PHILADELPHIA – The citywide admissions process, as well as the admissions process to Philadelphia’s magnet schools, is changing, and applications are now open for the 2026-27 school year.
There are several notable changes. Let’s delve in.
The changes
Dig deeper:
The School District of Philadelphia says it will now only accept certain standardized test scores for admission: the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), the TerraNova, the ERB-CTP and standardized tests that are administered by other states.
The district used to accept other tests, such as the Iowa Assessments, a series of standardized tests developed by The University of Iowa’s College of Education, but that’s no longer the case. These assessments are popular among families who choose to home-school their children.
The district has added sibling preference for those who apply for admission to neighborhood and citywide admissions schools, as well. This means that children applying to schools their siblings already attend may be given preference in the admissions process, the district says.
The district also says that certain zip codes will now be given preference for admittance to the Academy at Palumbo, George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science, Central High and Masterman. These zip codes are 19121, 19132, 19133, 19135, 19136 and 19140. Two zip codes that were previously given preference, 19124 and 19134, will no longer be.
Career and Technical Education preference will now also be given to middle school students who have experience with a CTE program at a district middle school. These programs expose students to various careers through hands-on experiences and foundational skills, the district says.
Who can apply to the School District of Philadelphia?
Any child entering pre-kindergarten through 11th grade who lives in the city of Philadelphia can apply for admission, the district says. Although, selection criteria vary by school.
When applying, students must rank their top five schools in order of preference. Acceptances will be granted based on the students’ ranking preference, seats available and eligibility. In the initial acceptance phase, applicants will receive one acceptance at a time and remain on a waitlist for the schools they ranked higher than the school they were accepted at.
“As students pursue a world-class education and become college and career ready, the district offers a variety of great schools to help them nurture their passions, whether they be academic, artistic, musical, in CTE, or vocational programs to help find the rigor they are seeking,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said in a statement Tuesday.
Big picture view:
In 2021, the School District of Philadelphia underwent drastic changes in the name of equity.
Before then, principals and school-based committees had the final say on who got to attend the city’s magnet schools. These schools are traditionally filled with children whose parents have the ability and means to get them into a magnet school, the district said at the time.
That year, the district made it so that qualified students entered a lottery, and those from historically underrepresented zip codes were given preference at Central, Masterman, Academy at Palumbo, Carver High School of Engineering and Science and Parkway Center City.
Some parents said that their children were being harmed by the new policy and filed a federal lawsuit against the district in 2022. Although a judge dismissed the case last year, the parents appealed the decision and a hearing in the case occurred on Tuesday morning.
The changes to the admissions process this year are just the latest developments in Philadelphia’s ever-changing education landscape.
The Source: Information above was sourced from the School District of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer and BJU Press Homeschool.
EducationSchool District of Philadelphia
