Sibling Admissions Applications

If you have a sibling headed our way, please email admissions@eastsideprep.org with the sibling name and application grade level. We are happy to work with the next member of your family. Also, please save the date for our breakfast information session for current families with sibling applicants at 8:00 a.m. on October 4. This opportunity is tailored to your family’s potential needs and questions regarding the admissions process.

Eastside Prep values our enrolled students and their families as members of our school community. As EPS has grown over the past sixteen years, enrolled families’ desire to have multiple children at the school has been important not only to our enrollment, but to our culture. With respect to enrollment, our early action timeline for siblings has previously aided families in having a December notification timeframe regarding our admissions decisions.

While this earlier notification may have provided families with some reassurance in knowing their sibling’s decision, particularly prior to the re-enrollment timeframe of mid-January to early-February, two challenges have emerged in offering these early decisions. First, we have a significantly large enough group of siblings applying for admission that the majority of a grade level could be composed entirely of siblings if all sibling applicants were admitted to the grade. Our school has agreed that a mix of both siblings and students new to EPS is desired for creating the most diverse grade composition possible, without either the sibling or non-sibling population being significantly larger than the other. Second, the December sibling admission deadline necessitates reviewing these sibling applicants prior to the standard mid-January application deadline—this is before we are fully aware of the size of our non-sibling applicant pool, as well as the mission-appropriateness of the non-sibling group. Because a significant amount of conjecture is involved in this exercise, we are not truly evaluating sibling applicants relative to their applicant peers, which ultimately could be a disadvantage to either group.

Therefore, in an effort to establish the most equitable admissions process possible, EPS will discontinue communicating early admissions decisions for siblings. Through reviewing siblings in the full context of their applicant peers, we are confident that we will make the most informed, mission-centered decisions possible as an admissions committee. Sibling applicants will naturally continue to have the advantage in their admissions process of being families who are known to our community.

For families applying for a sibling child in the future, we look forward to engaging the admissions process with you!

Here are some questions and answers that help further explain some details of the revised admissions timeline for siblings:

Can we still complete our admissions process in the earliest timeframe possible?

Yes! The Ravenna application will open on September 1 and families can register for parent interviews and student visit days as soon as they are offered (mid-fall). SSAT testing sessions will occur in November, December, January, and February. Please note that applications will not be due until January 16. This deadline will allow us the opportunity to hear from teacher recommenders after they have spent four to five months with your student in their classroom, and for us to review at least one full term of the current year transcript. We are confident that reviewing siblings’ applications with these additional months of experience will provide us with a fuller picture of their school success. Finally, we will review applications and communicate decisions in February 21 (Upper School) and March 20 (Middle School).

Will I need to re-enroll my child before the February deadline even though I will not know about our sibling applicant’s decision until March?

If our sibling applicant is not admitted to EPS, do we need to maintain our enrolled child’s enrollment for the upcoming school year?

How can I find out more general information regarding the admissions process?

Applications: https://www.eastsideprep.org/admissions/apply-online/

SSAT Website: https://ssat.org/. Please enter our school code 2949 so we receive scores. If you wish to register your 5^th grade applicant for the November 6, 2019 SSAT Elementary Level test, please email admissions@eastsideprep.org so that we can help you to register for that test administration date. We will offer the test as a ‘flex’ test for elementary-aged EPS siblings only and not the wider applicant community.

Any questions about admissions or the application process are welcome. We can be reached at (425) 822-5668 x1 or admissions@eastsideprep.org. We look forward to meeting another member of your family!