Priority high school enrollment for Milwaukee Public Schools opens Saturday, Oct. 4 and will run through Nov. 3. All eighth grade students will need to apply to attend a high school next year.
Some schools admit all students who place the school as their first choice. Others follow a competitive application process.
Completing an application by the Nov. 3 deadline increases your chances of attending your top-choice school.
Here’s information on how to pick schools, how MPS determines which students to admit, where to go if you have questions and more.
Do I need to enroll my student?
All eighth grade students need to enroll in a high school for next school year, even if they already attend an MPS school that serves high school grades nine through 12.
If a student already attends a school that serves high school grades and wants to stay, that school should be listed as their first choice on the application. Your student won’t have to compete with students from other schools for a spot there, according to Michael Spidell, MPS enrollment manager.
Where do I enroll my student?
Once the high school enrollment period starts on Oct. 4, you can enroll your student using this form.
The district doesn’t offer paper applications, so staff can set up a computer for parents to enroll their students at the districtwide high school enrollment fair at Milwaukee High School of the Arts on Oct. 11, Spidell said. Parent coordinators are also available in each school to help parents who need internet access.
If you submitted your application but need to make edits, parents will receive a link after completing the application with instructions on how to make changes online without having to contact MPS central office, Spidell said.
How do I choose a school?
MPS allows parents to choose up to five high schools on their application. Each school has different academic, career, extracurricular and transportation options.
Spidell recommends that parents and students look carefully at what each school offers before completing the application. Students who place a school as their first choice will be prioritized over other applicants who didn’t.
Parents should add more than one school to the application in case their top school fills up.
You can view what each MPS high school offers using the district’s school search tool.
What if my student is in special education?
Special education students in an alternative curriculum will be evaluated in a different way than other students, according to MPS.
These students will be assigned a number, and schools will choose students at random based on how many open seats they have.
Not all schools offer services for every alternative curriculum, so these students might not be able to attend certain schools that don’t meet their needs.
Special education students in a general curriculum will be evaluated like other students. High schools are required to accept a certain percentage of students with Individualized Education Plans, or IEPs.
Talk to the special education supervisor at your student’s school for more information on special education offerings.
What do I need to fill out my application?
All applicants will have two hours to complete a mandatory writing test with a short reading section and essay question.
Eighth graders already attending MPS schools will take this test in class, but those transferring into the district need to take it on their own by Nov. 3.
Schools also look at academic records. If your student attended an MPS school in seventh grade, MPS will automatically pull their academic and attendance records, and there’s no need to upload anything. This includes charter schools contracted within MPS like Carmen, La Causa, or Hmong American Peace Academy.
If a student did not attend an MPS or MPS-contracted charter school in seventh grade, you will need to upload the student’s seventh grade report card, attendance records, and standardized test scores into the application.
How does MPS decide who will go to what school?
MPS prioritizes placing students with their first-choice school on their application.
If a school has enough space to admit all applicants who placed the school as their first choice, the school will admit all the first-choice applicants then move to admit second-choice applicants ranked in order of their scores, Spidell said.
Scores are based on a mix of seventh grade attendance and grades, standardized test scores and a writing test. Each category has a maximum number of points a student can earn, up to 12 points total. Seventh grade report cards hold the most weight, followed by attendance.
Parents of eighth grade MPS students should’ve received an email with their child’s estimated points on Sept. 26.
Schools that receive more applications than available seats use a points-based admission criteria to narrow down applicants.
Five competitive MPS schools used a point-based admission criteria last year. Due to the competitive nature of these schools, they typically only admit students who placed the school as their first choice.
Students are not always admitted to their second-choice schools either, Spidell said.
“In these cases, it is typically because the school filled all available seats with first-choice applicants, leaving no remaining space to consider second-choice applicants,” he said.
What happens if I miss the priority enrollment deadline?
Enrolling within the priority deadline increases a student’s chance of being assigned to their top choice school.
Students who don’t enroll by Nov. 3 will need to enroll their student online between Feb. 7 and Aug. 31, 2026, but are not guaranteed a spot at their schools of choice.
Students who aren’t enrolled in an MPS high school by the end of the enrollment period will be automatically placed in a school closest to their home that has open seats.
Where do I go if I have questions about enrollment?
Staff will be available to answer questions at the MPS enrollment fair at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, 2300 W. Highland Ave. on Saturday, Oct. 11 from 9 a.m. to noon.
If you can’t make it to an enrollment fair but still have questions about enrollment, email Spidell at spidelmg@milwaukee.k12.wi.us
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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