Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay families can start applying Thursday, Oct. 1, for more than 300 tuition-free magnet programs and specialized prekindergarten seats across Miami-Dade County Public Schools for the 2027-28 school year.

The application window runs through Jan. 15, 2027, according to the district's Office of School Choice and Parental Options. Any application received after that date will not be accepted.

The window covers every K-12 magnet program districtwide, including schools in the Coral Reef Senior High feeder pattern. Each child may apply to up to five programs at five different schools.

All programs are tuition-free.

Five new programs join the catalog this cycle, M-DCPS announced Wednesday, Sept. 30:

  • SportsPLEX at Miami Killian Senior High, focused on careers in medicine, law, finance and engineering tied to the athletic industry
  • SpaceHUB at Booker T. Washington Senior High and Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High
  • Classical Academy Magnet at Village Green Elementary
  • Culinary Arts at Riviera Middle School
  • Information Technology at Lamar Louise Curry Middle School

All magnet applications go through the M-DCPS Parent Portal at dadeschools.net. Parents log in with an Apple ID or Google ID and select the Admissions Application tile. The portal is also available through the Dadeschools Mobile App on iPhone and Android.

Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) applications open the same day. Five specialized magnet VPK programs and roughly 16 additional school sites will use a lottery. At all other neighborhood schools, VPK seats are generally filled on a first-come, first-served basis, the district said.

Most magnet programs use a computerized random lottery after the Jan. 15 deadline. Visual and performing arts programs require auditions. The district sends selection notifications around March 15, 2027.

Then-Superintendent Dr. Jose L. Dotres said in April, when the district opened its separate open-seats application for the 2026-27 school year, that M-DCPS aims to give "every child in Miami-Dade … access to a world-class, specialized education."

Families with questions can call the Office of School Choice and Parental Options at 305-341-0999 or visit yourchoicemiami.org for the full program catalog and application guides.