The regional model maximizes placement opportunities for students. Program ranking and lottery are used for placement in the admission process.  This process is called a ranked-choice lottery process.  Student applicants can rank up to 8 programs- both criteria and interest-based.  

To be part of the interest based ranked-choice lottery process:

• Student applicants must be a Montgomery County (MoCo) resident and be in Grade 8. Their ranked choices are entered into the lottery. A student's socioeconomic status may be considered in the ranked-choice lottery process. 

To be part of the criteria based ranked-choice lottery process:

• Student applicants must be a MoCo resident, be in Grade 8 and  be identified as qualified after an academic review.  Those identified as qualified in this review are moved to the lottery pool for the program.  Those not identified as qualified are not moved to the lottery pool. 

Once all eligible students are in the lottery– a ranking system is used to place them in their highest ranked program seat.  The lottery considers region and student rank order. Every effort is made to assign students to their highest ranked program.  It is possible that some students may not get a placement in Round 1.  Round 1 students may request to go into Round 2 for a higher ranked choice or return to their home high school for the local offerings

Students can apply to up to eight (8) Center programs and programs should be ranked in order of interest.  Students will also complete two (2) brief response essays in Synergy/ParentVue.  The responses should be the work of the student only with zero-Artificial Intelligence (AI) use.

Steps to Apply in Round 1 

1. Families may rank order 1-8 Center programs. 

2. Students will be reviewed for eligibility/qualified into criteria-based program(s). If eligible, will be placed in the lottery. (Some programs have prerequisites). 

3. Students requesting interest-based programs proceed to the ranked-choice lottery. 

4. Student placement into ALL programs will occur through a ranked-choice lottery 

All applications and admissions will be run through MCPS Central Office. 

Individual high schools will not be directly involved in the student/program assignment process.

The High School Possibility report will be available in ParentVUE in Synergy in early October.  The deadline to complete the form/and or Center application is November 6, 2026. There are two rounds for application.  Round 1 is in the fall, Round 2 is in the winter. 

In the fall of 2026, parents/caregivers of Grade 8 students can access their form by logging into their ParentVUE account and reviewing their student’s High School Possibility report (located in the document container).  At this time, families may complete the High School Possibility form letting us know their plans for high school.  Students with their parent/caregiver can also apply to the Center programs (optional).  If you need information on setting up a ParentVUE account please contact your student’s school. Once an account is activated, you will:

Follow these steps to apply:

1. Log into ParentVUE (ParentVUE and StudentVUE Access) 

2. Click on Online Registration in the top right of the screen.

3. From the menu select the 2026-2027 Grade 8 High School Common App.   NOTE: If you previously started the Online Registration process you must complete or cancel it in order to start the application.

4. Click Begin New Registration.

Helpful Information:

1. If you have a previous Online Registration started you must complete or cancel it in order to start the application.

2. This information is based on your student’s current school of attendance recorded with the school system as of September 30, 2026. If your address has changed, please update your address at your school as soon as possible to ensure the most accurate programming options are listed. If you updated your address after September 30, 2026 and before January 1, 2027, please visit the application program website to determine your eligibility for high school programming: www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high/.

3. Center programs are placed at schools based on school system needs and may be relocated to another site deemed by the Superintendent at any time.

4. Limited central stop transportation will be provided to students attending the Center programs.

5. Center program assignments occur on the condition of stated eligibility requirements. Home address can impact assignment to a high school application program for the 2027-2028 school year.

6. Attending a middle school on an approved COSA does not necessarily make a student eligible for programming that applies to the students who have that middle school as a home school.