Enrollment for Middle School

All New York City children are guaranteed a seat at a public middle school. Apply to middle school when your child is in their last year of elementary school. Your child must be both of the following to apply:

• A NYC resident AND
• A current fifth grade student, or a current sixth grade student if their elementary school ends in sixth grade

Additionally, current fourth grade students who live or go to school in District 3 can apply to the Center School (03M243); current fourth grade students who live or go to school in Queens can apply to Louis Armstrong Middle School (30Q227); and all current sixth grade students can apply to Baccalaureate School for Global Education (30Q580).

Understand Your Child's Middle School Options

Before you begin exploring middle schools, it's helpful to learn about the options your child has and is eligible for. You can look up or search for middle school programs in the searchable online directory at MySchools.nyc

• During the application period, when you're logged in to your MySchools account, you will have a directory experience personalized to your child. This means that your search will include as options only the middle school programs that they’re eligible to attend. If a program is one that your child can't apply to, it will not show up in your account as an option.
• When the application period is closed, or when you are not logged in to your account, all middle schools in the city will appear as search options. If you are using this public view, be sure to check any program's Eligibility Information (see below) to see if your child can apply.

Eligibility Information

A program's eligibility tells you who can apply to it. For instance, if a program’s eligibility is “Open to students and residents of District 27,” this means that only students who live or attend public elementary schools in District 27 can apply. Students who live and attend schools in other districts are not eligible to apply to that program, and will not see or have it as an option on their application.

Middle school programs have different eligibility criteria:

• District programs are open to students in the district where your family is zoned for middle school and, when different, in the district where your child goes to public elementary school. 
  • Some district programs are open only to students who live or go to school in that district.
  • Other district programs may be open to a smaller group of applicants. If a program’s eligibility is “Open to students residing in the zone,” this means it’s only open to applicants who live in the smaller geographic zone around a particular school (rather than the larger middle school district).
• Borough wide programs are open to all students in a particular borough.
  • Staten Island has only one district (District 31), therefore all students in Staten Island have borough wide eligibility to all Staten Island middle schools.
  • All students in the Bronx have borough wide eligibility to all Bronx middle schools, in all Bronx districts. This means:
    • All Bronx middle schools will appear as options for your child's middle school application.
    • All students who live or go to school in a Bronx district will have an admissions priority to attend middle schools in that district or districts.
    • If seats remain, applicants who live and go to school in other Bronx districts will then be considered for admission.
• Citywide programs are open to all NYC students.

Schools and Programs

When you apply to middle schools, you’re not just applying to schools: you are applying to programs. Think of programs as doorways into a school. Some middle schools have more than one program, such as a general education program and a Dual Language Spanish program. If you’re interested in applying to more than one program at the same school, each program counts as a separate choice on your child’s application.

Explore Middle Schools and Programs