Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has 160 schools. While children are always accepted into their zoned schools, more than half of MNPS schools have an application and lottery process, allowing students outside of the school zone to attend. I went through the application process for my daughter’s kindergarten year, and it was more complicated than I thought. Here’s everything you need to know about applying to MNPS optional schools.
School Options Application Details
- Start the process now. Choosing the right school will require research, school tours, and possibly registering to receive a student ID number. It took me several months!
- Apply between Jan. 22 and Feb. 9 for priority seating. Applications are accepted outside this period, but won’t be prioritized.
- You must create a SchoolMint account to submit your application.
- You can choose up to seven schools listed as optional schools. Rank them by your favorite (1) to least favorite (7), though only list schools you want your child to attend. I only listed four on my daughter’s application.
- Your child needs a student ID number. If they don’t yet have one because they’re new to the district or a rising kindergartener, you must apply for one BEFORE turning in your school options application by registering your child. It can take a long time to receive the student ID number after registering. I had to call and email multiple times to receive it before the school options application deadline 😅 I called an enrollment center.
- Some middle and high schools have additional admission requirements.
- MNPS chooses which students get into schools through a random lottery. We received our lottery results in March.
- If your child doesn’t make it into one of the lottery schools, they are placed on a waitlist. When caregivers decline a placement, the child will move up on the waitlist. Many times, if you end up #15 or above on the waitlist, you’ll make it into the school, but sometimes you won’t find out until the first week of school!
- We received email and mail notifications about the school options lottery results, and you’ll also have access to a SchoolMint account to check.
Choosing the Right School For You & Your Child
Choosing a school can be a painstaking process. Optional schools are listed at the very bottom of the school options page. There are 48 optional elementary schools, 43 middle schools, and 21 high schools. That’s a lot of research! Here are some tips:
- Consider transportation. School buses do not pick up out-of-zone students, though public bus transportation is provided for high school students through WeGo.
- Tip: I first looked up each school on Google Maps to determine how much of a drive it would be during rush hour.
- Once you’ve narrowed down the schools you can reasonably drive to and from every day, read about the school’s mission statement and additional programming on their website.
- Research the school online by looking at reviews and Facebook parent groups.
- Tour both your zoned school and the optional schools to compare.
MNPS receives thousands of school options applications. If it’s any consolation, my daughter did not win the school options lottery, and she is now a first-grader at her zoned elementary school. And guess what? We love it. We probably would’ve loved our school option choices, too, but I’m happy with where she’s at.
