High School Choice

• 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).  Note that 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.
• 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 Friday, February 5).
• 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 20, 2021.
• 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?

Application

• 2021-22 High School Choice Application: English | Spanish
• Middle and High School Choice FAQs: English | Spanish

Composite scores are calculated to determine if students are eligible for schools with entrance criteria. The calculation varies for different schools, as shown below. 

For high school admission, the score includes results from 7th grade and the first quarter of 8th grade. 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. 

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. However, in response to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent school closures,  the U.S. Department of Education waived requirements for Maryland school districts to participate in annual standardized testing. Given the disparate impacts of COVID on our students and our commitment to equity, we have decided not to include attendance and standardized test scores as part of the calculation for composite scores.

Placement at Baltimore City College, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Western is calculated as follows:

Standardized test reading percentile + standardized test math percentile + (math grade x2) + (English grade x2) + (overall grade x2)