Placement Priorities
Each year through the budget planning process, Minneapolis Public Schools determines class-size targets, and how many classrooms will be at each elementary, middle and high school in each grade.
Our online placement system assigns every incoming school request a random lottery number and a priority level based on the factors below.
This is a simplified version of Regulation 5262A: Protocols For School Assignment. If you have questions about the enrollment process, please contact us at sps.department@mpls.k12.mn.us or 612-668-1840.
- Students who live in the school’s geographic attendance area
- Students who live in the school’s area and have a sibling who currently attends the requested school and will continue to attend for the coming school year
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis but outside the school’s attendance area and have a sibling who currently attends the requested school and will continue to attend for the coming school year
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis but outside the school’s attendance area
- Students whose home address is not in the city of Minneapolis
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis and within a half-mile radius of the school
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis and were unable to enroll at their requested attendance area community school due to lack of capacity
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis and have a sibling who currently attends the requested school and will continue to attend for the coming school year
- As part of MPS’s goal of having magnet schools that are economically diverse, students are prioritized based on whether or not they qualify for educational benefits (previously called free and reduced price lunch). Students qualifying for educational benefits are prioritized for schools that have lower numbers of qualifying students and non-qualifying students are prioritized for schools with lower numbers of non-qualifying students.
- Students who are experiencing homelessness
- Students who live in the school’s geographic attendance area
- Students who live in the school’s area and have a sibling who currently attends the requested school and will continue to attend for the coming school year
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis but outside the school’s attendance area and have a sibling who currently attends the requested school and will continue to attend for the coming school year
- Students seeking to enroll in any MPS high school through the “We Want You Back” recruitment program
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis but outside the school’s attendance area
- Students whose home address is not in the city of Minneapolis
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis
- Current eighth graders who are participating in similar academic programming in an MPS middle school
- Students who live inside the city of Minneapolis and have a sibling who currently attends the requested school and will continue to attend for the coming school year
For High Five and Three School programs, students who live in the requested school’s attendance area AND meet one or more of the following criteria are prioritized:
- Turn age 4 by Sept. 1 (for High Five)
- Turn age 3 by Sept. 1 (for Three School)
- Meet one of the following eligibility criteria:
- Qualify for educational benefits (based on family income).
- Be experiencing housing instability.
- Qualify for special education services (speech-only services are not considered for priority placement).
- Be identified, through health and developmental screenings, with a potential risk factor that may influence learning.
Having a home language other than English is not a qualifying criteria for eligibility.
While Minneapolis Public Schools makes every effort to place all students at their first requested school, schools and programs have limited capacity. Families wishing to appeal their child’s elementary, middle or high school assignment may do so based on the criteria in our appeals process form below. The decisions of the Appeals Committee are final and will be honored by the Student Enrollment Department.
2023-24 K-12 School Assignment Appeal Process Form
High Five Appeals
Due to limited High Five capacity, children who are turning 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2023, and meet at least one of the criteria below are prioritized for enrollment in our High Five classrooms.
Students are prioritized who:- Qualify for educational benefits (free or reduced-price lunch) based on family income
- Are English learners (EL) or have a home language other than English
- Receive special education services
- Are designated as homeless or highly mobile (HHM)
If you already requested a High Five but we were not able to place your child, and your child meets any of the above criteria, please reach out to the Enrollment Office at 612-668-1840 or SPS.Department@mpls.k12.mn.us. We will change your child’s priority status and work with you to place your child in High Five if space is available.
If your child does not meet any of the criteria listed above, your child will be added to a High Five waiting list and during the summer, we may begin offering remaining High Five openings to students who do not meet the above criteria.
Placement appeals for students who do not meet the High Five criteria will be reviewed; however, students who qualify for the eligibility criteria will be prioritized.
