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Registering for high school means choosing the school that's right for you.
Applicants Who Are Not Current City Schools Students or Are Nonresidents of Baltimore City:
If you are a resident of Baltimore City, but do not currently attend a Baltimore City Public School or if you are nonresident of Baltimore City, you may use the Updated Choice application to apply to a Baltimore City Public middle or high school. Proof of student identity (i.e. birth certificate), two proofs of residency (i.e. lease agreement, mortgage statement, utility bill) and copies of report cards must be attached to the application form and submitted to the Office of Enrollment, Choice and Transfer, 200 E. North Ave., Room 106, Baltimore, MD 21202, by April 21, 2023. You may also visit the Office of Enrollment, Choice and Transfer starting June 26th to request other placement options for the 23-24 school year.
Updated Choice (Round 2)
For families who missed the original choice application deadline or want to try to apply to a different school than the one they were placed in, we offer a second round of choice.
Fill out the updated choice application and either mail it to 200 E. North Ave, Enrollment Choice and Transfers, Baltimore, MD 21202 or email it. If you do not have access to download, print, or email the updated application, please call 410-396-8600.
The deadline to fill out the updated choice application is April 21st. Decision letters will be mailed out after May 19th. If families do not fill out a choice application, students will be assigned a school.
Registration
- Browse and compare schools that might be right for your child and family.
- Complete the registration form for your selected school – available online and accessible via computer, tablet, or mobile devices
- Gather and upload the required documents (see below).
- Await communication from a school/district enrollment official
- Charter schools: Contact the school directly to ask about the registration process. (Note that the application deadline for most charters schools was Wednesday, February 15th).
- Technology access: If unable to complete the online registration process, please fill out the traditional registration form (in English or Spanish, gather/submit the form and required documents (see below) to the Office of Enrollment, Choice & Transfers (200 East North Avenue, Room 106, Baltimore, MD 21202) or any Documentation Support site – location details are forthcoming.
- Transfer Requests (Existing Students) – The window to request transfer consideration is set to tentatively launch on July 17, 2023.
- Additional support and/or questions: Please contact the school’s enrollment official directly (school telephone #); or reach out to the district office team at enrollment@bcps.k12.md.us or 410-396-8600.
- Don't live in Baltimore City?
Admission Types
Academic entrance criteria
Students can apply to these schools if they meet the composite score requirements. (Scroll down for information about composite scores.)
- Baltimore City College
- Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
- Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
- Western High School (all girls)
Specialized
These schools have a specific process for admission. Contact each school for more information.
- Baltimore Design School: Interest survey (grades 6 to 8); portfolio (grades 9 to 12)
- Baltimore School for the Arts: Audition
- Bard High School Early College: Choice application and interview
- Ingenuity Project at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute: Separate application and testing
- National Academy Foundation: Choice application and interview
- P-TECH at Carver, P-TECH at New Era, and P-TECH at Paul Laurence Dunbar: Contact the individual schools for information
School-based lottery
Some charter schools have their own application process, with a lottery that takes place at the individual school. Contact each school for information.
- Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (all girls)
- City Neighbors High School
- Coppin Academy
- Green Street Academy
Choice lottery
These schools have no specific entrance criteria or admission processes. If more students select a school than the school can serve, students are selected by lottery.
- Academy for College and Career Exploration
- Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts
- Benjamin Franklin High School at Masonville Cove
- Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy West (all boys)
- Carver Vocational-Technical High School
- ConneXions: A Community Based Arts School
- Digital Harbor High School
- Edmondson-Westside High School
- Forest Park High School
- Frederick Douglass High School
- Independence School Local I High (Please use the search bar to access this campus)
- Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School
- Patterson High School
- The Reach! Partnership School
- Reginald F. Lewis High School
- Renaissance Academy
- Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy
Placement
For students with specific needs — for example, those returning to school after dropping out or those with special needs that can't be met in a general education setting — the district offers alternative placements. Contact the Enrollment, Choice, and Transfers department at 410-396-8600 for information and assistance.
Composite Scores
Composite scores are calculated to determine if students are eligible for schools with entrance criteria. Taking honors classes or advanced programs in middle school can increase a score and make it easier to get in to some schools. Students are ranked by score and admitted in order until school capacity is reached. Students interested in Baltimore City College and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute usually need to score significantly higher than the required minimum to be admitted.
Composite scores are needed for students applying to schools and programs with entrance criteria. Typically, composite scores are calculated using grades and standardized test scores. The Spring 2022 MCAP assessment scores will not return in time to be used for the composite score formula. As a result, composite scores will be calculated using only grades for the 2023-24 school year cohort participating in School Choice this year.
To calculate your final overall grade average used in the composite score calculation, we will look at students’ final grades for 7th grade. The first quarter grades for the 2022-23 school year will also be used in the calculation.
Placement at Baltimore City College, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Western is calculated as follows:
Standardized test reading percentile + standardized test math percentile + (overall grade average x 6)
Students who are learning English for the first time
Students who are in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs can participate fully in the Choice process.
Some schools that participate in middle or high school choice are ESOL sites; however, services are adjusted as necessary to ensure all English learners are able to participate fully in the choice process.
For more information, contact the school counselor or choice liaison at your school.
Students not currently enrolled in City Schools
If you live in Baltimore City and would like to enroll in one of our high schools for the current school year, please call 410-396-8962.
If you live in Baltimore City and would like to enroll in one of our high schools for next year, follow these steps:
- Fill out the Updated choice application.
- Gather the required documents.
- Take all the paperwork to 200 E. North Avenue, Room 106, by January 28, 2023
Don't live in Baltimore City? Read this information.
