Today kicks off Philadelphia's school enrollment process. Here's a rundown of essential details you shouldn't miss.
The School District of Philadelphia has announced that the school selection application for the 2026-2027 academic year will open on September 8. This year, the application process will allow students to apply for any district school with available space for the upcoming school year.
For those new to the process, it's important to know that there are three types of schools participating: criteria-based schools, citywide schools, and neighborhood schools. Students can visit one of the district's application labs to receive one-on-one support with submitting the application.
During the application process, students can rank up to five schools in order of preference. It's worth noting that students will receive either one or no offers of eligibility. If a student gets an offer and accepts, they will remain on the waitlist for higher-ranked schools for which they did not receive an offer.
Assessments accepted in the previous year, such as the California Assessment Test, Educational Records Bureau's Independent School Entrance Exam, the Iowa test, or Secondary School Assessment Test, will continue to be accepted, so long as the test is dated 2024. However, this year, the major change to the application process is the acceptance of standardized assessments for criteria-based schools, including the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, the TerraNova, the Educational Records Bureau-Comprehensive Testing Program, and state standardized assessments from other states. Any test dated 2025 must be from the updated list.
Another significant change is the preference given to siblings and twins when applying to non-criteria-based schools during the same application cycle. Furthermore, nonresident students must pay tuition and won't be admitted to schools where their enrollment would displace a resident student.
Last year, a total of 16,878 students participated in the school selection process, of which 10,275 accepted offers. It's important to note that students who live outside city boundaries can participate, but city residents are given priority over nonarea residents.
The school selection system uses a 'deferred acceptance ranking algorithm' to place students at their top-ranked school. Common mistakes during the last application cycle included mis-ranking selections, selecting schools too far from home, and forgetting to resubmit the application after making edits.
The School District of Philadelphia encourages families to use the School Selection website and the Explore platform for current school selection information. Additionally, the zip codes 19121, 19132, 19133, 19135, 19136, and 19140 have been updated as areas with the lowest representation accepting offers over the last four years.
For those applying to career and technical education schools, preference will be given to students who are currently attending a district middle school program similar to the program they are applying to for high school.
Lastly, it's important to remember that this application does not apply to private or charter schools. For more information, visit the School District of Philadelphia's School Selection website.
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