Our Admissions Process
Thank you for your interest in learning more about our program and community – we encourage you to explore the website, follow our Facebook page, and most importantly, tour the school. Once you have walked through our community building, witnessed the energy and curiosity of our students, and seen the lush and verdant location, you will truly understand what makes the experience at Meridian different from any other school.
Finding the best match – of school, child and family – takes time and trust. Our goal is to understand your hopes and expectations for your child’s education, and to share our mission and program with you. Throughout the process, we look for families whose values align with our community. At Meridian we are:
- Guided by a belief in the power of a wide range of human potential. We approach each child’s learning flexibly and responsively.
- Committed to social justice as a human value. We are recognized leaders in creating a school culture of equity and inclusion.
- Inspired by the science and art of teaching and learning. Meridian creates a learning environment community for both students and adults.
- Dedicated to the importance of connection, we foster a vibrant, diverse community with shared values.
- Located in the historic Good Shepherd Center in Meridian Park. We foster community relationships, neighborhood engagement, and place-based experiential learning.
At Meridian, we believe that an excellent education thrives in an increasingly diverse and inclusive environment. For this reason, we are committed to offering an accessible educational program for mission-appropriate students, regardless of a family’s ability to pay the full cost of tuition. To learn more about financing a Meridian education, please visit our tuition assistance page.
Our Application
Please note: our application deadline for Fall 2020 enrollment has passed. Please direct all late inquiries to our admissions office before beginning an online application. We are processing applications for specific grade levels with openings, and are accepting waitpool inquiries for all other grade levels.
The Meridian School is one of many Seattle-area schools using a web-based application called Ravenna to manage our admissions forms and event registration. With the exception of a few, school-specific questions, all of the documents required are common forms that are shared among multiple schools. This means that you will only need to complete these forms once before electronically submitting them to the schools that utilize Ravenna. We require the following documents for all applicants:
- Parent/Guardian Statement Form (which includes common questions and Meridian-specific questions)
- Teacher Evaluation Form
- Cumulative schools records and reports (applicants for grades 1-5 only)
Tour & Student Visit (required)Informational Tour
Beginning Tuesday, October 22nd, we offer tours on most Tuesday or Thursday mornings from 9:00-11:15am.
To sign up for a tour, please visit www.ravenna-hub.com. If you have not yet created an account with Ravenna, please do so. After creating an account for your student, please search for The Meridian School. You must click “explore” on our school’s profile page to sign-up for a tour and to view our application process.
Please note: Pre-registration is required. We are unable to accommodate walk-in attendees. We have limited space on our tours, and reserve those spaces for prospective applicants eligible for entrance in the 2020-2021 school year. Registration for 2019 tour dates is now available in Ravenna.
Student Visit
You will be able to sign up for your student visit day via Ravenna once all required application forms have been submitted.
- 1st-5th grade applicants will visit their current grade level class for a full day on Tuesday, March 3. Please note: applicants may be asked to visit on an alternate date if applications for a particular grade level exceed the number of prospective students we can accommodate on one visit date.
- Kindergarten applicants will visit for 75 minutes on Saturday, February 8. Sessions will run at 9am and 11am. Sessions are filled on a first come, first served basis.
- Adjustments to this schedule can be made for relocating families who do not reside in the Seattle area. Please contact Rebecca Butman if you need to arrange an alternative visit day.
Wednesday, November 13th from 6-8pm
Doors open at 5:40pm and scheduled programming begins at 6:00pm
Please join our entire staff and faculty to learn more about our curriculum, programming, and what makes Meridian a special place to learn and grow! This event is for parents only. While attendance is highly encouraged, this is not a required admission event. Registration for Open House is now available in Ravenna.
Neighborhood Coffees
Join Meridian parents to learn more about our community and their family’s Meridian experience! Please bring along your questions, wonderings, etc. Admissions staff will not be present. Attending a coffee is encouraged, but not required. Registration for these events is now available in Ravenna. Registration is required.
- Tuesday, November 19 @ 9:30am: coffee with Andrew & Nina at Barn & Field Cafe (Crown Hill, located inside Swanson’s Nursery)
- Monday, December 2 @ 9:00am: coffee with Un Chong & Melanie at Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea Company (Wallingford/Tangletown)
- Thursday, December 12 @ 9:30am: coffee with Jackie, Lisa & John at Herkimer Coffee (Phinney Ridge)
- Wednesday, February 5 @ 9:30am: coffee with Director of Equity & Inclusion Yaneth Vrentas, and members of Meridian’s Equity & Inclusion Committee and Families of Color affinity group at Cafe Arta (located inside Third Place Books, Ravenna)
Thursday, February 27th from 9-10:30am
Please join our Head of School, Assistant Head of School, learning specialists, current parents and members of our faculty for a brief presentation and Q&A panel. While attendance is highly encouraged, this is not a required admission event. You will not be able to sign-up for this event via Ravenna until you have submitted all required application forms.
- Do you have a Kindergarten age cut-off policy?
The majority of our Kindergarten applicants turn 5 years old on or before August 1st. However we will consider students with later birthdays, and have admitted Kindergarteners with late August and September birthdays. We know that Kindergarten readiness is dependent on many factors, so age and birth date do not dictate our admissions process.
- Do you offer financial aid?
Yes! At Meridian, we believe that an excellent education thrives in an increasingly diverse and inclusive school community. For this reason, we are committed to offering an accessible educational program for mission-appropriate students, regardless of a family’s ability to pay the full cost of tuition. Currently, our need-based, tuition assistance program supports 27% of our student body, and the average, annual tuition for an award recipient is $13,450. For the 2019-2020 school year, awards ranged from 12%-96% of the cost of tuition. Tuition assistance applications are evaluated separately from the admission process. To learn more about financing a Meridian education, please visit the tuition assistance page of our website.
- Do you require an educational evaluation/IQ testing for admission?
No, we do not require testing, as we do not discriminate in our admissions process in any of a variety of areas, including student learning differences and abilities. If you would like to voluntarily provide us with supporting documentation (individual assessments, evaluations or reports), you are able to upload files within our Parent/Guardian Statement Form.
- My child is gifted – is Meridian the right program for my child?
At Meridian, we believe that a diverse learning environment best prepares students for success in middle school and beyond. True to our mission of “balance,” we strive to create classroom cohorts that are representative of a range of learning styles and abilities. Many children who attend Meridian have been identified as highly capable by educational psychologists. Our approach to learning allows us to tailor our learning environment, methods of instruction, and curriculum in order to support or enrich student learning.
- Our family is relocating to Seattle. Can you make adjustments to the student and parent visit requirements?
Yes! Relocating families apply to our program each year, and we do our very best to accommodate a family’s planned, Seattle visits. Assuming that school is in session when you travel to Seattle, we are able to host the required parent tour and student visit on the same day. We are flexible and willing to arrange these visits on days that are mutually convenient, as we recognize that attending a weekly tour and our predetermined student visit date is often not possible for families residing outside of Washington state or the U.S.
That said, we require all families to complete our application process before our decision notification date of March 20, 2020 if they want to be considered for admission in our first round of enrollment. If a family has not completed the entirety of our application process before the notification date, they are eligible for late admission if spaces remain available after March 27, 2020 (new family enrollment deadline). We have a rolling admissions process after March 27, 2020, and will fill spaces throughout the spring if we have openings for Fall 2020 entry.
If you are a relocating applicant and need to arrange an alternate parent tour and student visit date, please contact our team: admissions@meridianschool.edu
- What are our financial obligations upon enrollment?
A nonrefundable $2,000.00 deposit is due upon enrollment. Families who have completed the enrollment process are liable for specific portions of the tuition balance throughout the spring, as detailed in our enrollment contract and listed below.
Families are committed to:
- 25% of the tuition balance after April 20
- 50% of the tuition balance after May 20
- 100% of the tuition balance after June 20
- What does it mean to be in the wait pool?
Each year we have more qualified applicants than we have seats available. Our wait pool consists of students who we believe would thrive at Meridian but for whom we don’t currently have space. Students in the wait pool may be offered admission as early as March, or as late as September. We do not have a ranked list within our wait pool, as we take many factors into consideration when creating a diverse, balanced, grade level cohort.
