1. The Middle School Choice Process Elementary School Parent Coordinators Training

2. Agenda Overview of MS Choice Process MS Choice Calendar (2010-11) Student Eligibility & Priorities Types of Programs Application Process Navigating SEMS

3. Middle School Choice Calendar (2010-2011) DatesActivity Week of October 4, 2010Middle School Directories Distributed to Families October 8, 2010 Deadline for Families to Return Request for Testing for:  Academically Enriched Programs (Districts 17, 18, 20, 22, 24 & 30)  District 21 Talent Programs and Mark Twain Citywide Program October 12, 2010 - October 22, 2010District Middle School Fairs & School-Based Open Houses November 2010Middle School Applications Distributed to Families December 4, 2009 - December 12, 2010Middle School OLSAT Testing (Districts 17, 18, 20, 22, 24 & 30) December 10, 2010Deadline for Families to Return MS Choice Applications January 9, 2011 – February 28, 2011District 21/Mark Twain Middle School Talent Testing February 2011 - March 2011Student Interviews and Testing at Selected Middle Schools March 2, 2011 – March 23, 2011New Middle School Choice Application Round May 20, 2011Decision Letters Distributed to Families June 24, 2011Appeal Decision Letters distributed to Families

4. Eligibility Eligibility to Middle School is based on Chancellor’s Regulation A-101:  Students will be able to apply to schools in their district of attendance and/or district to which they are zoned for middle school.  Students may apply to schools with multiple district eligibilities, borough-wide or city-wide programs To read Chancellor’s Regulation A-101, please visit: http://schools.nyc.gov/RulesPolicies/ChancellorsRegulations

5. Priorities  Priority to continuing 5th grade students  K-8 schools offer priority to continuing 5th graders  5th grade students who wish to continue to middle school in their current school must list that school as one of their choices on the MS Application  Priority to zone  Zoned middle school will continue to grant priority to students who reside in the zone  5th grade students who wish to attend their zoned middle school must list that school as one of their choices on the MS Application

6. Program TypeDescription Screened - Academic Admission based on any combination of the following: Review of Academics Review of Attendance Interview Writing Sample Teacher Recommendations Screened - Language Admission based on language background. Examples of types of programs/criteria include: Newcomers Program: o Priority to English Language Learners (ELLs) who have lived in the United States for two (2) years or less Dual Language Program: o Priority to the following students: 1.English Language Learners (ELLs) 2.Participants of Elementary Level Dual Language and Transitional Bilingual Education programs in the target language 3.Heritage Language Speakers of the target language Test Based Placement Admission based on combined test score ranking only. Examples of types of programs include: Academically Enriched Programs which require the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) o Composite score = OLSAT (50%) + 4 th Grade NYS ELA (25%) + 4 th Grade NYS Math (25%) Test based placement using 4 th Grade NYS ELA & Math scores (and may use attendance cut off) District 21 / Mark Twain Talent Testing

7. Program TypeDescription Limited Unscreened Admission’s priority given to students who demonstrate interest in a program by signing in at any combination of the following events: Information Session School Tour Open House Middle School Fair UnscreenedAdmission based on random selection of applicants. ZonedAdmission is based on the students address. Program Types (continued)

8. 8 Middle School Choice Application Applications for public school students are pre-populated with Middle School Choices on the application will be based on the following: District(s) for which a student is eligible: District of attendance District of zoned middle school Programs based on submission of Request For Testing Form: Academically Enriched Programs (based on eligibility to those districts in which OLSAT is administered) Talent Testing Programs:  Mark Twain for the Gifted & Talented (citywide program)  District 21 Talent Testing Programs (based on eligibility to District 21)

9. Sample Application – Front Page Pre-populated customized applications Any changes to student information must be updated in ATS – SEMS will then change to reflect and a new application can be printed directly from SEMS on the following Monday This section will be blank & should be completed after students return application

10. Sample Application continued Top of Page 2 – Directions & Sample (followed by customized choices) Program codes to enter in SEMS will be listed here Ensure that students have ranked a sufficient number of schools in preference order Bottom of Page 3 – Parent/Guardian Signature

11. Student Offers 1.Offer letters from the Middle School Choice Process will be distributed in May. 2.Elementary Schools will be able to see to which schools their students received offers via SEMS. 3.At the middle school level, there are still a variety of forces at work. Therefore, an “offer” is not always the same as a “placement.” 4.Students may receive additional offers from: Schools that run school-based processes New Schools that have to run the later “New Schools” round Charter School lotteries 5.There will continue to be an Appeals Process. It will conclude in June. 6.Placement Exception Requests (PERs) also still exist and may be issued over the summer and into the fall. 11

12. SEMS Student Enrollment Management System (SEMS) is a web- based tool that is designed to support school staff and administration as they manage enrollment processes including the Middle School Choice Process.

13. Navigating the Home Page Select MS Main Round to bring up ASL & MS Info Search by an individual student Links to every District’s Middle School Directory & MSD Translations Principals can request access for MS Liaisons by clicking here Click here to return to home page from any screen Check here for important updates

14. Navigating Your ASL Student Name & ID will be frozen on the left so you can still see when you scroll to far right Click here to print all application receipts at once Check box to print selected student application receipts Student offer information will be available on ASL when decision letters are distributed elementary schools

15. Questions?