Citywide choice, starting in sixth grade
In Baltimore City, only elementary school is tied to your address. From sixth grade on, every student enters a citywide choice process for both middle and high school, picking from the same full list of options as families anywhere else in the city, including some of the strongest public schools in Maryland. A Seton Hill address opens the same doors as any other.
Your zoned elementary school
The closest zoned elementary school to Seton Hill is The Historic Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary School, a Pre-K through 5th grade school at 507 W. Preston Street, a few blocks north of the neighborhood. Zone lines in Baltimore City don’t always follow the boundaries you’d expect from a map, so confirm your specific address using the city’s own school locator.
An out-of-zone transfer is also possible if a preferred school has open seats, worth asking about directly at whichever school catches your eye.
More paths to a great fit
- Charter schools are open to anyone citywide. Any Baltimore City student can apply to any charter school in the city, regardless of address.
- Four selective public high schools accept applications citywide: Baltimore City College, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Western High School, and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. These are consistently ranked among Maryland’s strongest public high schools, with admission based on a composite score (a combination of grades and test scores), current minimum is 610.
- Baltimore School for the Arts is an audition-based public high school open to students from anywhere in the city.
- Free public pre-K (pre-K3 and pre-K4) is available citywide, so the search for a great school can start well before kindergarten.
Where to start
The City Schools choice process for middle and high school runs on a set calendar: open houses in the fall, applications in January, placements in March. Baltimore School Choice is an independent nonprofit that walks families through the whole process year by year, worth bookmarking well before your child is actually choice-eligible.
For hands-on enrollment help, including in languages other than English, the district’s Multilingual Enrollment and Support Center is at 200 E. North Ave, or by phone at 443-642-4481. Live Baltimore’s education resources are also a solid general starting point for comparing options across the city.
The Best Public and Private High Schools: http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/2010/8/the-best-public-private-high-schools
US News’ Baltimore School ratings: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/maryland/districts/baltimore-city-public-schools
Continuing Education:
Here’s a handy reference for evaluating where to go and why! http://www.bestschools.com/online-colleges-in-maryland