Student Visits

Following the parent interview with the class teacher, applicants for grades 2 through 8 are invited to spend three days visiting in the appropriate class. We prefer a 3-day visit because we have found that shorter visits don’t give us an adequate picture of the child, and it’s usually by the third day that the child relaxes into the rhythm. We sometimes meet resistance from parents about the length of the visit because they are concerned about the impact of absences from their current school on their child’s record as well as the fact that they will be missing school work (and since so many families who come to us at the grades level are experiencing school-related issues, this is a particular concern for them). We do understand the concern, but we are firm about the 3-day visitation policy. It is such a big decision and change for all concerned that anything less would not serve the process well.

Drop-off time is 8:15 – 8:25am with classes gathering at 8:25am to enter the building and begin class at 8:30am. Dismissal is at 3:00pm, except for Thursday which has an early dismissal time of 2:00pm so that our faculty can attend the weekly faculty meeting. Visiting students are not eligible to attend the After School program.

Assessment

Grade school students undergo a one-on-one assessment with our educational support teacher during the visit (even if there are no known issues). The assessment takes approximately 45 minutes and takes into consideration academic, social and developmental progress of the student. We try to schedule the assessment on the 2nd or 3rd day of the class visit so the student is a bit more relaxed. The assessment helps us to prepare a transition plan for any student entering the grades mid-stream. We recognize that our curriculum and expectations are different from the other schools. The assessment will help us to better inform parents in which areas their student may be ahead of the class and in which areas some extra support may be needed so that the student will be able to participate fully and confidently with the rest of the class. Generally, for us, these areas tend to be in those subjects which are unique to our school such as handwork and French.

Following a visit, all the observations are gathered, and the Admissions Committee forms a decision (sometimes quite informally through conversations). Our Admissions Committee consists of the class teacher, our educational support teacher, and the enrollment coordinator. We will notify the parents in writing of the admission decision.