443-984-2000
Registering for high school means choosing the school that's right for you.
City Schools is in the process of finalizing plans for this year’s Middle & High School Choice process, including a virtual Choice Fair scheduled for December 3, 2021. Using Campus Portal, 8th-grade families will be able to complete and submit their Choice applications between December 1 and January 21.
Email: Enrollment@bcps.k12.md.us
Phone: 410.396.8600
Walk-In Hours: Monday/Wednesday/Friday (10am – 2pm)
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
- 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)
- 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 is Wednesday, February 2).
- Transfer Requests (Existing Students) – The window to request transfer consideration launched on July 2.
- 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
- Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School
- New Era Academy
- 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 into 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.
This year, because of the pandemic, the formula for calculating a student's composite score will be adjusted. Composite scores are needed for students applying to schools and programs with entrance criteria. Typically, composite scores are calculated using attendance, grades, and standardized test scores. The Fall 2021 BOY MCAP assessment scores will be used in the calculation of a composite score for the 2022-23 SY cohort participating in the Choice process this year. If the state is delayed in providing the MCAP scores, the i-Ready scores will be used for ELA and Math for 8th graders.
To calculate your final grade average used in the composite score calculation, we will look at students’ final grades for 6th & 7th grade. The highest overall grade average will be used. We will look at your best grades and those will be the grades used for your composite score.
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. Additional support to families is available by district staff in the Multilingual Enrollment and Support Center (MESC@bcps.k12.md.us).
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 410-396-8600.
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 choice application.
- Gather the required documents.
- If you are interested in applying for a school with entrance criteria, you will also need to submit results from the PARCC assessment. If your school doesn't administer the PARCC, please call 410-396-8962 to schedule a time to take the i-Ready achievement tests.
- Take all the paperwork to 200 E. North Avenue, room 106, by January 21
Don't live in Baltimore City? Read this information.
