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Enrollment
Thank you for your initial interest in our school! Please browse through our website for information on all our programs, people, philosophy and methods, and events. Here, you will find all the information you will need about the process of enrolling your child at Stepping Stones, including forms needed. Click here for our tuition page.
Enrollment Policies and Procedures for New Families
Enrollment Process for the Current School Year
Step 1: Initial Contact
Please contact us to determine whether or not we have Program Openings for the current school year. If we do, we will then guide you through the Application/Enrollment process.
Enrollment Process for the Upcoming School Year
Step 1: Initial Contact
Please contact us to request an Application Form and let us know of your initial interest in our school.
Step 2: School Visit/Annual Open House
If you have not yet visited our school, please schedule a visit during one of our Parent Info Nights or Visit Days (held in October through January), or plan to attend our Annual Open House in March.
Step 3: New Family Enrollment Period
Application Forms (along with a $25 non-refundable Application Fee) may be submitted to the school (by mail or delivered in person) during our Enrollment Period from February 5 through March 6. If you are inquiring after our Annual Open House in March, please contact us to determine if Enrollment Openings are still available before submitting your Application.
Step 4: Notification of Enrollment Decisions
By March 15, we will notify all applicants of our Enrollment Decisions. As we are a relatively small school, please note that our enrollment priorities take the following order:
- current students
- younger siblings of current students
- new students with Montessori background (particularly for students entering grades K—8)
- new students without Montessori background.
Step 5: Enrollment Paperwork and Deposits Due
If you are offered a slot for your child, and should you decide that Stepping Stones is a good match for your child and your family, we would ask that you submit the following (by March 22) to hold your child’s slot and complete the enrollment process:
- a non-refundable Registration Fee of $75.00
- a Deposit equal to the September tuition amount for your child, also non-refundable
- an Emergency/Permissions Form
- a Payment Contract
- a SMART Tuition Enrollment Form
Note that children offered a slot in grades 1-8 will likely be asked to schedule a visit day to the school while school is in session, if possible.
If you are not offered a slot for your child, we will be happy to place you on a Wait List, if you let us know that is what you would like. If slots open prior to, or during, the school year, families who are on the Wait List will be called to determine if they are still interested in our Programs.
We look forward to the possibilities of working with your child and your family. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Special Notes about Enrollment of New Students for Grades 1-8
With the growth of our Elementary Programs, we have encountered certain needs particular to a multiage, individualized environment. Because the children are in three-year age spans, we pay close attention to the modeling that the youngest students receive from those they look up to and emulate—the older students in the school. Also, older students in Montessori classrooms need to be able to work independently and make appropriate work choices.
We also know from research that the peer group is very important to elementary students and has a high influence on their development. A group needs a majority of good role models to establish a positive culture. Children with behaviors that could be detrimental to this positive culture will either not be admitted or will be monitored for their adaptation to the expectations of this school. This policy in no way means that we will not accept children that have manageable behavior issues. No child is perfect!
Ideally, all students in the Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary Programs will have been part of the group for several years, and will have the underpinnings of self-directed learning that are built in our Primary Program.
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