Frequently Asked Questions

During the open application window, parents and guardians may submit applications for general reassignments, magnet programs, and Nova schools with available seats.  Families interested in exceptional student education programming, high-quality innovative programs, Career Technical Education (CTE) and Collegiate Academy options are encouraged to apply by submitting a School Choice reassignment application.

The following options are available:

• MAGNET PROGRAMS* offer in-depth experiences in specific areas of interest. Interested applicants must submit a magnet application and upload the requested documentation based on the program's criteria, if applicable.

  • If you are interested in a magnet program at your assigned, home boundary school, a School Choice application is not necessary.  Please contact your assigned school for information on how to participate.

• REASSIGNMENTS* allow attendance at a school that is not your assigned school.

• Innovative Programs offer courses of study centered on specific themes. Families interested in these curricular programs must submit a reassignment application. If awarded, parents/guardians must contact the school directly to discuss interest in program participation.

  • If you are interested in an innovative program at your assigned, home boundary school, a School Choice application is not necessary.  Please contact your assigned school for information on how to participate.

• Career, Technical, Adult & Community Education (CTACE) programs prepare high school students for post-secondary enrollment and apprenticeships. Families interested in these curricular programs must submit a reassignment application. If awarded, parents/guardians must contact the school directly to discuss interest in program participation.

  • If you are interested in a CTE program at your assigned high school, a School Choice application is not necessary.  Please contact your assigned high school for information on how to participate.

• Collegiate Academies offer high school students the opportunity to earn their high school diploma and their Associates in Arts degree. Applicants must meet academic criteria.

  • To apply to our 6-12 Collegiate Academies, applicants must submit a School Choice reassignment application.
  • Applicants interested in College Academy at Broward College (CABC) may click here to access CABC's specific application and program information.

• The Gifted Academy is open to students who meet gifted eligibility criteria. Interested applicants must submit a reassignment application to the academy and provide proof of eligibility (i.e. student's Education Plan, eligibility determination) if not currently on file with the District.

• Boundary choice options are available to some students based on where they live within Broward County. A Boundary Choice Area provides students living within a specific area with the option to attend a different school other than their assigned, home boundary school.

  • Piper High/Boyd Anderson High - Click here to view the Boyd Anderson High Boundary Choice Area
  • West Broward High/Cooper City High - Click here to view the Cooper City High Boundary Choice Area
  • Seminole Middle/Plantation Middle - Click here to view the Plantation Middle Boundary Choice Area
  • South Plantation High/Plantation High - Click here to view the Plantation High Boundary Choice Area

• NOVA Schools* provide four schools on one campus for students in grades kindergarten through twelve. Families must submit a Nova application for each student interested.

   

*Families may submit 1 application for each school choice category (REASSIGNMENT, MAGNET, and NOVA), during the Open Enrollment window.

Yes, each student must have a Broward County Public School Student Identification Number to apply to any School Choice options. If your child currently attends a Broward County Public School, including a Broward charter Schools, they already have a Student ID Number (06XXXXXXXX). If you are unsure as to what the number is, contact your child's school directly.

If your child has never attended a Broward County Public School, you may go to any Broward County Public School to have a Student ID Number created. Bring your government-issued photo ID (e.g., driver's license, passport, etc.), as well as the child's birth certificate, for verification purposes.

You may apply for School Choice during an open window scheduled in the Important Dates webpage.

No. It does not matter when you apply during a given window, as long as you apply and submit are required documentation by the deadline. If there are more applications than seats available, a computerized, random selection will be conducted to determine awards.

To complete your School Choice application, you may be required to upload the following documents to your application, BEFORE the window closes:

• Military – Parent's/legal guardian's active-duty orders & student's birth certificate.
• Employee Priority – Child's birth certificate (or court-appointed legal guardianship paperwork) listing employee as parent/legal guardian. Work verification on school letterhead may also be requested.
• Magnet program – For 2026/27 applications for magnet programs with academic criteria, most recent report card and 2045/2025 FAST PM 3 English/Language Arts (ELA) and Math test scores, or nationally recognized standardized test scores in reading and mathematics.

Required documentation not uploaded to the application by the deadline may delay processing or exclude applicant from selection process.

If your child is currently attending a School Choice awarded school, you ARE NOT required to re-apply each year unless your student was granted a reassignment for one-year only. Most reassignments are good until the highest grade (5th, 8th, or 12th grade). If a student is transitioning to middle school or high school, they will NOT automatically matriculate into the next school.

Transportation WILL NOT be provided for students granted a Reassignment. It is the parent’s sole responsibility to provide transportation for their child.

Transportation is provided for magnet students who reside more than 2 miles from the school AND reside within the Magnet Transportation Zone for the requested program at the school.

Transportation is provided for Gifted Academy students who reside more than 2 miles from the school.

A sibling is defined as a biological, adopted, or foster brother or sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, or stepsister living in the same household as a District student who is currently attending a requested District school and will continue to attend the requested District school during the next school year.

Siblings receive priority to schools per School Board policy 6400. If you are the parent/guardian of a child already attending or applying to the same school, include the sibling information and upload any required documentation to the application before submitting. The applicant may receive sibling priority pending sibling verification. This does not guarantee a seat, but it does give priority over those without a sibling currently attending or recently awarded.

No, selection for a Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) program at a school does not guarantee placement for kindergarten at the same school. If your child is selected or offered a seat in a BCPS - Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) class that is not your boundary school, you must apply for and be awarded a reassignment in order for your child to attend Kindergarten at the same school.

After completing a School Choice application, the application status will be made available on the scheduled notification dates published on the Important Dates webpage of the respective School Choice year.

In order for your application priority requests to be verified and processed appropriately before the random selection occurs, the required documents should be uploaded at the time of submission. Applicants will not be able to update their application after the deadline.

When there are more students than available seats at a school, a computerized random selection is used to select students.  Students who are not selected for a seat are placed into a wait pool.

If more seats become available at a school, additional computerized random selections from the wait pool) will determine the seat award.  There is no ordered list and there is no guarantee additional seats will become available at a school.

All wait pool applicants from the School Choice Open Enrollment window who were not awarded a seat, will be reconsidered each selection date, before applicants who submit an application during the School Choice Late Applications window.

The Office of School Choice will update your application status only if your child is awarded a seat. Seats are not guaranteed.  Any applicant who is not awarded a seat by the first day of school is expected to attend their home boundary school.

The Department of Demographics & Enrollment Planning assigns all school-aged children living within Broward County to a home boundary school based on the child's primary residential address and grade level. To find your child’s assigned school, please visit Find My Assigned School.

All students who have been offered a School Choice seat must register at the awarded school by the registration deadline specified in the applicant's award letter.
 
All registration paperwork, such as emergency contact and immunization forms, are submitted directly to the school. Please contact the awarded school with any questions about their registration process.  You must register at the awarded school by the deadline, or the seat will be forfeited.

An Innovative program is a themed areas of study for students living within the school boundary. To attend an Innovative program, you must apply via the Reassignment application. This award process has two parts. You must be awarded a Reassignment seat to the school. Once awarded, you may contact the school directly regarding program participation.

A Magnet program is a themed educational experience that attracts students living outside the school boundary by offering unique opportunities for in-depth study in specific areas of interest. To attend a Magnet program, you must apply via the Magnet application. If awarded, it includes a seat at the school and into the Magnet Program.

Seats for both Innovative and Magnet Programs are limited, and placement is not guaranteed. For additional information and restrictions regarding programming, please contact Magnet & Innovation Programs at (754) 321-2070.

If your child’s current grade, address, and/or phone number are not correct, please visit your current school to have the information updated.  If your child has a BCPS student number but is not currently attending a District school, you are encouraged to visit the most convenient BCPS school to update the information. Ensure you, as the parent are identified on the student's record, have your government-issued photo ID for verification purposes.

If your child was awarded a School Choice seat, but you did not notify the school to register by the deadline, your seat was returned to the applicant pool.

If you are not interested in your child accepting the awarded seat, no further action is needed.

However, if you are still interested, please email schoolchoice@browardschools.com to request that your child's application be placed back into the wait pool. There is no guarantee that your child will be awarded a seat, again.

By state law, students may apply to attend any public school in Florida that has not reached capacity, regardless of their home address. To determine schools with available seats, BCPS reviews enrollment for all District schools annually to identify current available seats and projected students.

Parents may request a school that has available seats by completing a School Choice application during an open application window. School Choice applications are awarded using a computerized random selection process. If more seats at a school become available during the School Choice process, additional selections from the applicant pool are made.  Selection from a School Choice wait pool is not guaranteed. 

Your child may always attend his or her assigned school, which is based on the primary home address.

The Office of School Choice can only process applications for BCPS schools. If a school is not listed as an option on an application, they are currently not accepting applications.

If you are seeking to enroll your child in a school that is not a part of Broward County Public Schools, please contact the appropriate organization or county directly.

School Board policy 6400 “School Choice” does not allow schools to accept general reassignments when the school’s enrollment is over a certain level. If there is a change in reassignment availability, we will announce the change on our Apply webpage. We encourage families to check this page regularly.

Welcome to Broward County!  School-aged children living within Broward County are assigned to a school based on their primary residential address and grade level. This is the child's assigned school.  Please contact the assigned school to register each child.  To find your child’s assigned school, please visit the Find My Assigned School. 

We understand families want to have options for their child's education, which may include a choice other than their assigned school. As a result, the Office of School Choice offers an Open Enrollment and Late Application window. Please visit the Important Dates webpage for more information.

Effective November 3, 2025, all School Choice applications must be submitted through the District’s student information system, Focus, accessible via the Parent Portal.

To ensure a smooth application process, families are encouraged to complete the following steps in advance of the application window:

1. Obtain a Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) Student Identification Number
   • Each student must have a BCPS Student Identification Number (06XXXXXXXX) to apply for a Magnet Program, Nova School, Reassignment, or other School Choice option.
     • Students currently enrolled in a BCPS school already have a student number assigned. Parents who do not have access to this information are encouraged to visit their BCPS assigned, home boundary school to verify their identity and retrieve the information.
     • Students currently enrolled in a charter school in Broward County may already have a student number. Parents may visit their BCPS assigned, home boundary school to verify their identity and retrieve the information, if it is available.
     • Parents of students who have never attended a BCPS school, may visit any District to request that a Student Identification Number be created. Parents must have a government-issued photo ID and the child’s birth certificate.
2. Access the Focus Parent Portal
   • Parents/Guardians must create or log in to their Focus Parent Portal account. https://www.browardschools.com/focus
     • The parent/guardian will need the following information:
       • A valid email address associated on file with the school(s) for your student(s).
         • If you have multiple students, each student must have the same email address associated with you.
         • FOR BCPS STAFF ONLY: You cannot use your browardschools.com email address. If that is the email address you have on file for your student(s), please contact your student’s school to update the email address on file to a non-BCPS email address
       • Your name must be an exact match to the name on file with the school(s) for your student(s).
       • Student’s information:
         • Student's full name
         • Student's date of birth
         • BCPS Student ID number
   • Confirm that each student is successfully linked to your account.

When an application window is open, links to the available School Choice applications will appear within the menu on each linked student’s page in Focus.

Families who have not completed these steps prior to the opening of the application window may experience delays in accessing or submitting their applications.