Admissions

Applications are now open. Apply today!

Applications & Tour Dates

To really grasp and understand who we are as Central Park School for Children, we offer tours for potential families to see our school day in action.

Every year before and during the admission window, we set aside tours of both our Lower School (K-3) campus located at 724 Foster Street and our Upper School (4-8) campus located at 1001 North Street. Tours are a great way to see our space, meet staff, and hear directly from students about their experience at CPSC.

Join us to learn more about our programming, calendar, events, daily schedules, and future K-8 campus. Tour dates and times can be found below. You can sign up for times here.

Sign up here for school tours.

Tours at the Lower School begin at 9:00am, Upper School at 10:30am, on the following dates for the 2027-28 school year:

  • November 12
  • November 19
  • December 3
  • December 10
  • January 14
  • January 16 (Saturday)
  • January 21
  • January 28
  • February 4
  • February 11
  • February 18
  • February 25
  • March 4 (after the lottery)
  • April 8 (after the lottery)

Lottery

The 2027-28 lottery will be held on March 2.

Lottery Priorities

  • Siblings: It is the intent of the Central Park School for Children to support whole families and create school community. Siblings of enrolled students or graduates will receive priority for admission if their applications are received by the designated deadline.
  • Staff and Board: CPSC will give priority enrollment to children permitted to have priority enrollment in 115C-238.29F(g).
  • Educationally Disadvantaged within a designated Walkzone (found here): The Central Park School for Children is committed to being an inclusive community. Families that qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) are eligible. Up to 40% of grade level total headcount. (If you live within one mile and qualify for the National Lunch Program.)
  • Educationally Disadvantaged: CPSC is committed to being an inclusive community. Families that qualify for FRL are eligible. Up to 40% of grade level total headcount.
  • Opportunity Priority: CPSC will grant priority to a former student who enrolled at CPSC within the last two academic years but left due to an academic study abroad program, competitive admission residential program, or vocational opportunities of the parents.

The order of priority shall be:

Priority One: Siblings of currently enrolled students, that is, students whose sibling is enrolled during the year that the lottery is held
Priority Two: Children and grandchildren of CPSC staff and board members
Priority Three: Educationally Disadvantaged (within designated walkzone) – Students whose families live within one mile of the school AND qualify, based on current income, for the National School Lunch Program.
Priority Four: Educationally Disadvantaged – Students whose families qualify, based on current income, for the National School Lunch Program.
Priority Five: Opportunity – Former students whose family had enrolled at CPSC within the last two academic years but left due to an academic study abroad program, competitive admission residential program, or vocational opportunities of the parents.
Priority Six: General Enrollment

Lottery Procedure

All students who apply by the designated deadline are eligible for the lottery.  Student information is entered into a database administered by Powerschool by grade level. All students are assigned a random number, then sorted by number.  Priorities are then considered according to the enrollment policies.  Openings are filled in order of priorities and numbers assigned.  Waitlists are created according to the number pulled after openings are filled. The lottery is a blind lottery conducted by a CPSC administrator, monitored by a CPSC board member, and administered by PowerSchool.  Twins shall enter one surname into the lottery to represent all of the multiple birth siblings.   If that surname of the multiple birth siblings is selected, then all of the multiple birth siblings shall be admitted. Prospective families are invited to attend the lottery and asked to sign a statement verifying that they witnessed our lottery.

Families selected for an opening from the lottery are notified of lottery results via email or U.S. mail within one week and given one week to accept the space offered.

Waitlist

This process starts over each school year.  Waitlists are not carried over from year to year and close on the 20th day of the school year. You must reapply each year.

Families on the waiting list are offered spaces by email and given one week to respond if offered a spot prior to June 30.  All spots offered July 1-the first day of school are given 2 days to make a decision. Once school starts through the 19th day, families are given 1 day to make a decision.

Any applications received after the lottery will be placed on the waiting list in the order received by the Director of School Operations. If we have not yet achieved the optimal percentage of children eligible for the National Lunch Program, either through insufficient applicants in the initial lottery or through attrition, then late applicants that strengthen our economic diversity will be given priority on the waitlist.

CPSC middle school students greeting Vice President Kamala Harris as she visits the Senior Center next door.