Sibling policy

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know anything about the sibling admission policy at the following schools - specifically, is it automatic and is there a particular entry year:

St. Patricks
NPS
GDS
Maret
Green Acres
Lowell
Sheridan

Many thanks.

[Anonymous]

At GDS there is sibling preference. However sibling admission is not automatic. The sibling has to be as qualified as other children in the applicant pool. There is no particular entry year. Some families chose to start the sibling at Pre-K (18 openings). Others start at K (20 openings). The number of sibling applicants for Pre-K and K varies from year to year. I'm not sure how many openings are typically available for the higher grades, but 3rd and 4th grades are entry years as well.

[Anonymous]

So what do people do when the second (or a subsequent) child doesn't get in? My daughter was admitted to a private school -- not on par with any of the highly selective schools -- and I worry about what this means for my son. I have no interest in ferrying two kids to different schools and I would be a little more than bitter at the school that rejects my son (speaking hypothetically of course). Anyone had this happen and how did you deal with it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what do people do when the second (or a subsequent) child doesn't get in? My daughter was admitted to a private school -- not on par with any of the highly selective schools -- and I worry about what this means for my son. I have no interest in ferrying two kids to different schools and I would be a little more than bitter at the school that rejects my son (speaking hypothetically of course). Anyone had this happen and how did you deal with it?

No need to be bitter. Most schools will tell you that you need to (simultaneously) apply to multiple schools as there are no guarantees. For instance, there could be more sibling applicants than available spaces. Or the sibling applicant could have some learning challenges/differences that the school can't accommodate easily. Or the child might not be a good fit for the older sibling's school. I'm actually planning to apply my younger child to a different school than the older child, as they are totally different kids (i.e., different learning style, different strengths, different personalities, etc.) As nice as it would be to have them at the same school, it may not be best for the younger sibling. I know several parents who, for whatever reasons, have their children at different schools. The immediate challenges are with carpool (if the schools start and end the day at the same time), splitting volunteer time across two communities, annual giving to two communities, etc. I think it's manageable.