Fascinating decision by new school Avenues to have an Early Admissions Program. My downtown NYC educational consulting clients are buzzing, often asking me for advice about whether to apply for kindergarten. (The school is not yet on my middle school and high school clients’ radar.)
Here’s how Avenues’ Early Admissions Program works:
- Apply in the spring.
- Avenues decides in mid-July. Families who get in are asked for a deposit that will hold their children’s kindergarten spots until mid-November. Families are free to look at and apply to other private and public schools during Fall.
- Mid-November. Second deposit due. Families must pay to hold Avenues spots and are asked to withdraw applications, if they have made them, to other NYC private schools.
Avenues is asking families to commit before they have heard from other private schools, which doesn’t happen in New York City until February. Almost all the top Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Riverdale private schools are members of a group called ISAAGNY, which sets the February decision date. By implementing this Early Admissions Program for new, non-sibling or legacy students, Avenues has effectively circumvented the established NYC kindergarten private school admissions schedule.
NYC parents who apply Early Admission should really want Avenues, or be able to accurately calculate their admissions odds–tough decision making is in store.