Just starting your school selection process? Bookmark this page–here’s some tools and resources to get you started.
Core Resources
- Types of Philadelphia Elementary Schools
- Open House Calendar (***confirm with individual schools****)
- What to Ask When Visiting a School
- Looking Beyond the Usual Suspects (6/2010) and the follow-up Beyond the Usual Suspects II (6/2011)
- Philadelphia School Map
- Network 1: Read our School Selection Reports where other parents share their school choices. Don’t forget to return the favor and complete an anonymous survey when you have made your choice.
- Network 2: Talk to other parents about your thought process on the Philly School Search Parents’ Discussion email list.
- The Single Most Important Thing to Know About a School Search
- Read the “Helpful Resources” section at the bottom of all of our pages to find niche resources by region or area of interest.
- If you are interested in learning more about a specific school, take a look at our tag index for the school name. Clicking on a tag name will return a list of all blog posts and school selection reports that involved that school.
Public Schools
Private Schools
Charter Schools
Kindergarten Timeline (printable version)
The age cutoff for most area kindergartens is that your child must be turning 5 prior to the start of the school year. For the purposes of this timeline, let’s assume that your child will start Kindergarten in Fall 2013.
| Period | Year | Type | Activity |
| Summer | 2011 | All | Have “The Talk” to begin to think about what you want in a school |
| Fall | 2011 | Private | Considering private school? Consider enrolling your child in pre-k at that private school. Many private schools offer pre-k and many of those offer preferential treatment in the admissions process. Enrollment for Pre-K in 2012 typically begins in Fall 2011, but check with your school of interest for precise times |
| Spring/Fall | 2012 | All | If you have not already, start attending open houses. Schools generally will not host open houses over the summer and it may be difficult to squeeze in all of the schools visits that you want in the Fall. |
| Fall | 2012 | Public | Complete Voluntary Transfer (VTP) application for Fall 2013 if you wish to attend a Philadelphia Public school outside of your catchment. |
| Fall | 2012 | Charter | Complete charter school applications. Application deadlines might be as early as October, but some will be as late as March 2012 |
| Fall | 2012 | Private | Complete private school applications. Many will require essays and letters of recommendation, even for Kindergarten. Give your recommenders plenty of time! Due dates range from late November to mid-January. |
| Nov-Jan | 2012-2013 | Private | Plan for 1-3 interviews—some combination of parents, child, play groups |
| January | 2013 | Public | 2013 Kindergarten registration for School District of Philadelphia |
| Jan/Feb | 2013 | Private | Admissions decisions mailed out |
| March | 2013 | Private | Private school intent to enroll forms are due, with deposit |
| Spring | 2013 | Public | Voluntary Transfer Program (VTP) notifications are mailed. |
[box type="warning"]DISCLAIMER: This timeline is provided on a best effort basis and Philly School Search accepts no responsibility for missed deadlines. Dates will vary from school to school, and year to year, in some cases the variations will be big. Be sure to check with your school(s) of interest for their dates-including age cutoff and application. Let us know if you discover any gross inaccuracies.[/box]