How to Make Your Final School Decision

 

• Download our School Decision Notification Tracker Worksheet (English).
• Download our School Visit Checklist (English).
• To download this information in your native language, use your browser to print this page.
• View our complete School Registration Toolkit for Families.
   

As early as March of each year, you may begin to receive notifications from schools for which you have registered or applied about enrollment offers or application outcomes. Our School Decision-Making Guide will take you through what to consider as you decide on your final, great-fit school choice for your child.
 

Before You Make Your Final School Decision:

1. Remember: There is no single school enrollment timeline in Boston and every school has its own notification timeline and process, which means you may hear from different schools at different times. 

2. Given that you may find out about seat offers or waitlist status at different times, Boston School Finder recommends that families should keep their options open until you’re ready to make your decision. 

3. You are allowed to ask for extensions if you need more time to decide. Contact your school(s) directly to see if they will grant you an extension if you need it.

What to Do When You Get Notifications from Schools

1. Organize all of your school notifications in one place.

• Use our School Decision Notification Tracker Worksheet to keep track of important decision deadlines.

• If you need more time to make your decision, we recommend contacting the school directly to ask for an extension as needed.
   

2. Visit each final school you are considering. 

• If a school does not have formal visitation dates or open houses, you can call the school and request to visit. Please contact each school directly to find out how you can visit or learn more about the facilities.

• Our School Visit Checklist can help you prepare to get the most out of your visit and help you narrow down your decision. 
   

3. Accept the seat OR stay on the waitlist at any school you are still considering.

• It is possible to accept multiple seats at multiple schools until you make your final decision.

• Even if you accept a seat at one school, it’s possible to remain on waitlists at other schools, but each type of school has different waitlist procedures:

  • BPS: Families are encouraged to RSVP for their final school decision online. Review BPS waitlist policies at their website. 

  • Charter Public Schools & Private Schools: You can accept a seat at any/all schools to which you have applied and remain on other school waitlists in these sectors. If a private school charges tuition, you may need to put down a deposit to hold your seat. 

4. Once you have made your final school decision, please let all of the other schools know.