Applying

Transferring in after 9th grade

Fewer seats, later calendars, and senior year mostly closed. How entering in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade works at public, private, and faith-based schools.

Updated October 2026

The rest of this site follows one calendar, the one that ends with a student starting 9th grade. A student changing schools later, after a move or after a first school turned out to be the wrong fit, meets a smaller process. Seats exist only where someone left, many schools describe their process in a sentence or two, and some of the dates fall outside the season everyone else is in.

How much room there is

A transfer seat opens when a student leaves, so a school doesn't know its number until its own families have re-enrolled. Two schools say what it usually comes to. Marin Academy has admitted "as few as one and as many as ten" transfer students in a year, and Lowell makes 25 to 50 transfer assignments across grades 10 through 12 in a typical year, most of them in 10th. Everywhere else, the school's own word is space permitting.

Senior year is the hardest to enter. Lick-Wilmerding, Urban, College Prep, and Sacred Heart Cathedral say they don't enroll new seniors, Castilleja lists openings through 11th grade, and Jewish Community High School takes a senior only for something like a family relocation. Graduation requirements are part of the reason. Lick-Wilmerding points to its technical arts requirements, and SF High School of the Arts requires two full years there to graduate. University and Branson are the exceptions, with the same process for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders.

Expect a fall start. St. Ignatius, Urban, College Prep, Marin Academy, Menlo School, and Marin Catholic each say they don't take students mid-year. Mid-year entry belongs to the schools built around individual pacing. Fusion Academy, Lydian Academy, Sterne School, Stanbridge Academy, Headlands Prep, and Tilden Prep all enroll year-round.

Independent schools

Most independent schools run transfers on their 9th-grade calendar, with the same application and the same January deadline. University's process for 10th through 12th grade "is identical to that for our ninth-grade class," and Urban, Branson, Drew School, and Marin Academy say the same in their own words. Menlo School adds a round. Transfer applications are due with everyone else's in January, a review in February decides who is invited to interview, and decisions come in March. College Prep lets transfer applicants send PSAT, SAT, or ACT scores in place of the testing it asks of 9th graders.

A few schools publish no process at all and ask families to write or call first, among them Lick-Wilmerding, Convent and Stuart Hall, and Jewish Community High School. Convent and Stuart Hall only interview for grades where they expect openings, so that first email is how you learn whether there is a seat to apply for.

Drew School and Marin Academy both ask that a transfer applicant be leaving their current school in good standing.

Catholic schools

The shared HSPT calendar is for 8th graders. Transfers at the Catholic high schools mostly run in spring, after each school's own families have re-enrolled. St. Ignatius takes transfer applications for a little over two weeks in April and asks for an admissions video. Riordan takes applications any time and reviews them in April. Marin Catholic's are due at the start of March. Sacred Heart Cathedral opens its transfer application in December, with a priority deadline in spring. Notre Dame Belmont accepts transfers year-round, and Junípero Serra asks families to call before applying.

Sacred Heart Cathedral gives financial aid priority to entering 9th graders and returning students, and says it can't guarantee aid even to transfer families who qualify. Ask any school how it handles aid for transfers before you count on it.

SFUSD

The district has three routes, and which one fits depends on where the student is now.

A student new to the district uses the regular SFUSD application, which covers every grade. The main round opens in late October and closes at the start of February, and assignments arrive in March with everyone else's. After that, families can join waitlists and the district's open enrollment through the summer, and a new student can enroll during the school year through the Enrollment Center.

A student already at an SFUSD school can request a move for the spring semester through a Spring Transfer request. It names one school, is due in November, and starts in January. An assignment replaces the student's current school automatically, so the district advises requesting a school only if you definitely prefer it to staying. Lowell and Ruth Asawa SOTA don't take students this way.

Lowell runs its own transfer window from May into June, with results in July. Admission is by high school grades alone. The district takes the four best grades each semester from English, lab science, social studies, math, and world language, scores an A as 8 points down to an F as 0, and gives no extra weight to honors or AP. A typical admitted student averages 60 points a year, three A's and a B each semester. There is no waitlist or appeal.

Ruth Asawa SOTA considers 10th, 11th, and 12th graders "if space is available" and publishes no separate dates for them, so the school is the place to ask.

A student living outside San Francisco needs an interdistrict permit from their home district, and SFUSD approves those transfers case by case. It doesn't grant them for schools that fill up, or ever for Lowell or Ruth Asawa SOTA.

Among the charters, Gateway welcomes "transfer students in all grades each year, space permitting" through its lottery, then holds rolling lotteries as seats open. Life Learning Academy enrolls any time of year.

If your student plays a sport

Under SFUSD's rules, a student who transfers can't play for the new school for one calendar year after enrolling there, unless they meet one of the exceptions set by the California Interscholastic Federation. If a season matters to your student, ask the new school's athletic director which exceptions apply before you settle on timing.

Graduation requirements

A student in foster care, a homeless student, a child of a military family, or a migratory student who transfers after finishing two years of high school is exempt from a district's graduation requirements beyond the state's own, unless the district finds the student can reasonably meet them in four years. California law gives newcomer students in their third or fourth year the same protection. If that describes your student, raise it with the new school's counselor.

Sources

  1. Marin Academy — Admissions FAQs — "as few as one and as many as ten transfer students in a given year"; "Transfers enter in the fall only; we do not accept mid-year transfers"; the same process and January deadline as 9th grade; "We encourage students in good standing at their current school to apply"
  2. SFUSD — Applying to Lowell High School — the grades 10–12 transfer window (May 10 to June 28, 2027, results by the week of July 26), the points formula, "the typical admission points score is 60 per year (3 A's, 1 B per semester)," "between 25-50 transfer assignments," most in 10th grade, no waitlist or appeal
  3. Lick-Wilmerding — FAQ — "accepting applications for rising 10th and 11th graders"; "Due to the Technical Arts curriculum and graduation requirements, we are not able to enroll students into the 12th grade"; email for the transfer process
  4. Urban — Applying — transfers into grades 10 and 11 by space; "We do not accept midyear transfers or rising Seniors"; the process and timeline "are the same as the 9th-grade application"
  5. College Prep — How to Apply — "We welcome applications for 10th and 11th grade openings"; "We do not accept applications for entry into 12th grade"; PSAT, SAT, or ACT scores in place of 9th-grade testing; no mid-year transfers
  6. Sacred Heart Cathedral — Transfer & International Students — 10th and 11th grade transfer applications; "SHC does not accept applications for students applying for 12th grade"; the 2027-28 application available December 2, 2026, priority deadline spring 2027; financial aid priority to 9th graders and returning students
  7. Castilleja — FAQ — "We also welcome applicants to grades 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11"
  8. Jewish Community High School — FAQs — limited space in 9th through 11th grade; seniors only with "extenuating circumstances, such as a family relocation"
  9. SF High School of the Arts — FAQ — "Transfer students must complete at least two full years of study at the HSArts in order to graduate"
  10. University — Admissions FAQ — "The process for students applying for tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade is identical to that for our ninth-grade class"
  11. Branson — Admissions FAQ — applications to transfer "into the 10th, 11th, or 12th grade"; "The application process is the same for each applicant grade"
  12. St. Ignatius — Transfer Applicants — the transfer application open April 12 to April 28, 2027; the admissions video; "We do not accept students mid-year"
  13. Menlo School — Transfer Applicants — January deadline, February review and interview invitations, March decisions; no mid-year transfer applications "for any grade"
  14. Marin Catholic — Admissions Process — transfer applications due March 1, 2027; "we do not allow mid-year transfers"
  15. Fusion Academy, Lydian Academy, Sterne School, Stanbridge Academy, Headlands Prep, and Tilden Prep — year-round and mid-year enrollment
  16. Drew School — Admissions Process — "Applicants must be exiting their prior school in good academic and disciplinary standing"
  17. Convent & Stuart Hall — High School Admissions — grades 10 and 11 "dependent upon available space and attrition"; "we may only assess and interview candidates applying to grades in which we anticipate openings"
  18. Riordan — Apply — "Transfer students are welcome at Riordan and may apply at any time for fall enrollment. Applications are reviewed in April."
  19. Notre Dame Belmont — Admissions — "NDB accepts transfer students year-round"
  20. Junípero Serra — Apply — transfer applicants call or email before applying
  21. SFUSD — Enrollment Key Dates and Enroll in SFUSD — the main round for TK through 12th grade, waitlists, open enrollment, and enrollment during the school year
  22. SFUSD — Spring Transfer — current SFUSD students, one school, due November 13, 2026, starting January 4, 2027; an assignment "automatically replaces the student's previous school assignment"; Lowell and Ruth Asawa SOTA excluded
  23. Ruth Asawa SOTA — Admission FAQs — "Incoming 10th, 11th, 12th grade students are considered if space is available"
  24. SFUSD — Applicant Types — interdistrict permits; "Interdistrict transfers will not be granted for high-demand schools," nor for Lowell or Ruth Asawa SOTA
  25. Gateway — Enroll and Life Learning Academy — Admissions — transfers in all grades by space and rolling lotteries; enrollment "any time of year"
  26. CIF San Francisco Section — Transfer Eligibility — SFUSD's rule: "High school students who transfer are ineligible for athletic participation at their new school for one calendar year after the date of entry at the new school," waivable under CIF's exceptions
  27. California Education Code §51225.1 — the graduation-requirement exemption for students in foster care, homeless students, children of military families, migratory students, and former juvenile court school students who transfer after their second year of high school, and newcomer students in their third or fourth year