Apply
How To Apply

Apply to Kindergarten

For entry to Kindergarten, students must be 5 years old by September 1, 2025.

The Steps

List of 6 items.

  • + 1. Complete the Inquiry Form

    To get started, please provide us with your contact information by completing our Inquiry Form. Once the form is submitted, you can schedule a Parent/Guardian Interview.
  • + 2. Schedule a Parent/Guardian Interview

    Parent/Guardian interviews are required for all families who plan to apply. You may schedule your Parent/Guardian Interview through Ravenna.

    Parent/guardian interviews last approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. 
  • + 3. Apply Online

    Please complete and submit the online application by January 15, 2025. In the application, we ask parents/guardians to provide us with information about your child. 

    You will need to create an account in Ravenna. Once logged in you will see your “Action Items” list, describing all of the Shady Hill Admission required elements. You can check back as often as you wish to see an updated list of materials we have received and action items that have been checked off. 

    A non-refundable application fee of $50 is required to submit the application. Fee waivers are available to applicants for whom the application fee poses a financial hardship. 

    If you have any questions about the online application or fee waivers, please email the Admission Office or call (617) 520-5200.
  • + 4. Initiate Requests for Evaluations and Reports

    In addition to the completed application, we require a completed Class Teacher Recommendation (Boston Shared Forms) from your child’s current teacher and school reports. To authorize the release of these documents to us you may need to provide your child’s school with a signed copy of the Record Release Form and confirm with them that they will send us all required information. 

    The Boston Shared Form is a confidential document. The completed Boston Shared Form must be sent to us directly from your child’s school or teachers. You may choose to request the evaluation via our online form in your “Action Items” instructions, or you may send the Boston Shared Form directly to your child's teachers and have them submit it to us via email at admission@shs.org as an attached PDF.

    School reports consist of official documents about your child, such as grades, conference write-ups or progress reports from the current school year and any past school year(s); your child’s school must send the school reports via email attachment directly to the Admission Office. Both the Boston Shared Forms and school reports are due by January 15, 2025.
  • + 5. Complete the Student Visit

    Student visits are required for all families who plan to apply. The playgroup will take place in the morning or early afternoon on one of several dates in January 2025.

    Please register for a playgroup by December 23, 2024. 

    The student visit is an opportunity for us to learn more about your child! They will spend time playing with peers as well as participating in one-on-one time with one of our teachers. 
  • + 6. If Applying for Financial Aid

    Shady Hill School utilizes Clarity to assess the needs of families who apply for financial aid. With a $4M financial aid budget, Shady Hill strives to make the cost of attendance feasible for as many families as possible. Financial aid at Shady Hill is need-based, meaning that families must qualify for aid as determined by tools used by Clarity.

    If you are applying for need-based financial aid, please complete a financial aid application through Clarity by February 1, 2025.

Questions?

Admission and Financial Aid decisions will be released on March 10, 2025.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Admission Office at (617) 520-5200.

We look forward to working with your family!
617.520.5260      178 Coolidge Hill  Cambridge MA 02138           Association of Independent Schools in New England