Every application in the system opens and closes on its own date, and the dates move every year. These are the published ones.

Fall 2027 — applying this coming school year

For children starting school in September 2027. Every one of these dates is published by the Department and is subject to change.

• Tuesday 6 October 2026High school application, LaGuardia application and SHSAT registration open.
• Wednesday 14 October 2026Middle school application opens.
• Friday 30 October 2026SHSAT registration closes.
• Monday 2 November 2026Deadline to register for the Mark Twain I.S. 239 and District 21 talent tests.
• Friday 4 December 2026High school and LaGuardia applications close.
• Wednesday 9 December 2026Kindergarten application opens.
• Friday 11 December 2026Middle school application closes.
• Friday 22 January 2027Kindergarten application closes.
• Wednesday 3 March 2027, after 3pmHigh school offers released.
• Tuesday 30 March 2027Kindergarten offers released.
• Wednesday 7 April 2027Middle school offers released.

3-K and pre-K dates for Fall 2027 were not published as of 2 August 2026. In the Fall 2026 cycle both opened in mid-January and closed at the end of February, so expect them in that window and check rather than assume.

Fall 2026 — the cycle now finishing

For children starting this September. Kept here because the pattern is the most reliable guide to next year, and because the waitlists are still running.

• 3-KOpened 14 January 2026, closed 27 February 2026, offers released 19 May 2026.
• Pre-KOpened 14 January 2026, closed 27 February 2026, offers released 12 May 2026.
• KindergartenOpened 10 December 2025, closed 23 January 2026, offers released 31 March 2026.
• Middle schoolOpened 15 October 2025, closed 12 December 2025.
• 2-KWaitlists open 4 August 2026. The Department has not yet published its closing dates.

Waitlists, which are open right now

• Middle and high schoolLast day for schools to make offers is 18 September 2026. Last day for families to accept or decline is 25 September 2026.
• Kindergarten, pre-K, 3-K and Gifted and Talented grades 1-4Last day for schools to make offers is 25 September 2026. There is no published acceptance deadline; the Department says to contact the program.

You stay on your waitlists until those dates without doing anything.

Three things about the shape of the year

• Middle and high school run a season ahead of kindergartenHigh school opens in early October and closes in early December, kindergarten opens in December and closes in January. A family with children in both is doing two processes at once from December.
• Offers arrive in a fixed orderHigh school in early March, kindergarten at the end of March, middle school in early April, pre-K and 3-K in May. Accepting an early one does not cost you a later waitlist.
• The published dates carry a warningThe Department attaches "these dates are subject to change" to its own timelines and says changes are communicated directly to families. Signing up for admissions notifications on the relevant page is the only way to hear about a move.

Where this came from

Checked 2 August 2026 against the Department's own admissions pages at schools.nyc.gov: the Fall 2027 timelines on the high school, middle school and kindergarten pages; the Fall 2026 timelines on the 3-K and pre-K pages; and the Fall 2026 waitlist timeline table on the waitlists page. The Fall 2026 kindergarten and middle school dates are as recorded in this archive's District 14 zoning entry on 1 August 2026.