Admissions

Policy

Acorn is committed to bringing young people together from a broad spectrum of ethnic, national, and religious backgrounds. We welcome diversity and teach our children to broaden their perspective of the world through friendship, mutual respect, and understanding. In Admissions, our goal is to help families find the best match between student and school. Ideally, a decision to make application is indication of a family's embrace of the principles integral to a Montessori program.

Because Montessori education is developmental, there are seldom openings for children age four and older who have not attended another Montessori school. All programs, except Summer Camp, are five days a week. Half-day sessions are recommended for Toddlers, and three and four year olds in Primary. Kindergarteners, and older four year olds, enroll for the full day (8:45 AM - 2:45 PM) to receive full benefit from "third-year" and the longer day in the Primary program respectively. Great Oaks Elementary gives priority in admissions to children with full Montessori primary education, but will consider exceptions based on student's character and self motivation.

An application initiates a second series of steps designed to provide more intensive exploration and discussion, leading to a clear decision regarding enrollment. After reading through our literature, we encourage you to join us for a tour of our facility. The tour lasts about an hour. Please contact our school office for an appointment.

We carefully consider each application in the order of its submission. Most applications are received between November and January, but applications submitted after that are given prompt attention, and openings are filled as space becomes available.

When we receive your application, we will contact you to arrange for your child's first visit to Acorn. Toddlers and Primary students will spend 15 minutes to a half hour in one of our classes. At this time and if applicable, we will ask your son or daughter's present school for transcripts, and teacher's recommendations. Because we cannot act on your application before all of your child's records have arrived, we urge you to ensure that transcripts and recommendations are sent off without delay. Normally our Admissions Committee will be able to respond to your application by the end of February.