We are no longer accepting school choice applications for the 2025-26 school year.

Background

On May 21, 2018, the Salem School Committee voted to participate in the state’s Inter-District School Choice Program (see MGL Chapter 76, Section 12B). The program allows parents/guardians to enroll their child in a school district that is not the child’s home district. Through an annual vote, local school districts determine which grade levels and how many seats will be available.

The Inter-District Choice program is as follows for the 2025-26 school year:

Incoming Grades K-5 (we do not accept non-resident school choice in Pre-kindergarten/Preschool)

  • The Salem Public Schools allows up to 10 students to enter at each grade level (up to 10 at the Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th).

Incoming Grades 6-8

  • The Salem Public Schools will not accept non-resident school choice students in middle school during the 25-26 school year. With the Saltonstall middle school transition, we want to focus on ensuring a smooth experience for students, staff and families. Additionally, our class sizes at the middle school are larger and more full than at other grade levels. 

Incoming Grades 9-12, Salem High School

  • The Salem Public Schools allows up to 10 students to enter at each grade level (up to 10 at the 9th grade, 10 at the 10th grade, 10 at 11th grade, and 10 at 12th grade). Note: This does not include Salem Prep High School unless a student who choices into Salem High School is placed there based on their IEP. This also does not include New Liberty Innovation School unless a student who choices into Salem High School ultimately meets the New Liberty Innovation School student profile. 

Conditions for Participation:

  1. A non-resident school choice application is required for each student applying and must be received by the deadline in order to be considered in the priority round lottery.  Applications must be received by Friday, June 13, 2025 in order to qualify for the priority round lottery. Notification of acceptance, rejection or waitlist status will be sent to priority round lottery applicants by July 1, 2025.  Those applying after the priority round deadline will be considered on a first come, first serve basis, based on availability, or placed accordingly at the end of that grade’s waitlist.  Applications for non-resident school choice will close for the school year on Friday, September 5, 2025.  Non resident school choice applications received after September 5, 2025 will not be considered for the 2025-26
  2. The number of available spaces per grade level does not guarantee placement within a specific school. Once accepted in a specific grade level, the criteria of the district’s student assignment policy will be used to assign students to specific schools.
  3. Resident students shall be given priority for all placements based on the district’s choice-based student assignment policy.
  4. Applications from siblings of non-resident choice students already enrolled in Salem Public Schools (via the Inter-District non-resident school choice program) and who will remain in the non-resident school choice program during that school year will, by law, receive priority in placement. Such students will be accepted first, IF space is available in the grade they are seeking.
  5. Should the number of applications exceed the number of vacancies ​after​ the placement of siblings, the remaining vacancies will be filled by a random drawing. All applicants not accepted through the random drawing will be randomly selected and placed, in the order of their selection, on a waitlist.
  6. Students currently receiving special education services will be required to provide a current proposed and last-accepted IEP prior to the enrollment process for IEP planning and implementation purposes. However, an applicant is not required to provide an IEP or disclose disability status to Salem Schools during the application process. Salem Schools do not consider whether students have a disability or the nature of their disabilities in determining whether to admit them under school choice, and similarly do not rescind any offers of admission on the basis of a student’s disability or disability-related needs.
  7. With respect to students requiring special needs, in accordance with current law, the district will charge the sending district of the non-resident student the actual cost of educating any special needs student accepted as part of the choice program, including the cost of a substantially separate program or private Chapter 766 day or residential school placement, if applicable.
  8. The District may not deny an application for non-resident School Choice based on a record of a serious discipline problem within the non-resident district (see April 2019 DESE Advisory). ​If an application indicates the student has been suspended or expelled, the District may proceed with its own disciplinary process once the student begins attending the Salem Public Schools.   
  9. Transportation is not available for non-resident school choice students through the Salem Public Schools. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the parents/guardians to provide daily roundtrip transportation and to ensure students arrive at school every day on time and are promptly picked-up after school. 
  10. Non-resident School Choice students may fully participate in all school activities including after school programming and are subject to the same rules, and guidelines as resident students.
  11. Former residents of the Salem Public Schools who move out of the District but wish to have their children remain as students in Salem Schools do not have a unique claim to the seats their children vacated and must apply for non-resident school choice as any other non-resident, except as provided in School Committee Policy 5102.01, which allows a student to continue attendance in Salem Public Schools under two circumstances outside of non-resident school choice: 1) with principal permission in consultation with the superintendent, to continue attendance for purposes

Instructions to Apply 

There are two steps to apply to attend SPS as a non-resident student:  

  1. School Choice Application and Lottery: The deadline was Friday, June 13, 2025. At this time we are no longer accepting applications for the 2025/26 school year. Please check back in the Spring of 2026 for additional information.

Questions and More Information 

For questions regarding the school choice program in Salem, please contact the Family Welcome Center at  978-740-1225 or email welcomecenter@salemk12.org.

Questions and More Information 

For questions regarding the school choice program in Salem, please contact the Family Welcome Center at 978-740-1225 or email welcomecenter@salemk12.org.