Welcome to Carlthorp School Admissions!
We are delighted by your interest in our school and hope that this site will provide you the information you need to move forward with our application process. Please review the information below, and throughout the rest of our website. If you have additional questions as you embark upon your Admissions journey, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We hope that you will find the Carlthorp School Admissions process to be comfortable, personal, and transparent…giving you the opportunity to get to know us well, as we get to know you. We appreciate what an important decision this is for you, and we look forward to meeting you soon.
Lynn Wagmeister
Director of Admissions
Carlthorp School Mission:
Carlthorp School provides a strong academic foundation in a diverse and nurturing school community that emphasizes traditional values, disciplined work habits, and excellence in order to prepare our students to achieve their highest potential in education and life.
The Admissions Committee:
The Admissions Committee strives to enroll students whom we believe can be happy and successful in our program, and who come from families that understand and support our mission and culture. Our Admissions process is outlined below:
The First Steps:
Parents who wish to apply for admission of their children to Carlthorp School should call (310) 451-1332, to set up a school tour and interview. Applications are not mailed, but handed out at the time of your visit. Carlthorp requires students to be five years of age by September 1st of the year they enter Kindergarten. Please call well in advance of the anticipated date of your child’s entrance in order to ensure there is time to schedule the necessary interviews (See Admissions Timeline below). Carlthorp is one of the few independent schools that will allow you to visit and interview in advance of the application year, so there is no need wait until the last minute if you know you are interested in our school. You can always come back and see us again later in the application process.
Tours and Interviews:
Tours and interviews are given to prospective parents on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, throughout the school year. These initial visits do not include your child. (That will come later). Your tour will be led by a Carlthorp School student and your interview will be held with a member of our Admissions Committee. When you visit, you may park along San Vicente Boulevard or nearby on 4th Street or Georgina Avenue.
The Admissions Packet:
At the conclusion of your interview, you will be given an Admissions Packet, which will include our application. The application will ask for information about your child and your family, a copy of a birth certificate or passport, and two letters of recommendation. It will also request a current family photo (optional). The Admissions Committee will require access to your child's recent school records. The packet will include a form requesting permission for these records and other relevant student information from your child’s current school. Once Carlthorp School has received your completed application, you will receive a letter of acknowledgment inviting you to participate in the rest of our process.
Kindergarten Readiness Evaluation:
A basic Kindergarten readiness evaluation is a routine part of Carlthorp School’s application process for every candidate. This evaluation takes place on a Saturday morning at the school. You should plan to be here with your child for approximately and hour and a half. Please don’t let this process make your family or your child apprehensive; the day will be warm and comfortable for everyone. Shortly after you arrive, our experienced faculty members will bring your child into a classroom setting along with a small group of peers, while our Head of School, Principal, and Admissions Chair will give a presentation in the library for parents. The evaluation is just one of the opportunities we have to get to know your child. Aside from the evaluation day, a member of the Admissions Committee will visit your preschool to observe your child in the familiar setting of his or her own classroom. Keep in mind there is no one "feeder" preschool to Carlthorp School; the incoming Kindergarten class (2011) was selected from over 25 different preschools across the city!
Prospective Parent Coffees:
Following the evaluation day plan to attend one of our Prospective Parent Coffees. These thoroughly enjoyable panel discussions showcase our amazing Kindergarten teachers, current parents, our administrators, and our wonderfully animated 6th grade students, who will tell you in their own words anything you want to know about our school! You will be sent a letter informing you of the dates of these Coffees. Once you receive this letter, please contact us at (310) 451-1332 to schedule your attendance on the date that works best for you.
Applications for Grades 1-6:
If your child is applying for a grade other than Kindergarten, you may come in for a tour, an interview, and to receive an application any time after November 1st of the year preceding your child’s desired entrance to school. Once an application is on file, we will notify you when we know we have an opening in the appropriate grade. At that time, we will bring your child in for a tour of the school and a readiness evaluation.
Sibling Policy
Because we recognize the benefit of having children from the same family attend the same school, sibling applicants are given priority consideration. However, siblings must individually meet our admissions criteria; an offer of admission is not guaranteed.
Financial Aid
Our school offers financial aid to approximately 10% of the student body.
Surviving the Admissions Process
Finally, please try to relax. We understand that it can be stressful for your family to go through the application process, but do know that everything tends to work out in the end. Enjoy your time at all of the schools you visit, learn as much as you can, and trust that your child is likely to have a wonderful educational experience, wherever he or she goes.
We thank you for your interest in Carlthorp School and we look forward to your visit to our campus!
Admissions Timeline for Kindergarten 2012
Fall 2011/ Winter 2012
Interviews with parents of prospective applicants
October 3, 2011
Deadline for turning in SIBLING applications for Kindergarten 2012
November 1, 2011
Deadline for turning in NON-SIBLING applications for Kindergarten 2012
December 3, 2011
SIBLING Kindergarten Readiness Evaluations
January 6, 2012
Final deadline for out-of-state Kindergarten applicants
January 7, January 21, January 28, and February 4, 2012
NON-SIBLING Kindergarten Readiness Evaluations
February/March 2012
Visits to preschools by members of Admissions Committee
February 2012
Prospective Parent Coffees
March 23, 2012
Decision letters mailed
April 2, 2012
Acceptance responses due
