Your Grade 9 Calendar

Check these dates now

A few October dates are worth checking today. The public high school application and SHSAT registration open on October 6, and SHSAT registration closes October 30. If your child may test for a specialized high school, put that closing date on the calendar first.

At Horace Mann, October 15, 2026 matters. The school guarantees student and parent interviews only when the application is submitted and the interview is scheduled by then. Later interviews depend on availability. The interview is required, and the file is not complete without it. Report cards from the previous two years are due in the portal the same day.

One earlier date applies to a narrower group. Fieldston asked sibling, alumni, and faculty or staff families to apply by October 1. If that describes your family, write to the admissions office today and ask what the date being past means for you.

Testing belongs on this week's list too. Trinity accepts ISEE or SSAT results from a test taken between August and December, Fieldston asks for a test administered before December 31, and Packer recommends sitting by mid-December so scores arrive before the early January deadline. That last one is a recommendation, not a required date. Look up test dates and registration now; the Grade 9 overview explains which test each school wants and how to read the scores.

The dates in order

The table runs from October 2026 through January 8, 2027, so the last row is the only one in the new year. A school that is not listed still has its own checklist, so read it before assuming it follows the same rhythm. The overview of private school admissions explains how these pieces fit together.

Public dates can change; check the NYCPS calendar for updates. For a missed school deadline, ask admissions directly what remains possible.

November: forms, aid, and recommendations

November is when the pieces start to connect, and the order matters. Scheduling at some schools opens only after the application is in. At Packer, tours and interviews open for scheduling only after the preliminary application, and more slots open on the first of each month. The preliminary application is not the whole file: the remaining materials, including any aid application, are due January 8 at noon.

Saint Ann's is worth applying to early. If applicants outnumber its interview hours before the deadline, it will stop processing applications. Later applications go into a wait pool with no fee, and families are invited to interview only if the school can add times. Ninth-grade applicants must also attend its virtual info session, live or recorded.

Financial aid runs alongside admissions rather than after it, so start the aid forms with the application. Horace Mann asks for aid materials by November 15 and suggests starting in early October. Other schools' aid dates differ, so check each school's page.

Teacher recommendations come next. ISAAGNY asks families to wait until after November 1 to request its English and math forms, so teachers have time to know your child. The guidance counselor or principal form is described without that wait, and schools may give their own instructions, so follow each school's. The overview's teacher section covers whom to ask.

For what happens at interviews and visits, see the interviews and group visits guide.

January 8: the completion date

January 8, 2027 is the completion date for the four schools in the table’s final row, and the shared ISAAGNY notification schedule is built on applications completed by then. It is not a universal private-school deadline: your own schools set the exact file deadline and cutoff time, and Packer's is noon.

Submitting your part and having the file complete are different things. Teacher forms, transcripts, and score reports arrive from other people, and each takes time to land.

For a progress check, pick a date in mid-December and another in the first days of January. Open each school's portal, read its checklist line by line, and email the school about anything still open. Horace Mann is one school that asks families to confirm in early January that the file is complete.

A missing checkmark can be lag rather than loss, since ISAAGNY says schools update recommendation status after they receive and process a form. Keep your own list as a backup, not as proof of receipt.

February and March: decisions and replies

Trinity, Packer, and Saint Ann’s list February 19, 2027 decisions. Trinity and Packer require replies by noon March 11. Check Saint Ann’s reply date in your materials.

ISAAGNY schools follow a shared timeline: for Grade 9–12 applications completed by January 8, notification no earlier than 4 p.m. on February 19 and replies no later than noon on March 11. That timeline is not a rule for every private school.

Fieldston publishes different dates. Its decisions are emailed after 4 p.m. on February 17, 2027, and families have until noon on March 10 to confirm enrollment.

Several of these deadlines fall at noon, so write the time on the calendar and not only the date. What to weigh once letters arrive, from contracts to waitlists, is in the overview's decisions section.

Public high schools and boarding

The public route is its own process and does not share a form with private schools. The general application, LaGuardia application, and SHSAT registration are separate items, so check which ones your child needs. The specialized high schools guide covers testing and auditions. Offers are released on March 3, about a week before the private reply deadlines above.

Boarding is not a parallel copy of this calendar. Schools set their own dates, portals, and testing, so start with the boarding timeline and portals guide and do not assume a seat will be open late. Aid runs alongside admissions there too.