Charter Schools
How to apply for NYC charter schools
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 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 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
COURIER LIFE, F 14 EBRUARY 19-25, 2021
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.
Now to apply, you can click this
link, 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. Some
charter schools 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.
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There’s Still Time to Join
a Great School!
APPLY BY 4/1.
achievementfirst.org/EnrollNY
718-265-1437
/updates
/EnrollNY