Does your child turn five in 2027? Then kindergarten applications are on your mind now. Every five-year-old New York City resident is guaranteed a seat in a public school kindergarten, starting in September of the calendar year they turn five. Charter school and private school applications are open as well. Here is how the options, the dates and the admissions rules work in Brooklyn.
Wednesday, December 9, 2026: the public school kindergarten application opens
Friday, January 22, 2027: the application closes
Tuesday, March 30, 2027: offers are released
Children born in 2022 apply this cycle. Applications are made online through MySchools; the NYC Public Schools kindergarten page has the full timeline. Gifted and talented programs follow the same dates. Charter schools run their own lotteries, usually in April.
Zoned public schools: tuition-free, they draw students from the surrounding neighborhood and follow New York State learning standards.
Unzoned public “choice” schools: tuition-free, with no school zone; they admit students by lottery.
Dual language programs: programs inside public schools, chosen on the same application.
Charter schools: tuition-free public schools that admit students by lottery within their district; many continue through middle school or even high school.
Private schools: tuition-based, with their own curriculum; they admit students through tests, interviews and other steps.
Your home address decides your zoned school. Look it up by entering your address on Find a School. Zoned families have priority there and will most likely get a seat. You can also apply to other zoned schools that take students from outside their zone.
Unzoned schools have no zone and fill their seats by lottery, and some give certain students priority. In Districts 13 and 15 they include Brooklyn New School and Arts & Letters 305 United (both prioritize students who qualify for free lunch), PS 133 (English language learners and students who qualify for free lunch), The Children’s School (40% of seats go to children with special needs or IEPs, and English language learners), PS 456 and Albee Square Montessori (PS 482).
Your school district matters too: it affects which unzoned public schools and charter schools you can apply to.
Seats at a zoned school go in this order:
Zoned siblings
Zoned families
Students covered by a school’s diversity criteria, at some schools (including students in poverty, NYCHA residents and English language learners)
Unzoned siblings
Students who attended pre-K at that school
Everybody else in the district
Everyone has to apply, even if you only want your zoned school.
It is not first come, first served. You can list as many programs as you like; rank them in the order you want your child to attend.
Schools never see how you ranked them, and the ranking does not change your priority. Listing your zoned school second or third does not lower your chances there compared with zoned families who list it first.
You are automatically put on the waitlist for every school you ranked above the one that made you an offer, and you can see your waitlist number in your online account. Waitlist offers go out through the summer and even into the fall.
Kindergarten classes in public schools have up to 25 students with one teacher, and the school day is 6 hours and 20 minutes. School tours take place in the fall and winter: see our list of elementary school open houses for fall 2027 in Districts 13, 14, 15 and 20.
To be considered, list a gifted and talented (G&T) program on your kindergarten application; eligibility is decided after you apply. Children in pre-K at a public school, a Pre-K Center, a community-based program or a charter school are evaluated by their pre-K teachers. Children in private or parochial pre-K, or not yet in school, are contacted for an interview by the city’s Division of Early Childhood Education after the application closes. Details are on the gifted and talented page.
In Districts 13 and 15, French dual language programs run at PS 133, PS 58 and PS 20, and Spanish programs at PS 133, PS 46, PS 54, PS 15 and PS 9. List the dual language program itself on your application. If the program’s language is spoken at home, your child takes a language assessment at the school after you apply.
Children in pre-K at a public elementary school get admissions priority for kindergarten at that school, after zoned families and unzoned siblings. Pre-K and 3-K applications for fall 2027 open Wednesday, January 13, 2027 and close Friday, February 26, 2027. Everything about the preschool years is in our Preschool 101 guide.
Charter schools are tuition-free and admit students by lottery within their district. They are free from most Department of Education rules but take the New York State tests, and some set aside seats for low-income students. School hours vary. You apply directly on each school’s website, and applying to a charter school does not affect your public school application. If your child is waitlisted, the school tells you your place on the list.
Charter schools in Districts 13 and 15 include Compass Charter School and Community Roots Charter School in Fort Greene, Prospect International Charter School in Bed-Stuy, Prospect Charter School in Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Prospect Charter School in Sunset Park, Success Academy Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Rise in Downtown Brooklyn and LEEP Dual Language Academy.
Many private schools in the city run from preschool through 8th or 12th grade, and they generally have lower student-teacher ratios and a less standardized curriculum. Local tuition runs from about $20,000 to more than $75,000 a year, and financial aid is available. Most use a September 1 age cut-off. Some have strict application deadlines that start in August or September, while newer schools accept students on a rolling basis. Pre-K for four-year-olds is not an entry point at Brooklyn Friends, Saint Ann’s or Packer: they take new students in their 3s programs and in kindergarten. Start on each school’s website and book a tour.
NYC Public Schools has the official rules and dates, MySchools lists every program and takes the application, and InsideSchools has independent reviews of individual schools.
