Frequently Asked Questions

School Selection Process

Q: Who is eligible to cast a High School Choice or Magnet Ballot?

• Students who are currently in 5th, 8th or entering PK and legally reside in Springfield.

• PK, 5th and 8th Students who are currently active and attending the Springfield Public Schools.

• Students who are currently in grades 5th, and 8th that are attending, Private, Parochial or Charter Schools must pre-register (even though they might have an SPS student ID number) in order to be able to ballot.

• Students can enroll online (2025-2026 Registration) https://www.springfieldpublicschools.com

Q: How and when do I cast a ballot?

The School Selection Process period takes place online between January (first day) and February (last day).

• The ballot is accessible through the Springfield Public Schools website at www.springfieldpublicschools.com

• Parents/Legal Guardian must certify that they are the authorized to make the selection for their student.

• They will need to enter the student’s Date of Birth, and the SPS Student ID number.

• If you need assistance filling out the online form, please call the SAS Center at 413-787-6959, X 49801, X 49129, X 49123

Q: Why do I need to enter my email address?

• You will receive an email when your student’s assignment is available in the student assignment portal.

• Once you receive the email, you will be able to log in and see your student’s next year school assignment.

Q: What happens after I cast my Ballot?

• After you complete your ballot, you will be provided with a confirmation number; please print and save this number to assure that you have successfully completed your submission during the ballot period. 

• At that time, all ballots will be entered into the randomized computer lottery. As each ballot is uploaded from the server it is provided with a random number. The computer is programmed to sort the ballots based on school, your selection number (1st, 2nd, 3rd choice), and the number of available seats. 

• Balloting is randomized by all submitted ballots. 

Q: When will I be notified of my student’s assignment?

• High School assignments will be made available for parents/legal guardian to view on the Student Assignment Portal in April/May www.springfieldpublicschools.com

• Middle School assignments will be made available for parents/legal guardian to view on the Student Assignment Portal in April/May  www.springfieldpublicschools.com

Q: What if my child wants to attend Putnam?

     The Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy has additional requirements to attend.

• Students must meet the qualifying score between 46 and 80.

• Due to capacity limitations, only students with Putnam Scores between 46 and 80 can select Putnam as a choice on their ballot.

• Admission is not guaranteed!

• Students will be admitted in order of their Putnam score (highest to lowest). 

• If more students apply than there are seats, those students that do not get in will be placed on the waiting list.  

Q: What if my child does not get their first choice?

• Most schools fill up on the first assignment round, which may mean that many parents selected a school as their 1st choice first that you put as your 2nd choice school.  If the seats are already filled by the time the computer makes assignments for 2nd choice selections there are no longer any open seats, so your 2nd choice would not be honored. 

• In some cases, there may be seats available at a school you selected as your 3rd choice (meaning that not all of the seats were filled in assignment rounds 1 and 2) so your child could be assigned to that school, however the lower the preference for a particular school (3rd, 4th, 5th choice, etc.) the less likely it is that there are unfilled seats.

• In most cases the available seats are filled during the first two assignment rounds. For this reason, it is essential that you know from the outset which school(s) you are interested in applying for since the chances are they will be filled early on in the lottery process.

• Once the computer has gone through all of the 1st choice selections and made assignments based on the number of seats available at each grade in that school, the remainder of the students who applied for that school but did not receive it (meaning there were more students wanting to go there than seats available) will automatically be placed on the waiting list for their 1st choice school only.

Q: Is the number of seats the only factor that determines if a student is assigned to one of their schools of choice?

• No. There are other considerations that can impact a student’s assignment, for example if your child has programmatic needs (Special Education services that are available only in select schools, a language program that is only offered in a few schools, etc.) he or she may be assigned to a different school than the schools you selected.  These assignments are made by the appropriate departments within SPS after careful review and consideration of what school can provide the services that your child needs. 

Q: Do siblings get preference for entrance into the same school?

• The SPS Sibling Preference Policy provides assignment preference to a younger sibling (PK, 5th or 8th grader) who has an older sibling currently attending the desired school AND who will continue to be attending in the upcoming school year.

• The sibling policy applies to entry grade levels at the designated magnet and/or high school.

• Siblings (defined as brothers/sisters who share at least one common parent/guardian and reside at the same address) do get preference for student assignment.

• The parent/guardian MUST complete and submit the online ballot and select the school that the older sibling attends as your first choice during the High School and Magnet enrollment/ballot period.

• If you do not ballot during the process and enter the older sibling’s student ID number, you will not be placed in your first-choice school.

• A cousin does not qualify as a sibling.

Q: I went through the School Selection Process but changed my mind and want to switch my choices.  Can I do that?

• NO.  Once a ballot has been cast the computer program will not allow you to enter another ballot for that student. 

NEED MORE INFORMATION

• Contact your child’s counselor at the school

• Contact SAS Center at 413-787-6959 

  • English X 49123

  • Spanish X 49110

  • PK X 49129

  • Dual Language X 49898