Update 3/30/10: Letters have been mailedto the homes of 70,000 applicants, rather than given out at school, as a result of the March 26 Supreme Court ruling in the case which had delayed their delivery.

Ed note: There is no final word as to whether the high school acceptance letters, which were held up by court order, will be released on Wednesday, March 24, as scheduled. Just after noon today, e-mails were sent to middle school principals advising them that the "match letters will not be available at noon as originally planned" because of the "pending litigation." We'll post more news as soon as soon as we get it.

We are coming up on one of our school's most anticipated days of the year: high school admissions letter day, when our hopeful 8th graders will find out what high school they will be attending this fall.

As with everything we do at Arts & Letters, there is a human element to this process. Starting in 7th grade, our parents hear from our staff and guidance counselor about how the process works, and from experienced parents about what they learned. Our advisors help students write summaries of their school experiences and special attributes. Our student life team meets with each child to help them find choices that make sense, and maximize their likelihood of success and happiness. We hold frequent parent meetings, schedule tours at key schools for our students only, and make personal connections with guidance counselors and principals at other schools. On "letter day" we have many staff members on hand to support any disappointed students, and to provide next steps for them. It is highly personalized for each student.

The central matching of students to high schools operates in a less personal way. Each student's choices are ranked, and then most high schools are given limited information and are expected to rank students. There are many different enrollment options -- educational option, screened, specialized, zoned, and more-- which determine the information each school gets (these are clearly outlined in the high school directory). These rankings are sent back to the Department of Education, and matches are made.<!--more-->

Unfortunately, some students do not get matched. These may be cases where a student did not list all 12 choices, or chose schools that filled up quickly, or that did not rank him in return. When this happens, the student goes into the supplemental round and ranks a new list of schools, chosen from a list of schools that still have openings. Students who are unhappy with their eventual match may appeal. In essence, the Department of Education enrollment office attempts to ensure that no student goes without placement, but takes the personal negotiations between schools (which enrollment officials say can lead to back-door deals and inequity in placement) out of the equation.

While I am not an expert on the formulas they use to make these matches, I believe they have tried to take a number of important factors into account. However, as an advocate for my students and their families, it is always so disappointing when students do not match with their favored schools -- or with any schools at all. For our part, we will continue to work harder to ensure that students make wise choices, and analyze our successes when they match well.

I do wish that there could remain more flexibility in the admissions process so that school personnel and principals could consult on a case by case basis about appropriate matches. In the current system, school guidance counselors and principals -- who know the children best -- have little say about the final matches.

I wish all families of 8th-graders the best on "letter day", and if the worst happens, and your child is not matched to any school, be sure to check out the new high schools, some of which look very promising (consider, for example, Frank McCourt High School). As a principal who started a new school four years ago, I filled my founding class with many students who came through that second round, and who graduated happily to many wonderful high schools last year.