The deadline is Friday for parents in the Vicksburg Warren School District to apply for children to attend Bowmar Magnet Elementary School or one of the district’s pre-kindergarten programs at Sherman Avenue or Dana Road in 2012-13.

Applications are available at the schools, the Instructional Services building at 689 Mississippi 27 or can be printed from the district website, http://www.vwsd.k12.ms.us/. A separate application must be completed for each child in a family.

Admission is by lottery. The original deadlines noted on the applications were extended.

“It had been announced but we did not feel it had reached enough people,” said the superintendent, Dr. Elizabeth Swinford. “We felt if they had known, more people would have applied and we wanted to provide opportunities to as many people as possible.”

Completed applications for the two pre-kindergarten programs, Sherman Avenue in the north zone and Dana Road in the south zone, should be returned to the Instructional Services building. Each school has two pre-kindergarten classrooms, said Swinford.

Completed applications for Bowmar may be turned in at the school or to Instructional Services.

All applications will be checked for correct address, race and birth date of the student, and parents will be notified by letter of their child’s admission status. Those students who do not make the lottery will be on a waiting list for possible enrollment if space allows.

Bowmar is a kindergarten through grade six school at 912 Bowmar Ave. that enrolls students from all over the district. The nine other elementary schools draw their enrollments from their neighborhoods.

As a magnet school, the academic program is supposed to be more rigorous than at other schools although based on the same curriculum, said Swinford.

“The academic program there was not magnet quality, but we are now bringing Bowmar back up to full magnet integrity, and the rigor is going to increase,” she added.

Once a student is admitted to Bowmar, reapplying each year is not necessary, Swinford said. Enrollment preference is also given to brothers and sisters of current students, she said.

To apply

Applications for Bowmar, Dana Road and Sherman Avenue elementary schools may be picked up at the schools; at the district’s Instructional Services, 689 Mississippi 27; or downloaded and printed from www.vwsd.k12.ms.us. The deadline is 3:30 p.m. Friday.