5 Things Parents Need To Know About BPS Registration

This week the Charlestown Mothers Association hosted a "" event where more than 30 representatives from public, private and charter schools were on hand to answer questions about navigating the city's educational options. Boston Public Schools officials led a brief session on getting your child into the right public school for your family. Here's a summary on registering for BPS.

1. You can start looking anytime, online. Boston Public Schools has a website that can tell you exactly what your public school options are, based on your address and the age of your child.

2.  Siblings stay together.  The lottery system that determines if your child is accepted into their preferred school gives priority to students who already have a sibling attending a particular school. This is designed to keep parents from having to be at two different schools at the same time, but, it does mean that all other things being equal, an entering kindergarten student with an older sibling attending a particular school will get preference over another kindergartener without a sibling at that school. The next priority the BPS uses to determine placement is it's walk zones, which give preference to students living close to the school. 

3. January is a key month. Registration for students entering transitional grades (kindergarten, 6th, and 9th) begins in January, and the date they can register is determined by the first letter of the parent's last name. Students registering for other grades who have siblings in transitional grades can also register, though their application won't be processed until their registration period, which begins in February. Pre-registration is available online, but everything must be finished at one of the BPS's Family Resource Centers.  Families considering private and parochial schools will typically also face application deadlines in January. 

4. Schools have preview times. Beginning in November, schools offer open houses, family tours, and other ways to get to know a school.  BPS also has School Showcases, evenings where BPS principals, teachers, and parents of current students at district schools meet with families and share what they offer. Boston's school system is divided into three zones, and the zone which includes Charlestown, the North Zone, is having its school showcase Wednesday, November 16, from 6-8 at the Boston Latin School in Roxbury. High school students have their own showcase, which is Saturday, November 19, from 12 to 3 at Madison Park High School in Roxbury. 

5. Private schools provide financial aid. If a BPS education isn't the right fit for your family and you don't have wads of cash lying around, all hope is not lost. The Boston area has dozens of private options, ranging from progressive Montessori kindergartens to the Boston Archdiodesan Choir School for boys in grades 5-8, and many of them provide partial, if not full, scholarships to families in need.  Schools sometimes offer merit scholarships for students as young as 7th grade, and they will also sometimes adjust tuition if a family has more than one child attending the same school. Payment plans are also often available, and parents can typically meet with a school's financial aid officer to determine what their options are.