency test will be automatically placed in the dual language program to meet the requirements by the state of Illinois to receive ELL services. These students will qualify with a composite score below 5.0.
  • If another language is spoken in the home, the student will then be screened. If the student does not qualify for ELL services based on the state criteria but does receive a composite score of 5.0 - 5.4 and is a Spanish Emerging Bilingual, they will be admitted into the program as they will benefit from the additional language services. These students will be classified as “Emerging Bilinguals”. If a student receives a composite score greater than 5.4 and their Spanish screener indicates they are fluent in Spanish, they will be admitted into the program. 
  • The digital lottery process will consist of two groups for each Dual Language building: Group 1: North, Group 2: Canterbury & Coventry.
  • The digital lottery will be for native English speaking students as well as emerging bilingual students who did not qualify based on their English and Spanish language proficiency test results. A maximum of 15 students per building will be selected for the lottery. 
    • Please note, if there are siblings placed into the program this total number will change.
    • The number of students placed in the dual language program per the lottery will not exceed 1/3 of the total number of emerging bilingual and native Spanish speakers at each school. 
  • Once all classrooms are filled, the remaining eligible students will be placed on a waiting list in the order of selection.
  • The lottery will take place on April 10, 2026.
  • All families will be notified by mail of their acceptance or non-acceptance into the Dual Language Program. Letters will be mailed out by the end of the week of April 13, 2026.