Nursery School
If you’re applying to private nursery school, most of them follow
general guidelines, including application guidelines, established by isaagny. Here’s%uFFFD the general timeline for the process.
For any particular school, though, you have to visit their website to find
out their deadline for accepting applications. Assume that it is a true deadline because they generally get many more
applications than available spots. Some
deadlines are in early October so double check the policies of the schools you
want to apply to.
Private School (at
K level)
For private schools with classes beginning K and up (though some now
have Pre-K levels), refer to isaagny, but note that the admissions
timeline is not quite the same as the one for nursery schools. Here’s the timeline for K and up:
%uFFFDAnd here’s the important catch: even if a particular private school says it’s accepting applications
till November or December, they don’t always do it. Some of them will cut it off as soon as they
feel like they’ve received enough applications (and often that’s by early
October). So for schools that are known to be popular, the safest course is to
get your application as soon as possible, and certainly by the end of
September.
Public School Pre-Kindergarten
It’s free, popular, and there’s no guarantee of a spot. Applications are due in the spring for the
following fall. Inside Schools does a great job laying out all the details here.
And here’ the DOE admissions calendar for Pre-K
Public School Kindergarten
Everyone student is guaranteed a spot somewhere, but many of the popular
neighborhood schools now have waiting lists and you can’t fully count on
getting into your zoned neighborhood school (though most get in). The first step is determining what your
zoned school is (use the Department of Education website,
ask a neighbor, or call 311 if you’re really confused. For confirmation, call the school and ask to
speak with the parent-teacher coordinator. The enrollment process begins in February. That’s the month when you need to make sure
you contact your zoned school—and any other schools you’re interested in– and
pre-register your child. But your
homework should begin in the fall-winter, so you have a game plan for
February.
Here’s the DOE general overview page for K admissions.
Here’s their timeline.%uFFFD
Here’s Inside School’s guide .
Public School Kindergarten (Gifted & Talented)
The DOE says applicationsfor next year will be available
online in September, and usually you have to get them in by sometime in late
November (but that could change). For
now interested families should sign up to receive regular email updates. Here is the page to do that.%uFFFD
Go to the Same page,
by the way if you have an older student already in the system and you’d like to
apply for a G & T program at grade other than K.)
Here’s is Inside School’s backgrounder
page on G & T programs. ]
Private School
(Middle School)
Here’s Isaagny’s calendar. Once again, we advise noting each school’s deadlines for applications
but still getting them in much early.
Public (Middle
School)
Here’s is the DOE’s general info page. Here is their timeline page:%uFFFD
%uFFFDThe process is quite different from when you originally applied for
kindergarten. There will be multiple
school tours. There will be applications
to specialized gifted programs. Ultimately, you are still guaranteed a spot at
your zoned school, but if you prefer other schools you’re going to have to rank
them in order of preference, keeping in mind that things are so competitive
that it’s highly unlikely that a magnet school will pick a child who didn’t
list them as her or his first choice. So
that first choice is very important and needs to be considered carefully.
Because of all the touring, applying and testing, it makes sense to set
up some kind of personal calendar so you don’t miss anything.
Your grade school faculty will be your main guide to the middle school
process, and they will initiate that orientation soon enough. If you still have questions, call 311, or
contact your school district office, or call the DOE Office of Student
Enrollement: (212) 374-2363.
