Charter Schools
How to enroll your children
in a great NYC charter school
BY SOFIA VALDES
New York City charter
schools are now accepting
applications for the
2021-2022 school year.
One can apply through the
NYC Charter Schools website,
nyccharterschools.schoolmint.
net, to multiple charter schools
in their neighborhood as well as
fi nd available virtual open house
dates and times through the NYC
virtual visits calendar.
NYC’s charter school’s website
makes it easy for essentially anyone
to navigate, with options to
apply in 10 different languages.
If you scroll down slightly on
the home page, you will see four
different options: Find a school,
apply, parent info, and virtual
school.
The Find a School section,
schools.nyccharterschools.org,
will lead you to a page with a
map. Here, you can see a schools
list as well as options to refi ne
your search by neighborhood,
community school district (CSD),
borough, and grade level.
The Parent Info section contains
answers to frequently asked
questions such as “What makes
charter schools different from
traditional district schools?”
and “What are the benefi ts of
enrolling my child in a charter
school?” It also contains tips for
applying.
The Virtual Schools section
will open up to a calendar
containing the dates and times
in which you can visit any school
of your interest. They have dates
available all the way up to April.
If you click a school, a page will
pop up that shows you what grade
levels the school contains, where
the school is located, what time
the virtual event will be held,
and a Zoom link you can use to
join the meeting. There is also an
option to add this event to your
calendar, which will remind you
of the event closer to the date of
by sending you a notifi cation.
Now to apply, you can visit nyccharterschools.
schoolmint.net,
which will take you to the login
page where you can then create
an account to start the application
process.
Once you create an account,
the online application form will
ask you to create your profi le in
three steps. The fi rst step will
ask you for parent/guardian
information such as your address,
relationship to student,
etc. The second step will ask you
information regarding the student
such as their name, date of birth,
etc. The fi nal step asks you to
choose preferred schools, fi ll out
an application, and confi rm said
application.
Applications must be submitted
by the midnight, April 1
deadline. You may log in after you
have completed your application
to make changes to your family
profi le if needed or add school
selections. Some charter schools
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
may continue to accept applications
after April 1. In that case, a
parent or guardian is advised to
contact schools directly in order
to fi nd exact dates.
If there are more student applications
than there are seats
available at a given school,
charter schools are required to
hold lotteries to randomly select
students for admission. Those
students who aren’t selected in
the lottery process will be put
on the school’s waitlist and may
be chosen for admission if a seat
becomes available in the future.
Each charter school runs their
own lottery and enrollment process.
Families should expect to
hear back from schools after the
application deadline.
10 February 18, 2021 Schneps Media
/schools.nyccharterschools.org
/schoolmint.net
