Accessibility

Physical Accessibility

Students

A student with accessibility needs is one who

  • uses a mobility device—such as a wheelchair, walker, crutches, or cane—to negotiate the environment, or
  • any student who negotiates the school environment with difficulty and/or at a slower pace than their peers, whether it is due to muscle weakness, lack of endurance, or any other reason.

If your child has a mobility impairment this should be documented in a 504 plan or an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Families

If you are a parent, family member, or member of the school community who requires a reasonable accommodation to attend an event (i.e., parent-teacher conference, school performance, graduation) at a building that is not accessible, please contact the school’s principal to request an accommodation. If an accommodation cannot be provided at the school level, you may contact the Division of Space Management’s Accessibility Coordinator at accessibility@schools.nyc.gov, and your request will be reviewed.

Employees

Employees in need of an accommodation should visit the Employee InfoHub (log in required) for the ADA Accommodations page . This explains how to request accommodations. Employees can also contact the Division of Space Management’s Accessibility Coordinator at accessibility@schools.nyc.gov

Building Accessibility

Accessible Schools are located in fully or partially accessible buildings where an individual with a mobility impairment may enter and access relevant programs and services, including the science laboratory, library, cafeteria, the gymnasium, and at least one restroom.

Each school or program in our directories or on Find a School will be labeled as one of three accessibility levels: fully accessible, partially accessible, or not accessible.

Fully Accessible

A fully accessible building is one in which all educational primary function areas are accessible.

Partially Accessible

A partially accessible school or program allows for anyone with mobility impairments to enter and exit the building, access relevant programs, and have use of at least one restroom, but the entire building may not be accessible.

We continually assess all of our buildings to determine levels of accessibility and ways to improve. Contact schools and programs directly or visit them to learn more about their accessibility. The Building Accessibility page also has a link to citywide Building Accessibility Profiles (BAPs) of school buildings as well as a description of the accessibility rating scale used in the (BAPs).

Download a citywide Building Accessibility Profile List .

Contacts and Resources

For questions about building accessibility, please contact the Division of Space Management’s Accessibility Coordinator at accessibility@schools.nyc.gov

Accessibility in Admissions

All admissions applications include a question that will ask you to indicate whether your child has accessibility needs and requires a school or program in an accessible building. Fully and partially accessible schools prioritize students with accessibility needs. Placements to meet an accessibility need are based on documentation that details the particular needs of the child. If the offer your child gets through the admissions process does not meet their needs, we will work with you after offers are sent.

Find more information about accessibility in admissions on the enrollment for students with accessibility needs page.

Contacts and Resources

  • For questions about Elementary school enrollment, please contact esenrollment@schools.nyc.gov
  • For questions about Middle School, please contact msenrollment@schools.nyc.gov
  • For questions about High School, please contact hsenrollment@schools.nyc.gov
  • For general questions about accessibility in admissions, please contact accessibileadmissions@schools.nyc.gov

Specialized Transportation

The DOE provides specialized transportation to students whose Individual Education Programs (IEPs) recommend this service or to other students with disabilities who cannot take public transportation. Specialized transportation refers to school buses that are staffed by both a school bus driver and an attendant. Instead of being picked up at a centralized stop, the student is picked up at the closest, safest stop to their residence.

Find more information on the specialized transportation page.

Contacts and Resources

For questions about specialized transportation, please contact your student’s IEP team and the school’s transportation coordinator.

The New York City Department of Education (DOE) is committed to ensuring that its programs, services, and activities are accessible to members of the school community with disabilities. Here you can learn about how we uphold this commitment.

Digital Accessibility

The DOE is committed to creating and supporting learning environments that reflect the diversity of New York City. To ensure that our website serves the needs of everyone, it follows the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA. That means the sites work for people with disabilities, including those who are blind and partially sighted.

The DOE is committed to creating accessible digital experiences for all website visitors. If you require assistance with any documents on our site, please email DigitalAccessibility@schools.nyc.gov for help.

We also use Google translate on our site to help with making sure visitors who speak a language other than English can access information. Select a language in the header of our site.

Your feedback is important to us, let us know how this website is working for you by filling out our feedback form, available in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu.

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