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.
    

When You Can Expect to Hear from Schools

Boston Public Schools (BPS) 

• By March 31, 2023: 

  • BPS will notify families by email about BPS school assignments for students entering grades K0, K1, K2, 6 or 9 in September who registered during the first priority registration period from Jan. 4 - Feb. 6, 2023. 

  • If you applied to a special application high school, you may separately receive notification from those schools directly.

• By the end of April 2023:

  • Exam school invitations for grades 7 and 9 applicants will be sent out.

  • BPS recommends families RSVP for their final school decision online. 

• By May 31, 2023:

  • BPS will notify families by email about BPS school assignments for grade 7 students and all students who registered during the second registration period from Feb 8 - April 7.
     

Commonwealth Public Charter Schools

• After March 8, 2023: 

  • Individual charter public schools will each conduct their lotteries on March 8, 2023. 

  • Each charter public school chooses how it will notify families of lottery results. Schools will send out an email and text based on the preferences you chose when you completed the Boston Public Charter Lottery application online via SchoolMint. Families should log into SchoolMint to find their lottery results.  
     

METCO

• After each Lottery Window closes:

  • METCO will make referrals out to Partner Districts from now through October 1, 2023. Districts enroll students at any time between January and October 1 before school starts.

  • Referral to a district is not a guarantee that your student will be enrolled. We recommend families should always have additional school enrollment plans in addition to the METCO program. Families should move forward with other school plans until enrollment in a METCO district is confirmed.
     

Private Schools (Religiously-Affiliated & Independent)

• Private school placements and notifications vary by school. Please contact the school directly to verify its application decision notification dates.
   

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.