Voluntary Transfer Program

The District’s Voluntary Transfer Program affords parents and students the opportunity to apply for admission to schools outside of their neighborhood.

Applications may be submitted beginning the third Monday in September through the last Friday of October of the current school year for admission in the following school year.

All students K-11, including English language learners and children with disabilities can utilize the Voluntary Transfer Program to apply to special admission, citywide admission, and other neighborhood schools within the School District of Philadelphia.

The Voluntary Transfer Program allows students to not only apply to Special Admission and or City Wide High Schools, but to Special Admission Middle Schools like:

• Academy for the Middle Years (AMY) Northwest
• Andrew Hamilton Achieving in Middle School (AIMS) Magnet Program
• Conwell Middle Magnet School
• Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP)
• Grover Washington Music Magnet Program
• Hill-Freedman Middle Magnet School
• Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration Middle Magnet School

For more information on the School District of Philadelphia's Voluntary Transfer Program, please click here.

• 2013 Voluntary Transfer Program Flyer
• 2013 High School Program Codes
• 2013 High School Directory
• 2013 Audition & Interview Schedule
• 2013 Elementary/Middle Program Codes
• Directory of Special Admission Middle Schools

High School Admissions Program

Did you know that a variety of educational options are available for high school students within the School District of Philadelphia? To take advantage of these opportunities, parents and students may apply for admission to high schools outside of their neighborhood through the High School Admissions Program.

Students in 8^th grade, including English language learners and children with disabilities can utilize the High School Admissions Program to apply to special admission, citywide admission, and other neighborhood schools within the School District of Philadelphia.

The deadline for students and their families to submit High School.

All applications mailed to the Office of Student Enrollment and Placement MUST be postmarked by November 30, 2012.  Applications received via mail by the Office of Student Enrollment and Placement AFTER this postmark date will not be accepted!

School Choice Transfer

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 allows parents of students enrolled in a School Improvement and/or Persistently Dangerous school to apply for a transfer through the School Choice Program.  To apply for a transfer under NCLB, students must be eligible to participate.  The School District will notify parents of each eligible student and provide a list of School District Public Schools that are not in School Improvement and/or identified as Persistently Dangerous.

For application timeline, contact the Title I office:
440 North Broad Street
3rd Floor, Portal D, Suite 340
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Phone: 215-400-4220

Return to Neighborhood Transfers

Students who attend Citywide Admission and or Special Admission schools have the right to submit an application to attend the school within the boundary lines of the legal residence of their parent or legal guardian.

This process lasts from the first day of school until the end of the third business week in December and can be done at the students current school or at the Office of Student Enrollment and Placement.

Transfers from Persistently Dangerous Schools

EH-36E Transfers are transfers for extenuating circumstances and must meet the following guidelines:

1. There is documented physical/psychological danger to a student in the present school.
2. There is a serious incident report that justifies moving the child out of his/her present school.
3. There is record of past efforts by the school and parents to remedy the situation, with valid documentation that other alternatives are not available.
4. The transfer request ID for the current school year.

This transfer is created at the student’s school, Academic Division of that School or the Parent/Family Resource Center and processed through the Office of Student Enrollment and Placement.

Parents may submit an EH-36E transfer to “OPT-OUT” of a school that has been identified by the state of Pennsylvania as Persistently Dangerous. The EH-36E form is submitted at the school level and will be processed by the Office of Student Enrollment and Placement.

Principals receive notification if in fact their school has been designated as Persistently Dangerous. To view the notification letter, click here.

Parents of children who attend schools that have been designated as Persistantly Dangerous will be sent notification and initiatives which the school will exercise in order to change the schools designation for the following school year.

You may download the Notification Letter in the following languages:
English, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Khmer, Vietnamese, French, Albanian and Russian.

You may also download the Initiatives in the same languages:
English, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Khmer, Vietnamese, French, Albanian and Russian.

Important Dates for Student Placement