Admissions
How admissions works: no mystery, no theatre
Five steps, one honest page. Decisions arrive with your indexed-tuition figure in the same letter, and if we think another school would serve your child better, we will say so.
The process
Five steps, in the right order
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Visit us first
Book a morning tour, join an open house, or arrange a private family visit. We'd much rather you see the school before you apply. A school is a place, not a brochure.
Year-round, including summer
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Apply online
A simple application: family information, a short parent statement, and school records where they exist. There is no essay for four-year-olds and no interview coaching worth buying.
Opens Sep 1 · priority deadline Dec 1
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Student visit day
JK to Grade 1 applicants join a play-based small-group visit. Grades 2 to 12 spend a day with their would-be class. Older applicants also sit a short written exercise, and we tell you exactly what it involves beforehand.
January
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Family conversation
A relaxed 45 minutes with an admissions team member and a division head. It is truly a two-way interview: you should be assessing us too, and we'll give you honest answers.
January to February
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Decisions
Decisions and any indexed-tuition offers arrive together in one letter, so there's no aid suspense after the yes. Enrolment contracts are due five weeks later, and we never pressure early signatures.
Decisions Mar 6 · enrol by Apr 10
Key dates
The Fall 2027 timeline
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Sep 1 | Applications open for Fall 2027 entry |
| Sep 26 · Oct 17 · Nov 7 | Open houses: all grades, no registration wall, children welcome |
| Dec 1 | Priority application deadline (applications after this date are considered as space allows) |
| January | Student visit days and family conversations |
| Mar 6 | Decision letters, with indexed-tuition offers included |
| Apr 10 | Enrolment contracts due |
| After Apr 10 | Rolling admissions for remaining spaces. Call us; late moves to Elmbridge happen every year. |
All dates are illustrative. This is a sample site.
The honest part
What we look for, and what you don't need
We are looking for
- Curiosity with evidence: a child who collects rocks, asks why the moon follows the car, or took the toaster apart. The subject doesn't matter; the pull does.
- Kindness under observation: how an applicant treats the kid nobody paired up with tells us more than any transcript.
- Readiness for the grade, honestly assessed, including readiness we can build. We admit potential, not polish.
- Families who want what we actually are: outdoor time in bad weather, real grades, and a school that will tell you hard things kindly.
You truly don't need
- Reading before kindergarten. Truly. Early decoding is a developmental timeline, not a talent signal, and we say this as a school full of reading specialists.
- A résumé for a nine-year-old. Three activities loved beats eleven attended.
- Perfect grades. A real B with a spark has beaten polished indifference in our admissions meetings many times.
- Interview preparation. Coached answers are easy to spot and a little sad. Send us the actual child.
Two things most schools won't say
We do not admit every qualified child. Some years a grade is simply full, and sibling priority and class balance are real limits we won't pretend away.
If we believe another setting would serve your child better, we will say so and, where we can, suggest where to look. That candour has cost us tuition revenue and earned us our reputation. We consider it a good trade.
Questions families ask
The short answers
Twenty-two plain answers about admissions, tuition, learning, and daily life live on one page.
Read the full FAQWhen should we apply?
Applications for Fall 2027 open September 1, and the priority deadline is December 1. After that we consider applications as space allows, and after April 10 we run rolling admissions for any spaces left. Most families tour in the fall and apply by December.
Does my child need to read before junior kindergarten or kindergarten?
No. Early reading is a developmental timeline, not a talent signal. Our youngest applicants join a play-based visit with a few other children. We look for readiness and curiosity, not reading.
Is there an entrance test?
Not for JK to Grade 1. Applicants for Grades 2 to 12 spend a visit day with their would-be class, and older students also do a short written exercise. We tell you exactly what it involves before the day, so there's nothing to prepare or buy.
Step one is a visit.
Morning tour, open house, or a private family visit, booked online in about two minutes.