Community School is now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 school year. Please contact the Director of Admissions Katie Robins for more information about space availability and application details. To find out more about our new Residential Program, please click here.

The deadline for applying to grades PreK-12 is March 1, 2012. Notification of admission decisions will be mailed by mid-March 2012.

We encourage parents to meet with the Director of Admissions and the appropriate Division Head (Elementary School, Middle School, Upper School) to tour the campus, learn more about our curriculum and discuss your child’s educational needs.

If you are interested in applying for admission to our Early Childhood Center (for children ages Two through Five), please click here.

Application
An applicant and his or her parents or guardians should complete an application and return it with a $40 application fee. This is the School's fee for processing the application and is not refundable. International students are subject to a $100 application fee. Download application here.

In addition to the regular Upper School application, applicants to the Sun Valley Ski Academy will need to get a recommendation letter from a coach and/or a personal reference of your choice. Please substitute the SVSA Writing Sample in lieu of the Writing Sample in the MS/US application packet. To find out more about the Sun Valley Ski Academy, click here.

Classroom Visit
We ask applicants for grades One through Twelve to spend a full day in class with our students. Classroom visits generally take place in December, January and February and offer an excellent opportunity for prospective students and our faculty to get acquainted. On the day of the visit, applicants for grades Six through Twelve will be interviewed by the Director of Admissions and the appropriate Division Head. These informal interviews give us a personal introduction to each student as we provide the student with information about the school.  International and Residential applicants who cannot make it to Community school for a visit will be interviewed by the Director of Admissions on Skype.

Testing
SSAT (Applicants for grades Six through Twelve)
We require all Middle and Upper School applicants to take the SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test). In order to meet our March 1 application deadline, students must take the November, December, January or February test. We administer the SSAT on the Community School campus on the Saturday mornings listed below. Students should arrive by 8:15 a.m. and will be done with the test by noon.

Applicants need to pre-register for the SSAT. The $116 is paid directly to SSAT when you register. SSAT charges an additional $30 fee for late registration, so please pay close attention to the registration deadline. We will include SSAT registration information in your Application Packet. The preferred way to register for the test is online at www.ssat.org. Our Test Center Code at The Community School is 2547; in order for us to receive your child's test results, you must enter this code in the appropriate place when you register.

Results of the ISEE may also be submitted. Applicants for the 11th and 12th grades may submit PSAT or SAT scores

2011-2012 SSAT Testing Calendar
October 15, 2011
Registration Deadline: October 22
Late Registration Deadline ($30.00 extra): October 29

November 12, 2011
Registration Deadline: October 22
Late Registration Deadline ($30.00 extra): October 29

December 10, 2011
Registration Deadline: November 19
Late Registration Deadline ($30.00 extra): November 26

January 7, 2012
Registration Deadline: December 17
Late Registration Deadline ($30.00 extra): December 24

February 4, 2012
Registration Deadline: January 14
Late Registration Deadline ($30.00 extra): January 21

March 3, 2012*
Registration Deadline: February 11
Late Registration Deadline ($30.00 extra): February 18

April 21, 2012*
Registration Deadline: March 18
Late Registration Deadline ($30.00 extra): March 25

June 9, 2012*
Registration Deadline: May 20
Late Registration Deadline ($30.00 extra): May 27

*The scores for these test dates will not be available by the March 1, 2012 Application Deadline

Skills Assessment
(Applicants for grades One through Five)
On the day of an applicant’s visit to the Elementary School, the classroom teacher will assess the applicant’s skills in the areas of reading, writing and math. The skills assessment evaluates an applicant’s mastery of basic grade level concepts. The assessment is brief and no preparation is necessary.

Developmental Assessment
(Kindergarten applicants)
In lieu of undergoing a classroom visit or testing, Kindergarten applicants will participate in our Developmental Assessment Day in late February. The format—which models a preschool day with activities like circle time, arts and crafts, and free play—gives us an opportunity to observe our youngest applicants in a structured but relaxed social setting. No preparation is necessary aside from assuring your child that he or she will spend a fun morning "playing school" with a small group of new friends. Along with the Parent Statement, Parent Interview and Teacher Evaluation completed by your child’s current preschool teacher, the Assessment Day offers the Admission Committee additional insight into each child’s developmental readiness for our full-day (8:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.) five-day-per-week (Monday-Friday) Kindergarten program.

Kindergarten Admission Criteria
The Admission Committee will review Kindergarten applications and make decisions based upon a number of factors, including those outlined below. In addition to the following criteria, we make every attempt to balance our Kindergarten class by age and developmental readiness in order to ensure healthy social interaction and dynamic learning groups. Our top priority is to provide an early childhood education experience in which each of our students can feel successful.

Applicants will meet at least two of these three criteria to be admitted to Kindergarten:
1. Have reached five years of age by September 1 of the year of enrollment.
2. Have completed a parent-child interview with the Director of Admission and be considered by the Admission Committee to be a good match with The Community School’s unique mission and curriculum.
3. Be judged developmentally ready by the Admission Committee. Criteria for this judgment generally include a formal developmental assessment and recommendations from current and previous preschool teachers or care providers. Components of "developmental readiness" include social skills and the ability to interact positively with other children, length of attention span, small and large motor skills, visual and auditory readiness, and the level of maturity required for a more demanding and structured atmosphere than preschool.

Admission Summary
A completed application consists of the following materials:

Kindergarten
1. Application Form and $40 Application Fee
2. Parent Statement
3. Teacher Evaluation (completed by applicant’s current preschool teacher)
4. Parent Interview
5. Developmental Assessment

Grades One through Five
1. Application Form and $40 Application Fee
2. Parent Statement
3. Teacher Evaluation (completed by current homeroom teacher)
4. School Records Request (submit to applicant’s current school)
5. Visit

Grades Six through Twelve
1. Application Form and $40 Application Fee
2. Parent Statement
3. Applicant Response
4. Writing Sample
5. Homeroom Teacher Evaluation (Sixth grade applicants only, completed by current homeroom teacher)
6. English Teacher Evaluation (Seventh-Twelfth grade applicants only, completed by current English teacher)
7. Math Teacher Evaluation (Seventh-Twelfth grade applicants only, completed by current Math teacher)
8. School Records Request (submit to applicant’s current school)
9. SSAT
10.Visit