Lower School Admission

List of 9 items.

• INITIAL APPLICANT FORM

  To apply to the wait pool, please submit the Initial Applicant Form. You will then receive the Applicant Checklist, which outlines the remaining steps of the process. There is no application fee to apply to CA.
  

• PARENT FORM

  As parents, you can provide us with insights about your student that no one else can. Your responses will help us learn more about your child and your family. The Parent Form is available to you once you submit the Initial Applicant Form.

• STUDENT VIDEO CLIPS (PRE-K-GRADE 2)

  Once the Initial Applicant Form is submitted, parents are able to submit three short video clips of the applicant participating in developmentally appropriate activities at home.
  
  Birth Date Information:
  

  • Applicants to Pre-K must turn four years old by September 1 of the year they start Pre-Kindergarten.
  • Applicants to Kindergarten must turn five years old by September 1 of the year they start Kindergarten.

• TEACHER RECOMMENDATION

  Request the Teacher Recommendation* and Principal/Director Recommendation (if applicable) from the appropriate faculty/staff member at your child’s school. 
  
  Request Teacher and Principal/Director Recommendation
  
  *Colorado Academy is among several Denver-area independent schools using Common Recommendation and Transcript Request Forms to reduce the workload for an applicant’s current teachers and school staff. Once you have created an account in the application portal, you will be able to submit requests for recommendations and transcripts using the common forms.
  

• APPLICANT TESTING

  For Applicants to Pre-K and Kindergarten: Developmental readiness is assessed by our teachers during the Student Visit, and no other formal testing is required.
  
  For Grades 1-5, CA will accept the results from any testing that an applicant has completed within the last two years, such as the CogAT, WISC, DAS, MAP, DIBELS, ISEE, ISEE Primary, ERB, among others. There is no need for the applicant to take more than one test, and the Admission Committee does not prefer one test over another.

  • If submitting CogAT, MAP testing and/or other standardized testing (such as the ERB) from the applicant's current school, request that the school send those results along with report cards and attendance records through the Transcript Request Form.
  • You may submit WISC or DAS scores directly to admission@coloradoacademy.org. As an option, you may register your child for testing with an evaluator from the DATC (Denver Area Testing Consortium). Please contact Paige Siemers to request assistance if the fee is a hardship. 

• OPTIONAL STUDENT VISIT

  If an opening occurs before school starts next fall, the Admission Office will contact you to schedule an applicant visit, either in person or on Zoom.

• OPTIONAL PARENT TOUR

  Interested in applying to the wait pool for the 2022-2023 school year, or interested in starting your research for the 2023-2024 school year?  We invite you to campus for a tour this spring! The Admission Office will post dates and times for tours on the Admission Calendar in mid-March.
  
  Please contact admission@coloradoacademy.org or call 303-914-2513 with any questions.

• FINANCIAL AID APPLICATION | DUE BY FEB 15

  The Application for Financial Aid is separate from the Application for Admission, although the timing of the two cycles overlaps. Families who wish to apply for tuition assistance should submit an Application for Financial Aid through SSS (School and Student Service for Financial Aid).
  

  • We recommend starting the application after January 1 as it is helpful to have end-of-year tax documents available while you are completing the form: START APPLICATION
  • Within the SSS portal, you will be asked to upload copies of your 2020 and 2021 tax returns. You will also be asked for copies of 2020 and 2021 W-2 and K-1 statements, if applicable.
  • CA prefers the SSS application, but, if you've already submitted a financial aid application for another school through FACTS, there is no need for you to fill out an additional application through SSS. You will just need to add Colorado Academy as a recipient of your FACTS application.
  • The deadline for the Financial Aid application is February 15. We realize that many families have not yet completed their 2021 tax return by this deadline. The Financial Aid Committee will consider your application to be complete as long as we receive your 2020 tax return and your 2021 W-2 and/or Profit & Loss Statements (if you are self-employed) by February 15. The 2021 tax return should be submitted as soon as it is completed.
  • Completing the Financial Aid application by the deadline allows the Financial Aid Award to be communicated at the same time as the Admission Decision.
  • Questions? Contact Financial Aid Manager Lisa Dean at 303-914-2516.

• NOTIFICATION: MARCH 3

  In conjunction with other Denver-area independent schools, Colorado Academy sends Lower School admission decisions (Pre-Kindergarten-Grade 5) by email at 4:00 p.m. MST on Friday, March 3, 2023.