As of November 4, 2026, families in Chicago have nine days left to apply for the 2027-28 school year. The GoCPS application closes at 5 p.m. on November 13, according to Chicago Public Schools. Philadelphia closes its school selection window 11 days later, on November 24 at 11:59 p.m.
Most other big-city choice systems run later. New York City's high school application closes December 4, and Denver, Newark, New Orleans, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston follow over the winter. Most of these systems ask families to rank schools, then use priorities and a random number to fill seats. The table lists every date posted on each district's enrollment site for the 2027-28 cycle. Where a date isn't posted, the table says so.
| City (system) | Application window | Results | Status on November 4, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (GoCPS) | September 9 to November 13, 2026 | High school February 12, 2027; elementary March 12, 2027 | Open, closes in 9 days |
| Philadelphia (School Selection) | October 5 to November 24, 2026 | Lottery and offers in February or March 2027; exact date not yet posted | Open |
| New York City high school (MySchools) | October 6 to December 4, 2026 | March 3, 2027 | Open |
| New York City middle school | October 14 to December 11, 2026 | April 7, 2027 | Open |
| New York City kindergarten | December 9, 2026 to January 22, 2027 | March 30, 2027 | Upcoming |
| Newark (Newark Enrolls) | October 24, 2026 to January 15, 2027 | March 22, 2027 | Open |
| Denver (SchoolChoice Round 1) | December 1, 2026 to January 19, 2027 | Late February 2027; exact date not yet posted | Upcoming |
| New Orleans (NCAP Main Round) | November 2, 2026 to January 22, 2027 | By March 31, 2027 | Open |
| San Francisco (SFUSD Main Round) | October 23, 2026 to February 1, 2027 (Lowell and Ruth Asawa: December 11, 2026) | Letters mailed week of March 15, 2027 | Open |
| Washington, D.C. (My School DC) | December 14, 2026 to February 1, 2027 (grades 9-12) or March 1, 2027 (PK3 to grade 8) | April 2, 2027 | Upcoming |
| Boston (BPS priority registration) | January 5 to February 5, 2027 for K0, K1, K2, 6, 7, and 9; February 8 to April 2, 2027 for other grades | March 31, 2027 (grade 7 at end of May); May 31, 2027 for other grades | Upcoming |
| Indianapolis (Enroll Indy OneMatch) | Opens November 5, 2026; closing date not yet posted | Not yet posted | Upcoming (opens tomorrow) |
Source: each district's or enrollment system's official site, checked November 4, 2026. Philadelphia's timeline lists results only as February/March. Denver lists results as late February.
How each city matches students
Chicago's GoCPS covers district high schools, charter high schools, and district elementary schools. Families rank Choice and Selective Enrollment programs on separate lists. The system lines students up by lottery number or point total and offers the highest-ranked program the student qualifies for that still has seats, and only that program. The district enrolled 324,130 students in 643 schools in 2024-25, 111 of them charters, according to allk12's analysis of federal data for Chicago Public Schools.
Philadelphia families can list up to five schools or programs. Criteria-based schools look at grades, attendance, and test scores, while citywide schools pick students by lottery. Ties go to the better random lottery number. No application is needed for a neighborhood school, and charter schools enroll separately. The School District of Philadelphia had 116,230 students in 221 schools in 2024-25.
In New York City, "every applicant is assigned a random number, as in a random lottery," during high school admissions, according to NYC Public Schools. Some high school programs also screen applicants. Kindergarten offers rest on four factors: the order of a family's choices, open seats, priority groups such as zone or sibling, and a random number. Charter schools run their own admissions. The city's 32 geographic districts enrolled 799,686 students in 1,532 schools in 2024-25, according to allk12's figures. Our guide to NYC high school admissions has more detail.
Newark Enrolls handles both district and charter schools. The lottery gives each student an offer to the highest-ranked school with space and cancels lower choices. Siblings applying together get priority to be matched together, and a student is never matched to a charter school they didn't list. Newark Public Schools had 40,426 students in 64 schools in 2024-25.
In Denver, families can rank as many schools as they like. The algorithm gives each student a random lottery number and sorts students by each school's admission priorities, and applying early earns no priority. Denver Public Schools enrolled 90,471 students in 198 schools in 2024-25, including 53 charters.
New Orleans uses the NCAP, which covers all 64 schools run under NOLA Public Schools plus three schools authorized by the state board. The district encourages families to list five to 12 schools and gives priority for things like a sibling at the school or living nearby. Charters dominate here: 71 of the 74 public schools in New Orleans were charters in 2024-25, enrolling 46,519 of 47,154 students.
San Francisco families rank schools, and when a school has more requests than seats, SFUSD applies tiebreakers in order, starting with siblings. Random numbers settle any remaining ties. Families who don't get their first choice are automatically waitlisted at up to three schools. San Francisco Unified had 48,706 students in 113 schools in 2024-25.
My School DC is the common application and lottery for D.C.'s public and public charter schools. Students can apply to up to 12 high schools. Each student gets a random lottery number, and the program tries to match each student with their first choice first, filling preference groups before students with no preference. Children going to their in-boundary DCPS school don't need to apply. Of the 93,993 students in D.C. public schools in 2024-25, 41,833, or 44.5%, attended charters.
In Boston, a home-based assignment plan uses the family's address to build a personal list of eligible schools, and families rank choices from that list. Boston Public Schools had 46,094 students in 108 schools in 2024-25.
Enroll Indy's OneMatch lets families apply to up to 10 participating schools on one application and receive one match. Placement depends on the family's ranking, the school's priorities (such as geography or siblings), and a random lottery number. Indianapolis Public Schools enrolled 21,055 students in 50 schools in 2024-25.
Switching schools after the year starts
Families who move or want out of a school during the 2026-27 year have options in several of these cities. In D.C., families submit a mid-year application by calling the My School DC hotline at (202) 888-6336. Chicago lets families join rolling waitlists for 2026-27 by editing an existing GoCPS application or starting a new one. Boston says registration for 2026-27 is still open, online or at a BPS Welcome Center, and Newark has a form in its enrollment portal for families new to the city who need a seat now.
San Francisco runs a separate Spring Transfer round for current SFUSD students, not including charter students. The deadline is November 13, 2026. Results arrive by mail the week of December 14, and students who get their requested school start there January 4, 2027. In Indianapolis, the Open Seat Portal is closed, so Enroll Indy asks families to call 317-426-3234. Enroll Indy also warns that a family who receives a seat at another school gives up the seat at the current one.
Outside these lottery systems, the rules for moving mid-year vary by state and district. Our explainers on changing schools mid-year and open enrollment transfers cover records, timing, and transfer requests.
Sources
Chicago Public Schools: GoCPS
Chicago Public Schools: Ranking GoCPS programs
School District of Philadelphia: School Selection
NYC Public Schools: High School
NYC Public Schools: Middle School
NYC Public Schools: Kindergarten
Newark Enrolls: Timeline
Newark Enrolls: FAQs
Denver Public Schools: SchoolChoice Round 1 Application
NOLA Public Schools: NOLA-PS Opens Kindergarten-12th Grade Main Round Applications for 2027-2028 School Year
SFUSD: Key Dates
SFUSD: Tiebreakers
SFUSD: Spring Transfer
My School DC: SY2027-28 Lottery Key Dates
My School DC: Applying to High School
My School DC: FAQs
Boston Public Schools: Registration
Enroll Indy: OneMatch Lottery Information
Enroll Indy: FAQ
School and enrollment counts from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2024-25.
