Enrollment 

Enrollment for 2026-2027 is open

Dayton Early College Academy  

 We are a high performing public charter school with three campuses focused on helping children from the city of Dayton achieve success in college and beyond.  There is no charge to apply or attend our school.  We are open to all students living within the boundaries of the Dayton Public School District.  Proof of residency will be required upon your application.   We are excited that you are looking into joining our DECA Family.

Our application process is 100% online.  

As a district we will be using FinalForms to collect your family information.   You WILL need an email address in order to apply.  After making an account and confirming it, be sure to fill out and sign every form on the FinalForms platform.  Incomplete applications will hold up your enrollment.  Once you have begun working through the application process,  check the enrollment calendar below to plan which parent meeting you wish to attend.  One enrollment meeting is required per family for each campus you are applying.   To watch a video that explains how to be sure to fill out the application properly - click here.

Click here for the checklist that will help you to be sure that you have completed all the steps. 

Note:  If you are a current DECA Student you do not need to re-apply unless you are transitioning from DECA Middle to DECA High. 

Please make sure you are filling out the application for what grade your student will be in for the 2026-2027 school year.

Answers to Commonly Asked Enrollment Questions

Is Enrollment Open?  Opens in late January, closes in late April. 

Residency Requirement: All DECA campuses are free to attend; however, students must live within the boundaries of the Dayton Public Schools in order to attend any of our schools. Note: we are not in any way affiliated with Dayton Public.

Number of Open Seats: The number of seats available varies by grade level, but we always have the most available openings at Kindergarten and ninth grade. Space is very limited at all other grade levels.

Who needs to enroll?  All new students to DECA that are entering grades K-9 must enroll and current 8th grade DECA Middle students who desire to go to DECA High.

Enrollment Meetings: Prospective families must attend at least one enrollment meeting as part of the application process. 

Applications: All applications must be completed online. See the Link above.  You will have to create a Final Forms account and verify your account once created.