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Prospective Students

Thank you for your interest in the Center for Global Studies!

Applications are now closed for the 2024-25 school year. To learn more about CGS, please watch our Welcome Video below.

Admissions 

Admission to CGS is open to all students in participating Fairfield County districts. If there are more applicants than guaranteed seats from any town, a lottery will be held.  All students who are entered into the lottery receive a number based on their home district and language selection. Students are entered into the waitlist according to those random numbers. 

CGS holds two lottery sessions— one for incoming 9th graders, one for incoming 10th-12th graders. The criteria and procedures for both lotteries are the same. 

Time Table

  • The application is due on January 10.

  • The lottery for grade 9 occurs within 1-2 weeks after the application deadline.

  • Students are notified in writing of being accepted or waitlisted within 1 month after the lottery. 

  • Late applications will be accepted from January 11-September 15, but will be placed at the end of the waiting list. 

The Lottery

The goal of the lottery is to create a student body that is committed to the mission of the Center for Global Studies and representative of the diverse population of Fairfield County.  The lottery, therefore, will admit students who:

  1. Have completed all parts of the application process.
  2. Have proven themselves to be committed to studying the curriculum of CGS and able to participate in all aspects of the CGS program. 
  3. Live in towns and cities throughout Fairfield County to create a balanced representation of the county.

Lottery Guidelines

The goal of the lottery is to create a freshman class of 80 students. Lottery will be run by district and language.

  1. No more than sixty percent of CGS will be students who reside in Norwalk.  
  2. Any student who has taken Japanese or Chinese in Roton MS, Japanese at Ponus Ridge MS , or Japanese at Norwalk’s Columbus Magnet School and fulfills the first two requirements above will be admitted prior to any lottery. Should the number of applicants exceed 30% of an incoming class’s population, a lottery will be held for this pathway. Students not admitted through the Pathways lottery will be entered into the regular lottery for Norwalk students.     
  3. Up to 3 students per year who have parents/guardians employed at CGS or BMHS will receive preference.  If the number of applicants exceeds 3, then a lottery will be held for those students. Students of staff who are not given admission priority will then be entered into the regular lottery for their home district. 
  4. Students who are not admitted through the lottery will remain on a waiting list for seats for their home district and the language they selected.
  5. CGS does not give admissions preference to siblings.

In District Transportation

Bussing will be provided for all in district students.

Out of District Transportation

Out of district students have the option of taking the train to school in the morning. Train passes are provided by the state and given to students who to take the train. School buses will provide additional transportation from the South Norwalk train station to CGS.

Visit the School

Thinking about applying to CGS? Wondering if the program is right for you?

We hold Open Houses in the months prior to the lottery.

In the meantime, check our our video!

For further information, please contact: 

Ms. Julie Parham, Principal

parhamj@norwalkps.org