Booker T. Washington: Open Admissions, Serious Work

Grade 6 admissions

One program code, three geographic priority levels

NYC residents apply during fifth grade, or during sixth grade when their elementary school ends in sixth. Families may list any city public middle school.

Booker T.’s sole program code is M054M, and the prior MySchools listing called it open to New York City residents.

The dated priority order was: siblings who would attend together, then students and residents of District 3, then other city residents. A child may gain District 3 priority by living there or attending public school there.

Confirm the child’s displayed priority group inside MySchools rather than inferring it from a mailing address.

List schools in true preference order. Booker T. cannot see where a family ranks it.

Adding more choices below it does not reduce the chance of a Booker T. offer. The match returns the child’s highest possible choice after priorities, seats, method, and random number are applied.

Prior-cycle evidence · 2025–26

The numbers describe priority pools, not an acceptance rate

The MySchools backing record is labeled 2025–26 School Year. It reports 220 general-education seats and 329 true-considered applicants, with all seats filled.

For the students-with-disabilities group, it reports 63 seats and 26 applicants, with seats left unfilled.

Among general-education applicants, all reported siblings received offers. Almost all income-priority District 3 applicants did, and about 180 of roughly 210 other District 3 applicants did.

No reported out-of-district general-education applicants received offers. MySchools rounds small groups and several counts.

The students-with-disabilities pool behaved differently. MySchools reports that all District 3 applicants and all small out-of-district groups received offers.

A child enters this seat group only when the IEP recommends special-education instruction for more than 20% of the academic schedule. A 504 Plan alone does not qualify.

Do not divide seats by applicants and publish a personal probability. The pools have different priorities, MySchools excludes children matched to a higher choice, and the process uses random numbers.

Fall 2027 seats, applicant behavior, and priority outcomes can change.

What happened to the screen

The current dated evidence says open—not screened

Booker T. still carries a selective reputation. An official 2020 Manhattan middle-school guide classified M054M as screened.

That historical rule is obsolete evidence. The live MySchools record is labeled 2025–26 and explicitly says Open, with students randomly selected and no selection criteria.

This distinction matters. Fourth-grade grades do not rank applicants to an open program.

Neither attendance, test scores, teacher recommendations, demonstrated interest, nor tour attendance appears as a selection factor in the dated Booker T. record. For Fall 2027, verify that the new card still says Open before relying on this rule.

Academic program

A structured core leaves room for music, language, and electives

The current handbook places sixth graders in integrated humanities, pre-algebra, life science, art, music rotation, language rotation or skills support, enrichment, and physical education. Seventh grade adds an elective and health.

Eighth grade lists Algebra or Regents Algebra and Earth Science or Regents Earth Science.

The 2025–26 MySchools listing names honors ELA, mathematics, science, social studies, and world language. It also names accelerated Algebra and Earth and Space Science.

These are available pathways, not a promise that every student reaches every accelerated class.

The school curriculum says District 3 uses Illustrative Mathematics. It describes humanities as a writing-heavy combination of literature and history.

The sixth-grade pages call for research, essays, grammar, comprehension, ancient civilizations, and at least 40 books. Ask which text lists and targets remain current for Fall 2027.

MySchools describes 35 classes and a September 2025 maximum of 23 students per class. It also names a science lab, two computer labs, and a library with more than 30,000 items and a full-time librarian.

These school-authored directory claims need current confirmation on a tour.

Homework, grading, and organization

Booker T. publishes a real workload policy

The July 2026 handbook says students can expect about 30 minutes of homework each evening in each major subject. It separately requires 30 minutes of daily independent reading.

A student also carries a planner every day, and the school expects families to monitor it periodically.

The grading split is 70% assessments and 30% homework and classwork. The school issues four numerical report cards.

A missed review assignment may not be made up, though one zero is dropped each marking period. Late long-term work loses one-third of a letter grade per day.

Written rules are useful, but they do not show the lived week. Ask for a recent sixth-grade calendar with quizzes, essays, projects, reading, and rehearsals.

Also ask how teachers coordinate deadlines and how IEP, 504, illness, and other documented needs alter the standard policy.

Languages and school-day arts

Sixth grade samples first; later grades narrow the choice

During sixth grade, students rotate quarterly through band, chorus, strings, and piano. The school says each rotation ends with a short recital.

At year-end, most students choose band, strings, chorus, piano, or art for Grades 7 and 8.

Most sixth graders also rotate through Latin, Spanish, French, and Mandarin for about ten weeks each. Most then choose one language for Grades 7 and 8.

The curriculum describes multi-year language study, while MySchools also lists middle-school and honors world language.

The word most matters. The handbook says students below grade level in reading or mathematics receive skills support instead of language and may receive more remediation during electives.

Ask how placement is decided, reviewed, and communicated. Also ask whether a student can later reenter language or arts.

IEPs, 504 Plans, counseling, and MLLs

Published structures are a starting point, not a service map

The 2025–26 MySchools overview says Booker T. had Integrated Co-Teaching classes at every grade. The 2026–27 handbook names an IEP teacher, a counselor for each grade, school nurses, 504 support, and guidance referrals through the homeroom teacher.

NYCPS also lists a school-based health provider with mental-health services.

Those pages do not publish ICT sections by subject, SETSS scheduling, special-class options, related-service staffing, counselor caseloads, executive-function interventions, or service-delivery rates. Bring the actual IEP or 504 Plan.

Ask who delivers each mandate, where, how often, and what class the child misses.

The MySchools overview says students needing language development have a place in the school. Yet its dated record lists no specific English-language-learner program, and school pages do not explain ENL staffing or model.

That blank is not proof that services are absent. Ask about stand-alone or integrated ENL, proficiency groupings, family interpretation, and bilingual evaluation.

Early Academy is another support route. MySchools describes before-school small groups and academic help.

The current handbook lists academy periods before and after school on Tuesday through Thursday, while the homepage says Wednesday morning. Verify the actual schedule, invitation rules, group size, and transportation.

The ordinary school day

The day is 8:40 to 3:00, with late lunch for sixth grade

The 2026–27 handbook sets school hours at 8:40 a.m.–3:00 p.m. Homeroom starts the day, seven 48-minute periods follow, and a short homeroom closes it. Sixth grade eats during Period 6, from 1:13 to 2:01.

Seventh and eighth graders eat earlier.

Students line up by grade on the basketball court and enter through an alley door. Sixth graders dismiss through the 107th Street flagpole exit.

The handbook warns that narrow hallways rule out wheeled bags. A visit should include a normal transition and dismissal, not only a presentation.

Grab-and-go breakfast is available near the court entrance. The library operates during school and at selected before-school, lunch, and after-school times.

The handbook uses Jupiter for family grade alerts and expects concerns to begin with the teacher or homeroom teacher.

Arts, athletics, and belonging

The catalog is broad, but participation still has gates

The current activities page lists a school musical and sports including baseball or softball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, flag football, pickleball, track, ultimate frisbee, floor hockey, badminton, cheerleading, and esports. The 2025–26 MySchools record also names debate, robotics, newspaper, coding, math team, theater, and visual arts.

After-school and family logistics

This is a club program, not yet a Fall 2027 care guarantee

The current school page says clubs generally run Monday through Thursday from 3:15 to 5:00 p.m. Homework help and library can end at 4:15. Activities operate in fall, winter, and spring sessions.

There is no published promise of Friday coverage, school-break care, or a late bus.

Registration is first come, first served. Some activities cost money, while free or reduced-price options and scholarships are available.

The current page says transactions are final, refunds are unavailable, and club changes carry a $25 transfer fee. These are current terms, not Fall 2027 prices.

A family needing five-day care should keep a backup plan. Ask for the Fall 2027 brochure, total price, scholarship process, enrollment cap, dismissal procedure, independent-walker rule, and coverage when a club is canceled.

Sports schedules may end later than ordinary clubs.

Commute and physical access

Transit is plentiful; the building itself is the hard constraint

MySchools places Booker T. near the 1 train at 103rd Street and the B and C at Cathedral Parkway–110th Street. It lists the M2, M3, M4, M5, M7, M10, M11, M60-SBS, M104, and M116.

Test both arrival and a 5:00 p.m. club pickup on weekdays.

The handbook says the school does not decide OMNY or bus eligibility. NYCPS assigns transportation from the child’s recorded address and program.

Do not infer yellow-bus service from a sibling’s route or from District 3 priority. Confirm the Fall 2027 record with the Office of Pupil Transportation.

NYCPS rates the M054 building 1 out of 10 for accessibility. Its profile says some ground-floor access exists, but no classrooms or bathrooms are accessible.

This is materially more restrictive than the generic label Partially Accessible.

A mobility-affected family needs an individual route review before ranking. Ask about the accessible entrance, every likely classroom, laboratory, library, gym, cafeteria, nurse, bathroom, stage, emergency route, and after-school room.

NYCPS also offers enrollment support when a listed school cannot meet access needs.

Safety, climate, and building evidence

A strong survey headline still needs subgroup questions

The 2025–26 MySchools data gives Booker T. an Excellent safety-and-climate rating. It reports that 92% of students felt safe in hallways, bathrooms, locker rooms, and the cafeteria.

The same record reports 98% passing core courses and Excellent ratings for instruction and family relationships.

That 92% is meaningful, but it is not universal and may hide subgroup differences. The public card does not show who responded or where concerns cluster.

Ask current students how adults handle bathrooms, lunch, online conflict, identity-based harm, repeated low-level behavior, and retaliation after reporting.

The handbook directs safety concerns to a Dean of Safety and Mediation and publishes conduct rules. NYCPS names Respect for All and sexual-harassment-prevention contacts.

Contact lists prove escalation routes exist; they do not prove response speed or effectiveness.

Official sources also conflict on shared space. The NYCPS school profile says Booker T. shares its building, while the 2025–26 MySchools data says shared space is false.

Ask which organizations use the building, when they use it, and how entry, gym, yard, auditorium, and security are managed.

Confirmed Fall 2027 dates

The application runs from October 14 to December 11

The Fall 2027 middle-school application opens Wednesday, October 14, 2026. It closes Friday, December 11.

Offers release Wednesday, April 7, 2027. Booker T. had no separate test-registration step in the 2025–26 listing.

School-specific Fall 2027 tours are not yet posted. Booker T.’s admissions page still shows concluded Fall 2026 tours and one prior virtual open house.

Those dates explain the old cycle only. Use the MySchools events calendar and school page after applications open.