Registration starts January 4th. Can’t register unless your child turns 3 by September 1st. There are very, very limited number of spaces for kids who turn 3 by September 1. Most will have to wait until they are 4.

There’s also Universal Pre-K programs (even more limited) that have a separate registration portal. Sooner you register, more chances of getting a seat.

The September age cut off is dumb as shit. “No child left behind…unless he/she was born between September 1st and December 31st”.

https://www.bostonpublicschools.org

If you plan to eventually move to the burbs, highly recommend the Dover Sherborn public school system.

It's mighty early and you didn't say what neighborhood you live in. School assignments aren't done purely based on your neighborhood (with one exception) but it is taken into consideration, but you want to consider how you are getting your child to school and how far you're willing to go.

Start saving for a down payment now so you can move to a better district

First ignore people that shit all over BPS. There are a lot of schools in Boston, and many form opinions on headlines from the worst ones without every going, sending their kids, or knowing someone that went.

The city has a lottery system. Options are based on where you live with the exception of a common catchall schools.

Schools have different tiers inferring quality. To understand a school you should talk to neighbors. When it's time to register your kid, you will rank schools. The algorithm also considers proximity, tier, and time of registration. If your child doesn't get into their top school(s) they can be waitlisted which may open up up until and through the school year.

This process sounds scary because there is an element of chance, but I know of zero parents that registered early that did not get their kid into one of their top two schools.

This only covers Lower School admission. Upper school is another lottery, pathway, or testing admission section.

You can feel free to DM OP, I have two kids in BPS and am happy with it thus far.

What exception?

I’m in the South End

Not OP, but taking you up on your DM offer. My wife is due in April and we'll be living in Southie until at least elementary school

You need to leg it out on daycare/nanny scene unless you are going to have one of you parent full time or each have jobs that don't really require effort. BPS doesn't come into relevance until your kid is 4 by September 3rd(?).

Wait I'm confused. If my kid already turned 3 (in August) by this past September then I should have registered her? This would mean she would start kindergarten in fall 2023 and only be 4 years old? I thought they had to be 5?

Ok so sounds like if I want a better school I need to live in the area that's "districted" for it? Any areas to definitely avoid?

Also when is the deadline and age to register them?

Thank you for your help! Just moved up here with my toddler so this is all new.

Kindergarten starts at 5. However, you can get lucky and get your child into Pre-K or K0/K1 in Boston Public. Basically “free” child care if you get a seat. Seats are limited and the state is not required to offer a seat, but you might get lucky. Doesn’t hurt to apply. You can pre-register online now.

As I mentioned, there’s also a a Universal Pre-K offered thru Boston Public, that’s a separate program and has separate registration process afaik.

Boston Public Schools are in shambles. Check out this Globe article for details.

We lived in Southie until our son was 2 and then moved north shore in search of better school systems.

Best of luck to you.

What are the hours usually of the Pre-K or k0/k1?

You definitely want to register/try and get into the K1 class at 4yo - all those kids graduate into the K2 kindergarten seats and it’s much harder to get in at 5yo than 4yo.

If you can’t get into the school you want via lottery, prepare for the mid-year switch. All you need is one seat to open at a random time, like November or February and you might be able to snag it. If your kids are young, they won’t care and once you’ve got one kid in, the sibling pull will take care of the others.

There’s probably a southie parents Facebook page that discusses this stuff obsessively. And if you spend any time at all with a toddler on a playground in Boston you WILL get into this discussion.

The city is divided into zones - each zone has a mix of schools and you rank the schools you want for the lottery. Southie probably has a few schools everyone wants their kids to get into and a few that people don’t rank. I live in Dot and I think we ranked 8 schools for my first kid. You can register at any age but there’s different times of the year for different ages. You can also go visit schools - they have open houses and in my experience the principals are very open to talking to prospective parents. BPS has a website where you can see your choices and there are also charter schools. We didn’t consider those for our kids but I think they have a website as well.

You’re unlikely to get a k0 (3 year old) seat unless your kid has an IEP or other needs. K1 seats (4 yo preschool) are more plentiful but you might not get your first choice. BPS preschool is pretty amazing - it’s not “free childcare” (for one thing it runs on a school year schedule and calendar so isn’t really comparable to daycare).

I’ll say that my kids got assigned to our last choice and honestly the teaching and education are great. BPS as a system can be hard to navigate and frustrating but our teachers are highly qualified, decently paid professionals who are incredibly committed. Also a lot of people who shit on BPS have never walked into a school or seen what actually goes on in the classrooms.

All districts have great schools.

Dates are on BPS sites and I think are mid January.

Lol depends on how you define great. Beyond say 2nd grade safety starts to become a major issue.

Start saving for private school or a house in the burbs.

I know a few people who went to BPS or have kids in it. The only people who speak positively about it are people who genuinely need to justify their decision to gamble with their kids' future to convince themselves they didn't make the wrong decision. Everyone else has nothing good to say and either switched to private school or moved to the burbs.

This isn't true. Some upper schools are great others are not

Same as the school day. Not a half day program.

The Perry school in Southie has a good family community . A lot of transplant and live long families head to the burbs or go to private once kid hits middle school

Yeah the fact that I got downvoted for telling the truth is wild. There’s a reason people flee to the burbs when their kids hit school age.