PHILADELPHIA, PA — On Friday, September 16, 2022 at 4 p.m. the School District of Philadelphia will open its 2022-2023 school selection process, which allows students currently in pre-kindergarten through grade 11 to apply to attend any school with available space outside of their neighborhood or catchment area.
The process will open with two modifications from last year. The writing assessment used by five schools last year will be eliminated, and the District will resume the use of PSSA test results (which were not available last year) for criteria-based middle and high schools. The process will close on Friday, November 4, at 11:59 p.m.
Consistent with last year, the District will continue to use a centralized lottery and waitlist system, school-specific grades and attendance criteria, and zip code preference. Grades, attendance, and PSSA or alternative assessment scores will be weighted equally in the process.
“There is a place for the PSSA as a standardized measurement criteria for the school selection process, but we realize that it’s just one test score achieved on one day. Multiple measures of student performance are always preferable,” said Superintendent Tony B. Watlington, Sr., Ed.D. “We have also considered the very real impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our students and their families. PSSA admission criteria by school will be adjusted this year in light of the learning loss and other challenges our students have experienced.”
Qualified applicants from six identified zip codes will receive preference for admission to four criteria-based high schools (Carver Engineering and Science, Central, Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School, and Academy at Palumbo) and two criteria-based middle schools (Masterman and Carver). This means that students from those zip codes who apply to those schools and meet the application requirements will receive offers of admission, subject to space availability within the incoming class. The six zip codes, which have the smallest percentages of students accepted into those criteria-based schools over the last four years, are: 19140, 19134, 19132, 19121, and 19133 (all of which are the same as last year), and 19139 (new this year).
The 19135 zip code, which was one of the six zip codes last year, is no longer among the six most under-represented zip codes this year.
Students currently enrolled in a District school (excluding charters) who did not take the PSSA last year, and students enrolled in charter, private, parochial or other school districts that do not participate in the PSSA, may submit the results of an equivalent assessment before the close of the application window on Friday, November 4. Acceptable alternative assessments are: TerraNova, Educational Records Bureau CTP4, the California Achievement Test, the Independent School Entrance Examination and the Secondary School Admission Test. The Office of Assessment will determine and communicate PSSA admission criteria by school and equivalent criteria for any other assessments used during the school selection process by the end of September 2022.
Additionally, as the District implements the 2022-2023 school selection process, it will:
Appoint a diverse project team composed of principals, teachers, counselors, assistant superintendents, parents and students to review the 2022-2023 selection process and provide feedback and improvement recommendations; and
Engage in a competitive search for an external auditor to review the 2022-2023 selection process and issue a report with its findings to the District.
“As the new superintendent, I want us to communicate clearly and take the time to engage a diverse project team in careful and thorough analysis of the school selection process,” said Watlington. “This approach will strengthen our decision making in preparation for the 2023-2024 school selection process.”
The District will host three Town Hall sessions in August to share more about the 2022-2023 school selection process and what families and students can expect.
To register and to learn more about the process, school admission criteria and the application, families are encouraged to visit schoolselect.philasd.org.
Virtual Town Hall—Thursday, August 25, 2022, 5pm – 6pm,
Pre-Register, https://philasd-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XE9oA6MPRF-AStixd6zhag
In-Person Town Hall—Tuesday, August 30, 2022, 5pm – 6pm, 40 North Broad St. Phila, PA, 19130. This event has limited seats available. Please register to reserve a spot, visit schoolselect.philasd.org.
Virtual Town Hall—Thursday, September 1, 2022, 12pm – 1pm, Pre- Register, https://philasd-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E8Nkh_qnSmmbGV-laPlEUw
