Applications are accepted from late winter through the 3^rd Friday of April. After the deadline, a drawing will take place and selected applicants will be notified. Applicants who were not selected will be added to the waitlist. Applications for the wait list are accepted until October 1. Seats are not filled during the school year after the Oct 1 deadline.

No, seats are limited to the schools and grades where we have space. The number of seats made available in a specific grade varies greatly from year to year based on enrollment. The number of applicants also varies greatly year to year.

No, we only accept applications for the coming school year. 
 

Available seats for the upcoming year will be shown on this website in early March. 
 

All applicants are notified if a seat is being offered or if the applicant has been added to the waitlist. In either case, you must respond to confirm if you are accepting a seat if one is being offered or confirm you want to keep your student on the wait list for that grade. If we do not hear from you by the deadline provided in the notification, the seat or waitlist number will be forfeited. We thank you for responding within these important deadlines so that we can get students placed in available seats, enrolled, and ready to start the new year!

No, unfortunately busing is only available to resident students and there are no exceptions to this rule. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the caregivers to provide daily transportation and to ensure students arrive at school on time and are promptly picked up after school.
 

The deadline is the close of business on the 3rd Friday in April. Applications must be received before the deadline to be considered in the lottery. Applications are held until the lottery and are not prioritized by the date received (not first come, first served).

Yes, we will accept late applications and add applicants to the waitlist until October 1. 
Seats are filled if there are seats opened in that grade that were not filled in the lottery.
 

Applications from siblings of students enrolled in and attending Northampton Public Schools will receive priority placement. This includes applicants with a sibling who will graduate at the end of the school year in which the admissions process occurs. Such students will be accepted first if space is available in the grade they are seeking.  If there are more applicants with priority placement than the number of seats, a random drawing will be conducted among them to determine placement. Once siblings have been placed, the remaining vacancies will be filled by a random drawing. Please contact the Program Coordinator if you have questions about step or foster siblings.

Should the number of applications exceed the number of vacancies, all remaining applicants will be randomly selected and placed, in the order of their selection, on a waiting list.

No – Applicants of school or city employees and former students do not receive a preference in the lottery.

Caregivers will receive a Notice of Acceptance letter and Confirmation Form indicating their child’s status (seat awarded or waitlist status). Confirmation Forms must be returned by the deadline indicated in the letter.

Caregivers must secure their child’s seat by sending in the confirmation form and completing the student registration process. The School Choice Acceptance process is not the same as registration. Registration involves completing a packet of forms and providing the required documents (transcript, birth certificate, health records, etc). Any false statements or omissions may disqualify the applicant from consideration for enrollment and may be considered justification for immediate dismissal if discovered at a later date. Once fully registered, students will be processed in the same manner as any other new or transferring student (meetings with guidance, orientations etc).

Unfortunately, we are not able to allow students to shadow, and guidance at JFK & NHS are only able to meet with families after a student is fully registered to establish a schedule of courses. As a public school, the selection of courses varies and we cannot promise specific classes will be available. Perspective high school students can review the course catalog on the high school guidance page.

Your home district does not have to approve your child’s application for admission to NPS (though you will need to consult your prior school for their withdrawal procedures).

No, once accepted into the program and enrolled, your student is entitled to attend NPS through high school graduation if continuously enrolled.