application process
Thank you for your interest in Country Montessori School. The following document is the Application for Admission. Please review the Tuition and Fee agreement for 2008-2009 rates. New families to CMS will be notified of their admission status and sent a separate Enrollment Contract. Current CMS families should complete the Forms, and Tuition and Fee Agreement and return them to the school office no later than February 12, 2008. Applications and Enrollment Contracts from current families received after this date will go into the general waiting pool.
Application Criteria
Primary
For a child to be considered for our Primary Program, he or she must be:
- At least 3 years old by December 2, 2008
- Toilet-trained
Elementary
For a child to be considered for our Elementary Programs, he or she must be:
- At least 6 years old by December 2, 2008
- Write his/her name and write numbers
- Verbalize his/her needs
- Respect classroom rules and relate positively to peers and adults
- Read phonetically and recognize words
- Take direction from an adult
- Make work choices independently
In addition to the above criteria, prospective elementary students, 2nd Level and above, from outside of Country Montessori must:
- Submit student evaluations and two letters of recommendation from their previously attended school (applications without these documents will not be accepted.)
- Pass an assessment based on appropriate academic criteria for the applied-for level
- Have student and parent interviews with appropriate classroom directresses
Applications are accepted in the following order:
- Current CMS students whose enrollment contract and payment of required fees are received by an established re-enrollment deadline.
- Siblings of current CMS students whose enrollment contract and payment of required fees are received by an established re-enrollment deadline.
- New students with a Montessori background whose ages will achieve balanced age groups/grade levels within classrooms.
- New students with a commitment to the three-year cycle.
In addition, applications for the 1st Level Elementary students will be date and time stamped. If the number of these applications from current families exceeds the number of openings in the Lower Elementary Program, the applications will be reviewed for date and time of receipt. Those applications determined to be in excess will receive priority over any 1st Level applications received from non-CMS families.
Applications from families outside CMS are received throughout the year. Regardless of the date of application, prospective students are not considered for enrollment until one month following the CMS re-enrollment deadline for current families. Date of application will be taken into consideration when all other factors are equal.
Once the school year has commenced, entrance into the program will be considered on an individual basis.
The following is a list of specific steps in our admissions process:
- We ask interested parents to tour the school and observe a classroom. Tours and observations take place September through December every Wednesday and Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. Appointments must be made in advance. Please call the office to schedule.
- When the decision to apply is made, complete the application form and send it to the school with a non-refundable $100 Materials and Registration Fee deposit, signed Tuition and Fee Agreement and the Parent Participation Policy.
- If the application is for a 2nd Level or above position from a non-CMS family, the child will be invited to an elementary classroom for assessment.
- Admission decisions are made by the Director of Admissions, the Administrator, and teaching staff. Families new to CMS will be contacted by April 1, 2008 regarding an admission decision. If a position is offered to your child, a non-refundable one-month’s tuition depositand balance of the Materials and Registration Fee is due. Upon receipt of the one-month’s tuition deposit and balance of the Materials and Registration Fee, we will hold a place for your child in our program.
- If a place is not immediately available, you may wish to be placed in our wait group. We occasionally experience drops through the summer and urge parents to remain in the wait group.
- Children on the waiting list for the current year must reapply for acceptance the following year. Application fees need be paid only once.
