What picking a school in Eugene’s 4J really looks like in practice

You hear “school choice” and immediately wonder which pieces are a true lottery, which ones waitlist, and where deadlines hide in the fine print. In Eugene School District 4J, the process is straightforward once you know the sequence and the few places families routinely miss a step. This walkthrough sticks to how the rules actually work, with dates, priorities, and costs spelled out so you can find the official numbers fast.

What are your real choices inside 4J?

Every student is guaranteed a seat at their neighborhood school based on home address. That path has no application window and no lottery. You enroll when you’re ready, and the school places your student if the grade is offered on that campus. There is no tuition for any 4J neighborhood school.

If you want a different campus, the district runs a formal school choice transfer process. The on-time window for 4J residents is January 15–February 15 for the following fall. Seats are offered by lottery after that window closes, and any request that comes in May 1 through mid-December is post-lottery, offered first-come if space opens or placed on a waiting list in timestamp order within priority groups. No tuition applies here either.

4J’s option programs are real programs with their own rules. Language immersion starts in elementary and continues through high school without families having to reapply each level once admitted. Elementary sites include Buena Vista (Spanish, 90/10 model), Charlemagne (French), Hé Lín (Chinese), River Road/El Camino del Río (Spanish dual immersion), and Yujin Gakuen (Japanese). For example, Spanish immersion continues at Monroe Middle School and then at Sheldon High School, while French immersion continues at Roosevelt Middle School and then into Eugene IHS at South Eugene High School. These continuation paths are published by the district each year.

Some programs sit inside host schools but use their own application. Eugene International High School (IHS) is a four-year international studies program located at Churchill, Sheldon, and South Eugene. If your student is already in 4J’s Spanish or French immersion, they enter IHS without the general lottery, but they still submit the IHS enrollment form by February 15 to be on track for ninth grade.

Two other options are worth naming because families often ask where they fit. Eugene Online Academy is 4J’s district-run online school located at the Education Center, 200 N. Monroe St., Eugene, 97402, with a main line at 541-790-6850. And ECCO (Early College & Career Options) is 4J’s alternative high school that blends high school and college/career coursework; it participates in the district enrollment system and does not charge tuition.

Finally, public charter schools in the Eugene area are sponsored by 4J but handle admissions independently. Examples include Ridgeline Montessori, The Village School, Network Charter School, Coburg Community Charter School, and Twin Rivers Charter School. Charter schools do not use 4J’s school choice form or lottery. They are tuition-free public schools with their own timelines and lotteries posted on their sites.

When is the lottery and who actually gets priority?

For 4J residents, the district accepts school choice requests from January 15 to February 15 at 11:59 p.m.. After the window closes, 4J runs a lottery and emails results. If you are offered a seat, you have 7 calendar days to log in and accept, or the system will automatically decline the offer and pass it to the next student on the waitlist. If you accept but delay enrollment, a seat offered before school starts is valid for 30 days after the first day of school.

Priorities matter, and 4J publishes the exact order used for lotteries and waitlists. The list starts with 4J residents before non-residents, then returning students (currently enrolled at the school and asking to continue), then siblings who will be co-enrolled at the same school. At selected elementary schools, students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals receive priority in the in-district lottery. The elementary schools where this priority applies are Buena Vista, Camas Ridge, Charlemagne, Edgewood, Edison, Gilham, and Yujin Gakuen. For immersion seats in grades K–5, language speakers (for whom the immersion language is the first language at home) are a defined priority. For IHS only, a host high school residence-area priority is used when needed.

If you miss the on-time window, post-lottery requests from residents open on May 1. They are handled in priority order but placed by the date and time the request arrives. There is no fee to submit a request at any point.

Non-resident families have their own lottery window, March 1–March 31, for the following fall. Priority groups for non-residents include returning students, co-enrolled siblings, and language speakers for immersion programs. Non-resident seats are only offered after all resident requests have been accommodated, and any offer is contingent on the student’s home district granting release.

How does transportation work if you don’t attend your neighborhood school?

Transportation is a common point of surprise. If a student attends their neighborhood school, they may have access to district school buses that run within that school’s attendance boundary. If a student attends a school by school choice transfer or at an option school, families are responsible for getting the student to and from school. That is the default rule districtwide.

There are two practical supports many families use. First, 4J makes free LTD (Lane Transit District) bus passes available to all 4J students through school offices. Second, the district allows school choice students to ride on existing 4J bus routes within the attendance boundary of the school they attend, if a seat is available. This is not guaranteed busing, but if a route already serves that school and has room, the student may be allowed to board at an existing stop.

There is one published, time-limited exception. As part of the Japanese immersion relocation, Yujin Gakuen students who enrolled during the 2023–24 school year continue to receive district busing through the 2028–29 school year while the program transitions to the South Eugene region. Beginning with the 2029–30 school year, transportation to Yujin Gakuen becomes a family responsibility, following the standard School Choice policy. Yujin Gakuen’s current address is 2855 Lincoln St., Eugene, 97405.

Meals are not a cost-driver in 4J’s choice decisions. Through the Community Eligibility Provision, every 4J student may receive one complete breakfast and one complete lunch each school day at no cost, regardless of household income. That policy is districtwide, including neighborhood schools and option programs, which removes a common “hidden cost” families anticipate when looking at a transfer across town.

Where do immersion and Eugene IHS fit into this?

Immersion programs are the most structured part of 4J’s school choice system. For kindergarten entry, families apply in the same January 15–February 15 resident window. Program specifics are published by the district, including instructional models. For example, Buena Vista uses a 90/10 decreasing Spanish model, with 90 percent of the day in Spanish in kindergarten and a planned shift toward a 50/50 balance by grade 5. French immersion continues from Charlemagne into Roosevelt Middle, and Chinese immersion continues from Hé Lín into Kennedy Middle. Spanish immersion continues at Monroe. High school continuation happens at host schools aligned to each language pathway, including Sheldon for Spanish, South Eugene via IHS for French, and Churchill for Chinese.

Once admitted to an immersion pathway, students move to the next level of that pathway without reapplying through school choice. That is different from a standard neighborhood-to-neighborhood transfer, which ends at the top of each level unless you submit a new transfer request. The one caveat is for families who move out of 4J: continuing in immersion at the next level requires a non-resident transfer, and only if the program is open to non-resident requests for that year.

IHS runs on its own calendar inside the broader system. Ninth grade entry is coordinated the same season as other choice requests. Spanish and French immersion students enroll in IHS without the general lottery because they entered immersion through the elementary/middle lottery earlier, but they still must submit the IHS enrollment form by February 15 at their host site. Other students can request IHS in the school choice lottery and are offered seats by priority and space.

Can you apply if you live outside 4J?

Yes. Families who live outside 4J can request an interdistrict transfer to attend a 4J school. The on-time non-resident window is March 1–March 31. Offers depend on two things happening: space at the 4J school after residents are served, and the home district’s consent to release the student. Non-resident lotteries use priorities such as returning non-resident students, co-enrolled siblings, and language speakers for K–5 immersion seats.

The list of 4J schools open to non-resident requests is posted each year. For 2026–27, open elementary options include Adams, Awbrey Park, Buena Vista, Camas Ridge, Chávez, Hé Lín, Edgewood, Edison, Family School, Gilham, Holt, Howard, McCornack, River Road/El Camino del Río, Spring Creek, Twin Oaks, Willagillespie, and Yujin Gakuen. Open middle schools include Arts & Technology Academy, Cal Young, Kelly, Kennedy, Madison, Monroe, and Spencer Butte. For high school, 4J listed Churchill, North Eugene, and specific IHS placements for 2026–27, with grade-level limits typically at grades 9–11. If a school is not listed as open to non-resident requests, 4J is signaling no available space for out-of-district transfers at that site for the coming year.

Charter schools do not use this route. They accept non-resident students through their own admission process and do not require a 4J school choice form. As public schools, they do not charge tuition.

Why do some families get tripped up on paperwork?

Most misses are timing and definitions. The resident lottery and the non-resident lottery are different windows. If you live in 4J and apply after February 15, your request is post-lottery even if you submit long before March 31. If you live outside 4J, your on-time shot is the March 1–31 window, and any offer still depends on your home district allowing the transfer.

Another frequent snag is assuming a seat is “yours” once offered. 4J’s system releases an offer if it’s not accepted within 7 calendar days, and schools move down the list immediately. If you accept but postpone enrollment, the district states the seat expires 30 days after the first day of school unless the student is actively enrolled.

Special education also runs on a published process. If a student with a disability is accepted through school choice, 4J holds the student’s place while it determines whether the choice school can implement the student’s IEP or Section 504 plan and whether there is space in the program that provides those services. If the program is full or services cannot be provided at that site, the transfer can be denied even though the initial lottery placed the student highly. Transportation connected to a choice placement is generally a family responsibility unless the student’s plan specifies a different arrangement.

Key things to know

• The resident lottery window is January 15–February 15. Non-resident requests run March 1–March 31. Post-lottery resident requests open May 1 through mid-December.
• You must accept an offer within 7 days. If you delay enrollment, a seat offered before school starts holds only 30 days after the first day of school.
• Priorities are published and applied: residents before non-residents, returning students, co-enrolled siblings, selected free/reduced-meal priority at specific elementary schools, and language speaker priority for immersion K–5.
• Transportation: neighborhood school buses stay within attendance boundaries. For choice placements, transportation is a family responsibility. All 4J students can request a free LTD bus pass from their school.
• Yujin Gakuen has district busing through 2028–29 for students who enrolled in 2023–24 as part of the program’s relocation plan. Starting 2029–30, families provide transportation under the normal policy.
• Once in an immersion pathway, students continue to the next level without reapplying. Spanish continues Monroe → Sheldon, French continues Roosevelt → South (IHS), and Chinese continues Kennedy → Churchill.
• IHS is at Churchill, Sheldon, and South Eugene. Immersion students enroll in IHS without the general lottery but still submit the IHS form by February 15.
• Meals cost $0 districtwide. Every 4J student can receive one complete breakfast and one complete lunch daily at no cost through CEP.
• Charter schools have their own admissions and do not take 4J school choice forms. They remain tuition-free public schools.
• Need to talk to a person? 4J’s main line is 541-790-7700, and the online school, EOA, lists 541-790-6850 for direct questions.

Reader Q&A

We live in 4J. When should we submit a choice request to have the best shot?

Submit during the resident window of January 15–February 15 to be in the main lottery. If you apply after that, from May 1 to mid-December, your request is post-lottery and handled in timestamp order within your priority group if seats open.

If my student gets an offer, how long do we have to decide?

You have 7 calendar days to accept the offer online. If you accept but don’t enroll, the seat holds only 30 days after the first day of school before it expires. Both timelines are set in the district’s published School Choice FAQs.

Do we have to reapply to stay in immersion for middle and high school?

No. Once a student is in a 4J immersion program, they move to the next level in that program without submitting another school choice request. The continuation schools are set by language, such as Spanish at Monroe → Sheldon and French at Roosevelt → South (IHS).

Is there busing if we choose a school outside our neighborhood?

Transportation is generally a family responsibility for choice placements. Students may ride an existing bus that serves their chosen school if there is space, and every 4J student can request a free LTD bus pass from the school office.

To narrow your decision, line up your timeline first. If you need a seat at a specific program, build around the January 15–February 15 resident window or the March 1–31 non-resident window, then sanity-check transportation using the boundary rule and LTD pass option before you submit.

Published: September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the State Of Oregon editorial team