March 8 2018 UPDATE: High school letters go out this week. Read and comment about the 2018 high school admissions results here.

February 2012: This week all 8th-graders in the city, and 9th-graders who want to change schools, will find out where they have been accepted to high school. The Education Department is sending results to schools today, Feb. 29.and schools will distribute letters to students by tomorrow, March 1.

In a change this year, all applicants will find out at the same time whether they have been accepted. In previous years, students who applied to one of the nine specialized high schools found out up to a month earlier than those who did not.

Those with more than one acceptance must decide by March 15 which offer to accept. Every year thousands of students are not accepted anywhere during the first round. Those students must apply again, choosing from a list of high schools that have available spaces or from one of a couple of dozen new schools which will open in September.

They will be introduced to the new schools at a  "Round 2" fair this weekend at the Martin Luther King, Jr. complex on the Upper West Side.  Any student applying for 9th grade may choose to apply to one of the new schools, even those who received a match in the first round.

Students who are unhappy with their placement may choose to apply to another school in Round 2, but by doing so they will be giving up their seat in the first school to which they were accepted, if they are accepted to another school. If they don’t receive an offer, they keep their Round 1 match.. [Updated clarification by the Enrollment Office]

Insideschools will publish a list of new schools when we get it. The new school directory is now posted on the DOE's website as is the list of schools that have seats in Round 2.

We know about a few of them. The Academy for Software Engineering in the Washington Irving building, has an interesting theme and some high-power tech industry people behind it. 

A few large vocational schools are being closed down but others will take their place. The High School for Energy and Technology will open in the Grace Dodge building in the Bronx. A school brochure says its goal is to"prepare students for professional careers in engineering and building technology," particularly focusing on environmental sustainability and green building.

Charter schools are another option for those applying to high school and have a different application process and deadlines. Charter school applications are not due until April 1. We've heard about few charter high schools opening up next fall. A popular 6-12 charter middle school in Brooklyn will admit 9th graders next fall: Prospect Charter School. Check the website for more information. New Visions will be opening two new schools in the Bronx replicating charter high schools that just opened in the fall of 2011 in the Kennedy High School building. New Visions Charter High School for Advanced Math and Science II will open in the Jane Addams building. New Visions Charter High School for Humanities II will open in Gompers.

Complicating high school admissions this year are the so-called "turnaround schools' which may be closed and re-opened with new names and mostly new staff in the fall. It is unclear what will happen to Students who have applied to these turnaround schools, such as Banana Kelly and Lehman in the Bronx or Automotive and FDR in Brooklyn, will automatically be given seats in the schools with new names, the DOE said. (The strategy of changing the name of a school and replacing half its staff is designed to make the city eligible for federal money.)

For more information about Round 2 and how to apply, check the DOE's website.

We'll be at the fair this weekend and will publish information on new schools as we get it!

(updated 2/29 3:20 p.m.)