GA is a PreK-12, coed, nonsectarian day school in Fort Washington, PA

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Upper School

Family Centered Admission

All matriculating students are required to complete GA’s Family Centered Admission Process.   We intentionally provide a two way process so that prospective families and students are provided with the thoughtful information they need to best understand our program, philosophy, curriculum and community.  Our goal is to ensure that our students are in the best position possible to be both happy and successful at GA by learning as much as we can about them, and by providing them the opportunity to learn about GA!

Admission Steps

Parent input, school information and admission assessments help us get to know each applicant and we use this combination of subjective and objective information to assess the match between prospective students and our program.  Admission decisions are made after careful review of each applicant’s complete file. 

Upper School Admission Process

9th Grade Applicants

Application and Questionnaire
Parent and Student

Family Information Meeting
Parent 

Student Visit 
GA Classroom Visit & Student Interview

Teacher Recommendations
Current Math & English Teachers

School Records/Transcript
Most Recent and Past Grades

Admission Testing
ISEE or SSAT

10th Grade Applicants

Application and Questionnaire
Parent and Student

Family Information Meeting
Parent

Student Visit 
GA Classroom Visit & Student Interview

Teacher Recommendations
Current Math & English Teachers

School Records/Transcript
Most Recent and Past Grades

Admission Testing
ISEE or SSAT

11th Grade Applicants

Application and Questionnaire
Parent and Student

Family Information Meeting
Parent 

Student Visit 
GA Classroom Visit & Student Interview

Teacher Recommendations
Current Math & English Teachers

School Records/Transcript
Most Recent and Past Grades

Admission Testing
ISEE or SSAT

APPLICATION - NEW FAMILIES: To submit an application to GA, please start with the online INQUIRY form. Upon completion, you will be asked to create a password protected account in order to join our Germantown Academy Admission Portal. To complete the application, please submit the following forms:

  • Family Information
  • Applicant Information
  • Parent Questionnaire
  • Application Fee 

The Germantown Academy Admission portal will allow you to monitor all steps of the admission process.

Should you forget your Germantown Academy Admission Portal username or password, please go to the: Admission Portal Reset Login Page

APPLICATION - CURRENT GA FAMILIES: To submit an application to GA, please enter the Germantown Academy Admission Portal through your existing family account where you will be prompted to ADD NEW APPLICANT. To complete the application, please submit the following forms:

  • Family Information
  • Applicant Information
  • Parent Questionnaire
  • Application Fee  

The Germantown Academy Admission Portal will allow you monitor all steps of the admission process.

FAMILY INFORMATION MEETING: Upon submission of your application, you will be able to sign up for your Family Information Meeting. 

PARENT TOUR: We invite you to visit GA virtually using our VIRTUAL TOUR, at an am@GA admission event, or when you drop off your child for their Student Visit.  

STUDENT VISIT: Applicants to the 9th Grade will spend 1 day visiting in the 9th Grade to experience GA's Upper School.  An optional social visit to our 8th Grade is available.  Applicants to 10th and 11th Grades will spend 1 day in the 9th and 10th Grades respectively.  The Student Visit also includes the Student Interview and the Otis Lennon Assessment.

TEACHER RECOMMENDATION: We require two teacher recommendations: one from your child’s current Math teacher and one from their current English/Language Arts teacher.  Families may submit one supplemental recommendation if they so choose; this is welcome but not required.

Teacher Recommendation information is held in the strictest confidence between the evaluator and Germantown Academy. Parents/Guardians provide the evaluator with permission to complete this confidential form by sending it directly to them. Parents/Guardians will not have access to this information. Teacher Recommendations will not become a part of a student’s permanent record.

TRANSCRIPT: We require current and past school records for each Upper School applicant.  This information helps us to understand the academic growth and development of your child over time.  Please remember that an application is not complete until we have the most recent grades.

ADMISSION TESTING: Applicants to our Upper School must submit ONE of the following:

  •  ISEE or SSAT – to be scheduled by family

DECISIONS: Admission decisions are made with the best interest of the child in mind. We strive to ensure that our applicants will be equally successful and happy at GA. Our decision notification for Upper School begins in December and we continue to fill spaces until our class is full (please see Admission Timeline).