The School District of Philadelphia is using a new school selection process for the 2025-2026 academic year, aiming to streamline applications and increase fairness. The new "Find Your Fit" system, opening September 13, allows students from pre-kindergarten through 11th grade to apply to any district school with available space outside their neighborhood.

Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said the changes respond to family feedback, introducing a more user-friendly search tool called Explore, launched August 5. "This new system will allow applicants to better account for their preference, provide more students with an initial offer, and reduce the time to fill open seats," Watlington said. 

Key updates include a Nobel Prize-winning algorithm that considers both eligibility and student preferences. Applicants can now rank their top five school choices, potentially receiving one offer during the initial phase. Students remain on waitlists only for higher-ranked schools where they didn't receive an offer.

The district aims to address equity concerns by prioritizing applications from underrepresented zip codes. Multiple languages will be available for the online application.

This overhaul follows an independent audit of the 2022-2023 selection process by Accenture. 

The application window closes on October 23, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Officials expect the new system to facilitate faster acceptances and more efficient seat allocation across Philadelphia schools.