Hi everyone! Our family is moving back to MN in a few months, and we are starting the process of looking into schools. Our son will be 5 next year and will be starting kindergarten in 2026. He’s our oldest, so this is our first rodeo. We’re looking into Nova Classical Academy (Highland Park) and Math & Science Academy (Woodbury).

Our questions:

1. How hard is it to get into these schools for kindergarten? (We are not school staff members, and our child doesn’t have a sibling already enrolled in the school.) We realize that MSA’s elementary school is just now being built, and 2026-2027 is the first year they’re enrolling for kindergarten.
2. Is there anything we can do to be more competitive for acceptance to either school? Or is it literally just a random lottery? Does it matter when we apply for the lottery, as long as it’s within the enrollment window? (Our children don’t appear to be “protected class students” as defined by MDE.)
3. Any experience with either of these schools? We welcome all feedback as we know nothing! Especially if you have a child with mild ASD, we’d love your input.

Thank you so much!