If you have a child in eighth grade or a student entering ninth grade who is interested in applying to a different high school, the NYC high school admissions process is here. The NYC Department of Education’s high school admissions process opens Tuesday, October 6, 2026, and the Office of Student Enrollment is hosting a series of free virtual information sessions throughout October and November to help families understand what comes next.
The sessions will cover everything from exploring high schools and programs to building a balanced application, registering for the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), auditioning for arts programs and understanding how high school offers are made.
Each session also includes time for families to ask questions.
High school admissions information sessions
All sessions are held virtually on Zoom. Families can attend the session that works best for them, with several sessions offering interpretation in multiple languages.
Wednesday, October 7, 6–7 p.m.
English, with interpretation in Arabic, Bangla, Chinese (Mandarin), Russian and American Sign Language (ASL)
Thursday, October 8, 5–6 p.m.
English, with interpretation in French, Haitian Creole, Spanish, Urdu and ASL
Tuesday, October 13, 6–7 p.m.
English, with interpretation in Albanian, Korean, Ukrainian, Uzbek and ASL
Thursday, October 15, 6–7 p.m.
A session specifically focused on how students with disabilities (SWD) participate in high school admissions. English, with interpretation in Arabic, Bangla, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish and ASL.
Thursday, October 22, 6–7 p.m.
Spanish
Tuesday, November 10, 6–7 p.m.
Chinese (Mandarin)
Monday, November 23, 5–6 p.m.
English, with interpretation in Bangla, Chinese (Cantonese), Russian, Spanish and ASL
How to join
All of the information sessions will be hosted live on Zoom.
Zoom: https://bit.ly/Fall2026HSEvents
Webinar ID: 931 5349 4393
Passcode: 123456
Families can also join by phone at 646-931-3860 using conference line 931 5349 4393#.
If you need interpretation, the DOE recommends visiting its high school admissions page for the phone numbers to call for interpretation in each language.