FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 25, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 27
Photo via Getty Images
How to apply for New York City charter schools
BY SOFIA VALDES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
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.
Th e NYC charter schools website makes
it easy for essentially anyone to navigate,
with options to apply in 10 diff erent languages.
If you scroll down slightly on the home
page, you will see four diff erent options:
Find a school, apply, parent info and virtual
school.
Th e 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.
Th e Parent Info section contains answers
to frequently asked questions such as
“What makes charter schools diff erent
from traditional district schools?” and
“What are the benefi ts of enrolling my
child in a charter school?” It also contains
tips for applying.
Th e Virtual Schools section will open
up to a calendar containing the dates and
times in which you can visit any school of
your interest. Th ey 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. Th ere 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, visit 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.
Th e fi rst step will ask you for parent/
guardian information such as your address,
relationship to student, etc. Th e second
step will ask you information regarding the
student such as their name, date of birth,
etc. Th e 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
deadline, midnight on April 1. You may
log in aft er you have completed your application
to make changes to your family
profi le if needed or add school selections.
Some charter schools may continue
to accept applications aft er 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. Th ose 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
aft er the application deadline.
kids & education
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
