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

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Early Childhood

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. 

Early Childhood Admission Process

PreK Applicants

Application Questionnaire
Parent

Family Information Meeting
Parent

Teacher Recommendation
Current Classroom Teacher

School Records/Transcript
If Available

Student Visit
Saturday Visit Day

Student Assessment
Student meeting with GA faculty 

Kindergarten Applicants

Application Questionnaire
Parent

Family Information Meeting
Parent

Teacher Recommendation
Current Classroom Teacher

School Records/Transcript
If Available

Student Visit
Saturday Visit Day

Student Assessment
Student meeting with GA faculty

1st Grade Applicants

Application Questionnaire
Parent

Family Information Meeting
Parent

Teacher Recommendations
Current Classroom Teacher

School Records/Transcript
Kindergarten Report

Student Visit
Saturday Visit Day

Student Assessment
Student meeting with GA faculty 

2nd Grade Applicants

Application Questionnaire
Parent

Family Information Meeting
Parent

Teacher Recommendations
Current Classroom Teacher

School Records/Transcript
Most Recent & Past Grades

Student Visit
Classroom Visit at GA

Student Assessment
WISC-V

APPLICATION - NEW FAMILIES*: To submit an application to GA, please start with the online INQUIRY form. 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.  You may also sign up for a Tuesday Tour when you schedule your admission appointments, or visit us at an am@GA admission event.

STUDENT VISIT: Students applying to PreK, Kindergarten and 1st Grade will visit GA  with other applicants at our Saturday Visit scheduled in December.  Students applying to 2nd grade will have a 2-day visit in our 1st Grade.  All student visitors must comply with our health and safety guidelines.  We will begin the process of scheduling Student Visits on September 1.    

STUDENT ASSESSMENT: Our GA assessment for PreK, Kindergarten and 1st Grade is based on the developmental timelines of our applicants.   A link for the online sign up will be sent to parents upon receipt of the application.  All applicants to 2nd Grade must submit a WISC-V evaluation.  Parents must schedule this on their own.  GA has a list of evaluators and we are happy to help with suggestions at the request of the family. 

TEACHER RECOMMENDATION: We require a teacher recommendation from your child’s current teacher so that we may best understand their current school experience and gather information from the person who best knows your child in that setting.

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: Our youngest applicants do not typically have school records or transcripts for submission; therefore we waive this requirement for PreK and Kindergarten applicants. We welcome any school information you wish to share as a supplement to your child’s admission file. Starting in 1st Grade, we require current and past school records as applicable for each applicant.

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 Early Childhood begins in December and we continue to fill spaces until our class is full (please see Admission Timeline).

*AGE CUTOFF: Germantown Academy follows a September 1 age cut off.  PreK students are 4 years old by September 1 of the year they enter GA and must be fully potty trained to enter PreK,  Kindergarten students are 5 years old by September 1 of the year they enter GA, etc.