NYC Kindergarten Applications Open Tuesday

NEW YORK, NY — Does your kid turn 5 next year? If so, it's time to start thinking about kindergarten. Applications for kindergarten classes in New York City public schools open Tuesday for the 2018-19 school year.

Students are eligible to start kindergarten in the year they turn 5, so New York City parents with kids born in 2013 can apply starting this week. The application period closes on Jan. 12.

Families can apply for kindergarten classes in up to 12 schools that interest them, according to the city Department of Education. Most kids attend kindergarten in their neighborhood's zoned school, the DOE says.

Kindergarten has been mandatory for all New York City 5-year-olds since 2013. The city's schools had more than 82,000 kindergartners last year, according to DOE data.

This year, 13 schools will give priority to some students in the free and reduced-price lunch program in an effort to better integrate the city's segregated public school system. See the full list of schools at this link.

Students with disabilities, those learning English and those living in temporary housing follow the same application process as all other students, according to the DOE.

You can submit kindergarten applications online at schools.nyc.gov/ApplyOnline, by phone at 718-935-2009, or by visiting one of the DOE's Family Welcome Centers.

(Lead image: Kindergartners at PS 111 in Manhattan listen while actress Fatima Ptacek reads to them in March 2013. Photo by Luke Fontana/Screen Actors Guild Foundation via Getty Images)