DiscoverBPS allows parents to identify their eligible schools, understand the factors impacting their odds of admission, and formulate a ranked list of their top five choices.

1. BOSTON

2. Every year in Boston, parents navigate a complicated school selection process.

3. Code for America built a tool to clarify this process - we call it DiscoverBPS.

4. DiscoverBPS allows parents to see their eligible schools on a map...

5. as well as detailed information, including...

6. transportation options...

7. academic information...

8. and admissions data.

9. The tool is designed to help parents make better decisions for their kids.

10. v
One of our challenges was to translate seemingly straightforward policies.

11. For example, we represented a 1.5 mile “walk zone” as above.

12. But zooming in on the walk zone revealed “edge cases”.

13. So we switched to shapefiles (instead of geocoded addresses)...

14. which allowed us to properly calculate walk zone distances.

15. But does a 1.5 mile circle capture 1.5 miles of walkability? Not really!

16. ta
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Instead, we created a “walkshed” map to convey realistic walk distances.

17. DiscoverBPS went live in November 2011.