Applying in Preschool

An important part of the Application Journey is the Assessment. It varies on the age of the applicant and the nature of his/her current education system.

Why do we assess applicants, especially the youngest ones? 

• To capture a comprehensive, baseline assessment across all applicants and across multiple developmental domains (language, gross or fine motor skills,...)
• To provide a snapshot of the applicant’s personality
• To understand how to best support the prospective student in our unique learning environment
• To assist in creating balanced class groups

WHY review the assessment process under COVID?

• To adapt to the current health context and the safety protocols in place on campus
• To provide greater flexibility for families and minimize stress
• To meet the admissions committee's needs for a comprehensive assessment of each candidate

For Applicant to LPE ( La Petite Ecole)

• Assessment for these very young children is particularly challenging to conduct remotely. 
• The applicant and his/her parents will be invited to come to campus to play outdoors and outside of school hours with appropriate safety measures
• Invitations will be sent after January, so that assessment is closer to school start

For Applicants to Preschool, Pre-K or K 

• Assessment will rely on parents submitting a series of three short parent-administered videos  of 1-2 mins each
• The applicant will respond to short prompts
• Flexibility with filming on parent phone from their own home
• Easy for parents to upload videos to SchoolAdmin
• Limited material and supplies necessary 

Note to K applicants: if you are applying to other private schools in the ISSFBA group and have already produced an assessment video, we will accept this video in lieu of our assessment video. 

Video Directions

• Select 3 of the 4 following themes to address in short videos (1-2 mins each):

1. “Can you make a drawing? Can you describe it for me?” (this video is required)
2. “What is your favorite toy ? Tell me about it” 
3. “ What is your favorite animal? How does it move, what does it say?”
4. “What is your favorite song? Can you sing it for me?”

• Start the video by clearly asking the prompt. Feel free to restate the prompt as you see fit to help get your child fully engage in this exercise.
• You can be in the video or prompting the child while filming.
• Videos can be filmed on a phone (.MOV or .MP4) in a vertical or horizontal format. We are not looking for a professionally filmed video with perfect lighting or angles. Videos should not be edited, but rather 1-2 minutes each of continuous filming. 
• Conversation in the video can be conducted in English or French

**Submitted videos will be part of the applicant file. They will therefore be confidential and viewed only by the Admissions Committee to get to know your child through the application process. 

File Upload

• The videos will be uploaded directly onto the SchoolAdmin Applicant Checklist (item : Applicant Assessment Videos)
• Multiple video files can be uploaded under the same checklist item
• The system allows you to upload up to 4 videos, but only 3 are required.

Admissions decisions are made by an Admissions Committee. Its decisions are based on feedback from the admissions team and the academic teams.

The first notifications are sent by email early March, based on a calendar agreed upon with the other private schools of the Bay Area. (see the main dates in the panel below)

Past these dates, applications are reviewed regularly and notifications are sent consequently.

Upon reception of their acceptance news, parents have one week to secure their enrollment by signing their enrollment contract electronically and paying their non-refundable enrollment fees. (please note that tuition information for 2022-2023 will not be posted before early February).