Skip to main content
Admissions » Lottery Process

Lottery Process

1. Parents/Guardians may submit an Application of Intent through our online enrollment website, Powerschool Enrollment  and Paper applications will still be available for pick up at our front security desk.

2. All school-age residents of Philadelphia are eligible to apply.

3. Parents/guardians are notified via US mail and email/text of their child’s identification number and upcoming lottery dates.

4. The following steps will be taken before running the lottery:

a. Checking all information is completed

b. Applying and removing priorities as needed (sibling preference, at-risk)

c. Detecting and canceling duplicate applications

d. Confirm students' age is within state guidelines

e. Export applications to create CSV/XLS Report

5. Admissions Personnel will be set up in the Media on the assigned date for the public lottery.

6. Admissions Personnel will operate our Powerschool Enrollment lottery system, which will fill all available seats. The remaining applicants will be placed on a waitlist that is ranked in the order that they were drawn.

7. All applicants’ identification numbers will be displayed on a projection screen in the media room.

8. Once the lottery and waiting list are generated, parents are informed via email/text as appropriate.

9. Three waiting list notices will be sent out to parents/guardians: the first notice, second notice, and final notice typically occur within three weeks, but extenuating circumstances may also be considered as long as families keep in communication with the school.

10. Admissions Personnel will notify parents/guardians when a space is available for the grade that they applied for.

11. Parents/guardians may also view their child's placement in the school lottery via the Powerschool Enrollment website.

12. Any student who applies after the application deadline will be placed on the waiting list after those students who applied by the application deadline on a first-come-first-served basis.

Lottery Preferences

  • To qualify for the sibling lottery your child must meet one of the following criteria defined below*:

1. A child living in the same home and sharing the same guardian.

2. Biological/adoptive sibling

3. Stepsiblings residing in the same household

4. Foster children residing in the same household

   5. Note:* Stepsiblings residing in different households will not be considered for the sibling lottery*