How to Prepare for Your BPS Welcome Center Appointment

Registration for Boston Public Schools begins on Monday, Jan. 6, 2020. The BPS school registration process is comprised of two key parts: ranking your schools and verifying your residency in the City of Boston—but there is also some paperwork you can complete ahead of time online.

Here's what you need to know to make registering for BPS easier for your family:

1. Know the dates of priority registration for your child.

BPS conducts two priority rounds of registration. The first round of priority registration takes place from Monday, Jan. 6, to Friday, Jan. 31, 2020 for students entering grades K0, K1, 6, 7, and 9 in September 2020.

The second round of priority registration takes place Monday, Feb. 10 through Friday, Apr. 6, 2020 for students entering all other grades in September 2020: specifically, grades K2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, and 12.

• TIP: Not sure which K grade applies to your child? These K-level grades are determined by age, according to the following formula: If your child will be age _____ by Sep. 1, 2020, they are eligible to enter into grade ____.

  • Age 3 = Grade K0

  • Age 4 = Grade K1

  • Age 5 = Grade K2
     

2. Pre-register for BPS and rank your schools online.

The pre-registration process allows you to complete your BPS registration paperwork online, such as filling out your child's information and ranking your schools. You still have to visit a Welcome Center in person to complete your residency verification even if you pre-register. Pre-registration can even be completed the same day before you go to your Welcome Center appointment.

• TIP: Need help deciding how to rank your schools? Our Great-Fit School Guide can help.
   

3. Make your Welcome Center appointment online.

Cut down on wait times by making an appointment at your local Welcome Center online, ahead of time. While making a Welcome Center appointment is not required, we recommend families make an appointment that works best for their own schedules instead of waiting in line as a walk in. 

• TIP: Schedule your Welcome Center appointment here online
   

4. Gather your required residency documents.

BPS requires a total of 5 individual documents to verify your child's residency in the City of Boston, but these documents must meet specific requirements, from types of acceptable documents to dates of when these documents were issued. Here is the list of required documents you must bring with you to your Welcome Center appointment.

• TIP: If you are undocumented or don't have a permanent address, your child is still entitled to a free, public education at Boston Public Schools. Read our FAQ for more information about these special circumstances.
   

5. Go to a BPS Welcome Center to complete your registration.

There are four dedicated BPS Welcome Center locations in the City of Boston, as well as several pop-up Neighborhood Registration locations during school registration season. Our interactive map below shows you locations and hours for the four BPS Welcome Centers as well as all announced Neighborhood Registration pop-up locations.

• TIP: Don't miss a single registration deadline this school registration season. Sign up for school registration text alerts by texting the word "SCHOOL" to 33777 to get reminders sent right to your phone!