Join MAD!
Enrollment plan for Class of 2029:
The seats for the Class of 2029 will be offered based on a 50/50 model that is in alignment with the requirements of the California Partnership Academies Ed code.
50% of our seats will be offered via lottery using a random number generator.
50% of our seats will be allocated to students who meet the “at promise” criteria of the California Partnership Academies Ed code. Eligibility for these seats will be determined using student data.
Our Academy is a California Partnership Academy that receives annual funding from the California Partnership Academy grant. We offer 50% of seats to students who meet their defined “at promise” criteria. Our current enrollment model was developed in an effort to comply with these requirements, to meet the needs of our community as a whole, and to further progress towards our goal of creating an academy student body that is more reflective of our high school as a whole. Ed Code regarding California Partnership Academies can be found here: Article 5: Partnership Academies [54690 - 54697].
Our 9th grade enrollment process does not have a portfolio or interview component, only an interest form. We do not expect our 8th grade applicants to have a comprehensive art portfolio in time for the 9th grade enrollment cycle. Instead, our academy is a place for interested students to develop the skills that our program teaches.
To be considered for enrollment, Class of 2029 parents must indicate interest in our academy by filling out the Class of 2029 MAD Academy interest form.
The MAD Academy Interest Form will be distributed by SBHS counselors at the 8th grade school sites or at designated private school meetings between December and February. It will also be posted here on our website during that time . Indicating interest in our program on this survey is not a guarantee of enrollment.
Prospective Freshman:
Waitlist positions are assigned to all students who are not offered enrollment during May of their 8th grade year. For students who fill out the academy interest form between November and February of their 8th grade year but are not offered enrollment, waitlist positions are determined using a random number generator. Any students who fill out the waitlist form after the academy interest form deadline of March 1st are ordered chronologically after those students who filled out the form on time, ordered based on the date and time of their request.
Our waitlist also follows the 50/50 model. Vacancies in our lottery seats will be filled with lottery category waitlist students. Vacancies in our “at promise” seats will be filled with CPA “at promise” category waitlist students.
Average attrition has been around 0-10 students per grade per year, and attrition can happen at any time throughout the year. When students choose to drop our program during 9th grade, we pull from our waitlist in order of waitlist position. Being on the waitlist is not a guarantee of eventual enrollment.
Students on the waitlist still have the opportunity to enroll in non-Academy sections of the same dual enrollment electives that we offer. They can enroll in a non-Academy section of MAT 105 - intro to media arts here at SBHS when offered, and they can enroll in many of the rest of our electives at SBCC. Taking these courses is not a requirement for remaining on our waitlist.
Waitlist positions are valid until the end of term 3 of your freshman year. After that, students who still wish to be considered for open spots must fill out the MAD Academy Application form that corresponds to their graduating year. That application will be posted here at the end of term 3 of your freshman year. Students will then be selected based on the content of their applications. (We switch to application for sophomore and junior year enrollment in order to offer prospective students an opportunity to share their previous media arts work and to express interest in our program outside of a randomly ordered admission model!)
Prospective Sophomores and Juniors:
The majority of our enrollment takes place during the Spring preceding a student’s 9th grade year. After that, we fill spots as they become available based on the content of submissions to our application form, not based on chronological order of submissions. We also follow the 50% “at promise” ratio when selecting applicants for the sophomore and junior class. Please fill out the application form that corresponds to your high school graduating year to be considered!
FORMS AND APPLICATIONS
To be considered for an open spot in MAD, please fill out the form that corresponds to your graduating year. If you have filled out a previous form, you will still need to fill out the form below that corresponds to your graduating year.
Already in MAD: If you are already enrolled in our Academy as a 9th or 10th grader and are planning to continue with our program, you will fill out a separate application during class at the end of your elective courses. As a CPA program, we are required to administer an application to all of our students. Priority enrollment will be given to continuing MAD students.
Class of 2025: We do not enroll new 12th grade students.
Class of 2026: Class of 2026 new - MAD Application (available through term 3 2025)
Class of 2027: Class of 2027 new - MAD Application
Class of 2028: Class of 2028 - MAD Academy WAITLIST form - The MAD Academy interest form for the class of 2028 closed on March 1st, 2024. To be added to the waitlist after students who filled out the form by the deadline, fill out this waitlist form. The waitlist is valid until the end of term 3, 2025.
Class of 2029: Class of 2029 - interest form (available through March 1st, 2025).
Important Dates for the Class of 2029:
Academy Interest Form window: November 8th, 2024 - March 1st, 2025
Enrollment and waitlist offer communication: May 1st, 2025
Acceptance of enrollment offer deadline: May 8th, 2025
Students must be enrolled at SBHS to be considered for enrollment and waitlist. If you are coming from out of district, you must first complete the transfer process by January 26th:
SB Unified Enrollment and Registration
Demand for SBHS academy enrollment varies greatly year by year. Some years there are less than 90 students who wish to enroll. Last abmissions cycle, there were over 140 students who expressed interest in our 90 seats. There is no guarantee of enrollment in our program. For this reason we strongly advise against enrolling at SBHS for the sole purpose of enrolling in our academy, and encourage families to keep their options and their minds open. There are many wonderful courses and programs at SBHS in and outside of our academies.
Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout this process!
