Student working on her computer.
Teacher Certification

Fingerprinting

New York State law requires that the Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability conduct fingerprint-supported criminal history background checks for applicants for certification and all prospective employees of school districts, charter schools, and BOCES.

Note: Set up your TEACH account prior to getting fingerprinted so that your fingerprint clearance has a place to get reported to! Fingerprint clearance is required for fieldwork and student teaching placements.

Campus-Specific Instructions

Westchester Students
New York City Students

Westchester Students

Set up your TEACH ACCOUNT (do this first) and get FINGERPRINTED IMMEDIATELY. All teacher candidates must be fingerprinted before going into public schools. This is your responsibility to take care of as soon as you’re admitted to the SOE.

NYSED only accepts fingerprint clearance from IdentoGO.

  • Click on “GET FINGERPRINTED”
  • Search for the closest location by zip code
  • You must pre-register. You cannot just show up.
  • You will be asked for a fingerprint code: 14ZGQT

Note: If you have been previously fingerprinted by any agency/police department/company other than the NYC Department of Education (NYC DOE) or the NY State Education Department, NYSED is legally unable to use those fingerprint results to verify your security clearance.

New York City Students

All teacher candidates must have a TEACH account and be fingerprinted before going into public schools.

This is your responsibility to take care of as soon as you’re admitted to the SOE.

Step #1: Create A Teach Account

Set up your TEACH account before getting fingerprinted so that your fingerprint clearance has a place to get reported to! Teach is a service developed by New York State to maintain and record all of your information needed for teaching certification. It’s your portal of communication with NYSED.

Step #2: Start The Pets Process

You must be entered in PETS (Personnel Eligibility Tracking System) before you are fingerprinted.

Email the Program Coordinator, Hayden Garrabrant, in the Pace NYC Office of School Partnerships at: hgarrabrant@pace.edu to schedule an appointment (a Zoom or a phone call is fine) so he can add you into PETS as a Pace fieldwork student/student teacher. You will need to provide him with your social security number, so please have that ready.

Step #3: Complete Applicant Gateway Forms and Get Fingerprinted

Once you are added into the PETS roster, you will receive an email from PETSAdminSupport@schools.nyc.gov within 24 hours. Please look for this email and check your spam folder. You should be checking the same email address that was entered into PETS. This email will direct you to the Applicant Gateway and will include specific instructions you must follow within ten (10) days. Please complete all the required forms in Applicant Gateway. The Applicant Gateway will then prompt you to be fingerprinted by Identogo.

Documents required for fingerprinting:

  • A copy of the DOE referral form
  • Required documents, as specified by Identogo

All fingerprinting is done by appointment only. You can schedule an appointment for fingerprinting by going to Identogo's website, as directed in the Applicant Gateway. Once you access the Identogo website, please enter the following service code when prompted: 1588JG. The fingerprinting fee will be $101.75, which can be paid online when you set your fingerprinting appointment or in-person when you appear for your fingerprinting appointment.

Note: a nomination will expire after 60 days if you do not get fingerprinted! If your nomination expires, you will have to reach out to the Office of School Partnerships to be re-nominated and repeat the PETS process.

Step #4: Complete The OSPRA 104 Form

After fingerprinting is complete, please fill out the OSPRA 104 form, which allows the DOE to release background check results to the New York State Education Department for certification in NY State. Access the OSPRA 104 form. This transfers the fingerprints from PETS into TEACH. It usually takes about 7-10 days for the fingerprints to post in your TEACH account.

OSPRA 104 forms should be uploaded directly to the HR Connect Web Portal. If you are an NYC Public Schools' employee and have not yet registered, please do so. Non-employees can also register by using the "Non-Employee Log In" and then creating an account.

  1. Once logged in, upload you OSPRA request by following these steps:
  2. Click "Upload Documents" which appears at the top of the screen.
  3. All fields on the Upload Document page must be completed to submit your form.
  4. From the Category drop down menu select the appropriate category.
  5. Enter the appropriate OSPRA form in the Subject field.
  6. Enter any additional details in the Notes field.
  7. Attach the form/supporting document(s) by clicking the Choose File button.
  8. When you have uploaded all pertinent documents, Click Submit.

Please continue to check your PETS eligibility status in the Applicant Gateway throughout this process. If the process is taking longer than expected, please reach out to:

Note: If you have been previously fingerprinted by any agency/company other than the NYC Department of Education, the NYC DOE is legally unable to use those fingerprint results to verify your security clearance, and you will have to be re-fingerprinted.

You may not begin your fieldwork/student teaching placement or enter schools until you have received clearance.

Verify Fingerprint Status

ALL Students - Verify that Fingerprints have been received on TEACH (2 weeks after you have been fingerprinted).