Our Admissions team is excited to meet you! Student-led tours and interviews with a member of our Admissions Committee are held on select weekdays in April, May, September, and October. To begin the process of scheduling a visit, please fill out an Inquiry Form, listing any specific questions you may have in the "Additional Remarks" section.
Following submission of an Inquiry Form, please follow the directions in your confirmation email to schedule your tour and parent interview.
Online applications are typically made available to prospective parents following a tour of the School and an interview with a member of our Admissions Committee.
Occasionally, applications are available following a Zoom interview, prior to a visit. If you have an interest in receiving an application, please fill out an Inquiry Form to begin our process.
Kindergarten applications are accepted at any time after a family takes a tour of our campus and has a conversation with a member of our Admissions team, and they must be submitted to Carlthorp School by November 2, 2025.
To receive an application for grades other than Kindergarten, prospective parents must fill out our Inquiry Form and then have a tour of campus and an interview with a member of our Admissions Team. Typically, for grades 1-6, these interviews happen after the Kindergarten admissions process concludeseach year.
Carlthorp School accepts grade-level applications on a rolling basis. Families who have submitted completed applications by January 9, 2026 will have the greatest opportunity to be considered for any available spaces in the class on our March decision date. Applicants are invited to campus and are reviewed as spaces arise, and those students may be offered admission or be asked to join the Wait Pool.
For those students in the Wait Pool who wish to be considered for admission when an opening occurs, families need to keep their files up-to-date by expressing their ongoing interest, and by sharing current progress reports and assessment scores as they become available.
In early February each year, our re-enrollment contracts are due, alerting us to any grade level spaces that may have become available. However, occasionally spaces open up well into the summer. Please know that we do not meet or assess grades 1-6 applicants until we know if we are likely to have an opening in the appropriate grade.
For the 2025-2026 school year, Carlthorp School will begin on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, and will conclude on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
Carlthorp School closures include: Thanksgiving Break, Holiday Break (two weeks in December-January), Winter Break (one week in February), and Spring Break (one week in early April). We are also closed for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Good Friday, and most national holidays.
For the 2025-2026 school year, tuition is $41,330. There is a one-time new student fee of $1,000. Tuition includes Early Care (starting at 7:15 a.m.) and Late Care (until 5:00 p.m.), day field trips, competitive athletics (grades 4-6), textbooks, school-owned technology devices, and classroom school supplies.
Every year we invite current families to contribute to our Annual Fund with the goal of 100% participation as well as to our Scholarship Benefit, if possible.
Carlthorp School is committed to having a socio-economically diverse community, and financial aid is available to students based on verifiable and qualified need. Following the submission of an application for admission, families should contact our Business Office directly to get their questions answered regarding our financial aid policies and procedures.
Carlthorp can also support families receiving financial aid with additional expenses such as uniforms, overnight field trips, and after-school clubs.
To begin the financial aid process at Carlthorp School, please reach out to Ken Parr at kparr@carlthorp.org. Application fee waivers are also available for families applying for financial aid and can be obtained by contacting the Business Office at (310) 451-1332.
Because we recognize the benefit of having children from the same family attend the same school, sibling applicants (of currently enrolled students) are given priority consideration.
However, siblings must individually meet our admissions criteria, and an offer of admission is not guaranteed.
No. Many kinds of students from different blends of families thrive at Carlthorp School. We seek to enroll students who are joyful learners who come from families who value our Code of Conduct and who support our mission and culture.
We are a warm and diverse community of eager students and committed parents. Our 2025-2026 Kindergarten class comes from 13 different zip codes and 22 different sending schools.
We are extremely proud of our matriculation rates into the finest secondary schools in Los Angeles! Our students most often matriculate to the following schools (in alphabetical order):
Brentwood School Campbell Hall Episcopal School Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences Geffen Academy at UCLA Harvard-Westlake School Lincoln Middle School Marlborough School Milken Community School Mirman School New Roads School Oaks Christian School Paul Revere Middle School St. Matthew's Parish School The Archer School for Girls Viewpoint School Wildwood School Windward School
