School Choice and Transfers (Open Enrollment) Frequently Asked Questions

Eligible employees must work for the Issaquah School District. Substitutes are not eligible employees. Eligible employees are defined as:

• Certificated employees who are a 0.6 FTE or greater
• Classified employees who work 16 hour per week or more for a minimum of 180 days.

Students who are the children of eligible nonresident employees of the Issaquah School District must still apply but they will be treated as resident students. The children of eligible nonresident employees will apply through the Open Transfer process and may apply to all Choice Schools/Programs. RCW Guidance: RCW 28A.225.225: Applications from school employees' children, nonresident students, or students receiving home-based instruction to attend district school—Acceptance and rejection standards—Notification.

Home school students are required to submit a “Declaration of Intent to Home School”

This form needs to be sent to enrollment@issaquah.wednet.edu.

Yes. New nonresident students who are interested in enrolling in an Issaquah School District school for the next school year need to first submit an application. Nonresident students cannot take the spot of a resident student, so they will be placed on a waiting list in the order they apply (we do not use a lottery system, so do not delay).

Absolutely! Many of our schools are accepting nonresident students. Nonresident students must be in good standing regarding grades, attendance and discipline in order to attend our schools. Nonresident students cannot take the spot of a resident, so they will be placed on a waitlist and placed after open transfers of resident takes place. They will be placed on the waitlist in the order they apply (we do not use a lottery system, so do not delay).

New nonresident students who are interested in enrolling in an Issaquah School District school for the 2026-2027 school year may submit their Open Enrollment application here: ISD 26-27 Open Enrollment & School Choice – Fill out form. Open Enrollment will be open from February 2, 2026 to March 13, 2026.

You may apply for the upcoming school year beginning in February; the application will remain open until October 1. A link will be available on the Open Enrollment & Transfer page.

Applicants will be placed on the waitlist in the order the applications are received. The nonresident waitlist will be available until October 1st. It will not be carried over year to year.

The School Choice application period will be from February 1 to March 13. If you do miss this window, you can still submit your application via our Transfer Application Process. All applications will be placed on the waitlist in the order the applications are received.

Applicants may apply for only one school that is either open or has limited space. You will be able to indicate whether you are interested in other schools if space is available. If space is or becomes available, we will contact you with a placement offer. If space is not available at the requested schools in your student’s grade level, we may contact you about other schools that have capacity.

Thank you for your patience as we go through this updated process. We will contact you as soon as possible.

Nonresident students will not be accepted for less than full-time enrollment.

Yes. Once your student is accepted and placed, ISD is committed to supporting their continued progress through that school’s feeder pattern through graduation.

Each year all nonresident students, including the children of eligible nonresident employees, who are attending the Issaquah School District, must submit a Choice Transfer Request to their resident school district (the district in which you live in) requesting to be released to the Issaquah School District. The ISD Enrollment Coordinator will send a reminder email each year.