After thousands of families faced “significant” technical delays with New York City’s public middle schools application portal, the window to apply has been pushed back by at least a week.
The MySchools website, which had been scheduled to reopen Wednesday, is now expected to launch sometime next week, with more information available Oct. 15. The deadline to apply, planned for Dec. 13, will also be “adjusted accordingly,” education officials said.
“Families are reminded that applications are not first come, first served, and can be submitted at any time during the application window,” the public school system posted on X.
“We apologize to our families for the inconvenience,” it continued.
There are about 70,000 public school students in the fifth grade, according to local enrollment data.
UPDATE ON @NYCSchools 2025-2026 MIDDLE SCHOOL APPLICATIONS:
Due to technical difficulties impacting the MySchools website, we will be shifting the opening of the Middle School Application Portal to the week of October 15. pic.twitter.com/wZoYthy4LD
— NYC Public Schools (@NYCSchools) October 9, 2024
Starting this year, families can apply to any public middle school in the city, including programs just outside their community school districts. Applicants will continue to be prioritized for admissions at schools close to home.
Mayor Adams and outgoing Schools Chancellor David Banks promoted the policy change last month as a win for “educational choice.” Before the announcement, just a couple dozen middle schools were officially open to applicants citywide, though some savvy parents found ways around the rules, advocates said.
New York City
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images A student enters Sun Yat Sen M.S. 131 in New York City. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Middle school offers will be released in the spring. The high school admissions timeline will continue as planned, with applications due by Dec. 4 and offers released in early March.
The technical issues come less than a year after the public schools struggled to shift online last winter during a snow day — the first major test of the system’s ability to use remote learning as a tool in the wake of the pandemic.
