Priorities don’t guarantee placement at a school or program, but they can increase your chance of an offer. Most placement priorities apply only to the first-choice school or district. Even if you are eligible for a priority at more than one school or district, you will generally receive priority only for the school or district you rank as your first choice. Note: A placement at a school is always dependent on seat availability and the number of other applicants.

How placement priorities work

Not all programs/schools offer the same priorities. The RSCO placement protocol orders priorities for each program based on the priority order below. Applicants without priorities are ordered after priority applicants, so understanding what priorities apply to your child is important.

<ul><li data-block-key="vsxxj">Direct Pathway</li><li data-block-key="bqthn">Enrolled Siblings</li><li data-block-key="fvie5">Placed Siblings</li><li data-block-key="am1u9">Employee/Staff</li><li data-block-key="3to90">Pathway School</li><li data-block-key="3nbr5">Residential Neighborhood</li><li data-block-key="cka93">Residential Zone</li></ul>

magnet

<ul><li data-block-key="8ydx7">Former Resident</li><li data-block-key="40car">Enrolled Siblings</li><li data-block-key="ae15j">Placed Siblings</li><li data-block-key="b6a1q">Open Choice Only</li><li data-block-key="174b0">Pathway School</li></ul>

open choice hartford residents

<ul><li data-block-key="8ydx7">Enrolled Siblings</li><li data-block-key="aajli">Placed Siblings</li><li data-block-key="fov1i">Employee/Staff</li><li data-block-key="b6vlr">CTECS Only</li></ul>

Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS)

<ul><li data-block-key="ug7kf">Employees of a CTECS or magnet school may receive priority for their children when applying to the school where they work.</li><li data-block-key="3a3nj">Employees of Goodwin University, University of Hartford, CT State Community College Manchester, CT State Community College Capital, and Trinity College, as well as students of Goodwin University, may receive priority for their children when applying to their partner magnet school.</li></ul>

Staff Priority

We try to keep siblings together. Siblings who share at least one biological parent, legal guardian, or stepparent and are in the same grade range are eligible for this priority. To be sure your application is flagged for the priority, all siblings must have a profile in RSCO’s application platform and be connected as siblings through a guardian account.Enrolled siblings<ul><li data-block-key="642j1">Applicants receive priority when they apply to the same school or Open Choice district their sibling attends. The enrolled sibling must remain enrolled in the following school year or be in the final grade of that school or district.</li><li data-block-key="13scl">To be eligible: Apply by the on-time deadline and select the enrolled sibling’s school as your first choice.</li></ul>Placed siblings<ul><li data-block-key="ft550">Applicants receive priority if a sibling in the same grade range accepts a placement offer. This means that we try and place all siblings applying at the same time together, but if only one sibling receives a placement, the sibling(s) on the waitlist will have sibling priority at that school.</li><li data-block-key="2euj">If siblings in the same grade range are placed in separate schools or programs during the same offer round, a family can decline the offer for one child and request to keep that child on the school waitlist where the other sibling received and accepted a placement.</li><li data-block-key="347ji">If a sibling is placed in a different school in a later round, they can decline that placement and stay on the waitlist for their sibling’s school.</li><li data-block-key="66n2q">You must <a href="mailto:rsco.sde@ct.gov" target="_blank" class="rich-text-cms-external-link">contact RSCO</a> to exercise this exception to the one offer rule for sibling placements.</li><li data-block-key="bq5n7">To be eligible: Submit all applications during the same application period with the same schools/Open Choice districts in the exact same order of preference.</li></ul>

Sibling Priorities

The placement process is designed to place twins/multiples together.To be eligible: Mark students as twins/multiples on the student profile and submit their applications during the same application period with the same schools/Open Choice districts in the exact same order of preference.

Twins/multiples

Students who only apply to CTECS.

CTECS-only applicants

Students who only apply to the Open Choice program.

Open Choice-only applicants

Some magnet schools offer a prekindergarten to grade 12 continuum through direct pathways between schools. Students attending an elementary or middle school with a direct pathway will receive the highest priority when applying to their direct pathway school.To be eligible: Submit an on-time RSCO online application with your direct pathway school as your first choice.

Direct Pathway Priority

Applicants in transition grades have priority when moving between specific magnet schools. This increases a family’s chance of remaining in the magnet system as students move from elementary to middle and middle to high school, but does not guarantee a placement.Go to the <a href="/schools?apsy=QWRtaXNzaW9uUHJvY2Vzczoz" target="_blank" class="rich-text-cms-external-link">School Choice Directory</a> to review the school descriptions to see which priorities apply to each school.

Pathway Priority

Hartford residents applying to elementary schools located within a half mile of their house or Enfield residents applying for the Academy of Computer Science and Engineering receive neighborhood priority

Neighborhood Priority

Applicants receive priority as a former resident if:<ul><li data-block-key="76tjp">They move to Hartford and wish to continue attending an Open Choice school outside of Hartford;</li><li data-block-key="4q7l5">They move out of Hartford and wish to continue attending an Open Choice school in Hartford.</li></ul>

Former Residents Priority (Open Choice Program Only)

Hartford residents living in specific zones and applying to certain schools receive priority:<ul><li data-block-key="781u6">Zone 1: Montessori Magnet at Fisher School, STEM Magnet at Annie Fisher School, Webster Micro Society Magnet School, or Breakthrough Magnet School North.</li><li data-block-key="2cn7g">Zone 2: Capital Preparatory Magnet School (PK3-Grade 8 only) or Hartford Prekindergarten Magnet School, North.</li><li data-block-key="5f0fi">Zone 3: Breakthrough Magnet School South, Environmental Sciences Magnet at Hooker School, Hartford Prekindergarten Magnet School, South, or Montessori Magnet at Batchelder School.</li><li data-block-key="fm2ot">Zone 4: Kinsella Magnet School of Performing Arts: PK-8 Campus, Betances Learning Lab Magnet School, or Dwight-Bellizzi Dual Language Academy (Grades PK4, kindergarten, and first grade, and second grade only).</li></ul>

Residential Zone Priority

Some schools have partnerships with specific towns where a set number of seats in specific grades are reserved for residents of the partner town.

Partner Districts

See which priorities apply to each school on the school profile page.

To maximize opportunities for students, the placement process prioritizes applicants who are not currently enrolled in a choice program (new to RSCO school choice) and applicants who have applied for multiple years without an offer (previous applicants without placements).

Where you can find us.

Along with available seats, grade level, socioeconomic factors, and your school choice order, your “placement priorities” are a key consideration during placement. Priorities are the different connections you have to a school or program—like when a sibling is enrolled in a program, or your middle school shares a specific theme with a high school.

Priorities

Essential Info

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What we consider during placement

What we consider during placement

How placement priorities work

Placement priorities by program

Magnet School Applicant

Open Choice Applicant

CTECS Technical High School Applicant

Factors that may give you priority during placement

Where your guardian works or sibling attends school

Staff Priority

Sibling Priorities

Twins/multiples

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Open Choice-only applicants

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Direct Pathway Priority

Pathway Priority

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Neighborhood Priority

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Placement priorities by school

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