School Choice

Lottery only for Change in Assignment Choice requests turned in during the Lottery Window

Space by Grade Level Will Determine Assignments

Lottery results provide the rank order for each student's requested school(s). Please note these results are static and are not updated with post-lottery requests submitted. Parents/Guardians who applied during the Change in Assignment Choice Lottery Window can access their student’s information by using their choice form number. Students’ names are not listed.

The lottery rank order does not indicate placement. Space by grade level will determine school choice assignments. That information will be determined based on student projections for each school by grade. Change in Assignment Choice letters of approval and/or waitlist letters will be mailed to parents no later than Wednesday, March 31, 2027.

Change in Assignment Choice does not affect the process for applying to the District’s 11 magnet academies and virtual program. Those schools are not included in the Change in Assignment Choice process. The three schools listed below have variations in the assignment/choice process. Assignments may be limited due to available space.

If a student is approved for a magnet or choice slot after being accepted into the Virtual Program, parents must state their intent by the deadline or forfeit their Choice/Magnet slot.

Other Assignment Options:

• Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School
  Population plan
• Sterling School – There is a First Choice geocode area, as well as the Change in Assignment Choice Process. Students for the Charles Townes Center are selected using Gifted and Talented criteria.
  Sterling Geocodes
• Wade Hampton High School – Students selected for the Fine Arts Center may request to attend. Other students may attend through the Change in Assignment Choice Process.

(Note: Parents/Guardians who have misplaced their choice form number will need to go to the school where they completed the request form and provide proper identification to receive a copy of their request form or contact the Planning & Demographics Department with their student’s identification number. *It is suggested that you take a picture of the CIA request form.

Questions? Email planning@greenville.k12.sc.us or call (864) 355-7266 or (864)355-7263.

Step 1: Returning Students – Renewal letters will be distributed by the school in October 2026. No action necessary unless changing schools.

Step 2: Choice Lottery Window - From November 4-20, 2026, parents/guardians will visit their first choice/top school to complete a change in assignment choice form. While completing this form a second and third choice can be added (if needed). Parents/guardians will receive a copy of the form with the number (located in the top right corner) to later check the lottery results.  The order of receipt of forms during the lottery window does not affect selection. (Note: Parents/Guardians of 5K students for 2027-28 should submit choice requests during the Choice Lottery Window, and not wait until kindergarten registration. This includes parents/guardians who already have a sibling at the school. Space is the determining factor whether a child is granted a slot.)

Step 3: Lottery Results Posted – Lottery results for GCS resident students will be posted no later than Wednesday, January 13, 2027, lottery results reflecting the numerical order of applicants will be posted on the GCS website. Results provide the rank order of applicants by grade for each school only and do not reflect assignment or approval. This list is static and does not reflect waitlist number(s) after initial choice allocations are complete. Parents/guardians can access lottery numerical order results by using their choice form number (located in the top right corner of the form).

Order of Lottery Assignments (Based on space availability)

• Students with siblings who will return to the requested school on Change in Assignment Choice for the upcoming school year have first priority of assignment to their #1 choice school if space is available.
• Students from overcrowded schools may be given the next priority. These decisions are made annually.
• All other students residing within the school system and children of full-time District employees have the next priority.
• Students residing outside the school system

Step 4: Change in Assignment Choice Notification - By Wednesday, March 31, 2027 notification letters will be mailed to all parents/guardians advising if the student received an approved spot at a requested school or if placed on the waitlist. If waitlisted, a waitlist number will be provided.

Step 5: Waiting Lists Established - Students who are not assigned to a requested choice school will be placed on a wait list for each requested school. If space later becomes available at the requested school(s), parents/guardians will receive a phone call from the Planning & Demographics Dept.  Students on the waitlist are assigned an approved spot based on their established ranking from the waitlist. This process will continue through the first eight days of the 2027-28 school year.

Additional Information

• Parents/Guardians must provide transportation to/from school attending through Change in Assignment Choice.
• For athletic eligibility purposes, enrolling in or attending a different school after the first day of the ninth grade may affect a student’s eligibility as determined by the SC High School League.
• Change in Assignment Choice requests for students qualifying for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or for accommodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act will be considered on an equal basis if the requested school provides an appropriate education in accordance with the student’s Individualized Education Program or Accommodation Plan, is appropriately accessible, and has space in the program the student requires.
• All Change in Assignment Choice requests are filled from lottery results and post lottery results if space is available; otherwise, students are placed on waitlist.

Questions should be directed to Student Assignment Office at (864) 355-7266 or (864)355-7263 or email Planning@greenville.k12.sc.us.

Each of the school system’s 11 magnet academies offers an academic theme or focus that allows students to explore a special interest, gift, talent and/or skill at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Applications for the following school year are accepted each year beginning in November. Magnet slots are limited at each magnet academy. Applications are available via Parent Backpack. See the Magnet Academies webpage for more information.

Students may apply to more than one magnet academy. Applications are scored based on three criteria: attendance, discipline, and grade average (student assessment for rising Grades K5, 1, and 2). Students who apply and qualify during the first application period have a greater chance of being offered a slot than those students who apply and qualify in later rounds.

Siblings of returning magnet students have priority of acceptance in Round 1. If magnet slots are available after all siblings who have qualified are placed, non-siblings will be accepted beginning with the highest to the lowest qualifying scores until the school’s assigned magnet slots have been filled. A lottery system is used when there are more qualifying students than available slots. Qualifying students not selected for a magnet academy are placed on a waitlist.

Magnet Academies

• Admission is open to all eligible students and students may apply to more than one magnet academy.
• Magnet slots at each school are limited.
• Students who apply and qualify during the first application period have a greater chance of being offered a slot than students who apply and qualify in later rounds.
• Qualifying siblings of magnet students who will return the following school year to the school have priority of acceptance in Round 1.

Some schools offer "choices" within the school such as single-gender and multi-level classes as well as an instructional focus. Examples of an instructional focus are engineering at A.J. Whittenberg Elementary, science and health at Monarch Elementary, Environmental Science at Reedy Laurel, and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses offered at various schools. Individual school websites offer additional information about specific school programs.

The district’s four Career Technology Centers offer courses for high school students in a variety of career paths. The Fine Arts Center, located at Wade Hampton High School, accepts auditions for enrollment in various fields of the arts. Students accepted to the Fine Arts Center are allowed students to attend Wade Hampton High School for core academic classes via change in assignment choice.

The Charles Townes Center, located at Sterling School, offers for qualifying students in grades three through eight, an advanced academic curriculum. All high schools offer college preparatory, honors and advanced placement coursework. Sterling School is a total choice elementary program for students residing in identified "first choice" geocodes surrounding the school and then to students whose parents reside outside the "first choice" geocodes.

No students in Greenville County Schools shall be denied equal opportunity to participate in any district program or activity on the basis of race, sex, religion, marital status or national origin, and no student shall be denied a free, appropriate education on account of any handicapping condition.

Greenville County Schools does not currently have any charter schools in operation. 

*Information for students residing outside the attendance boundaries of Greenville County Schools should refer to the interdistrict procedures.