The HMJDS kindergarten admissions process includes a number of steps that are designed to help us understand each of our applicants as learners and to enable us to determine whether the Day School is a good match for your child and family.
Meeting and Tour
We invite witness HMJDS come to life before your very eyes! Attend one of our Prospective Parent Open Houses — or to schedule a private meeting and tour — to see firsthand what teaching and learning look like at HMJDS. You will witness engaging, integrated and experiential lessons, in a safe and nurturing environment, designed to support the growth of your child’s inquiring mind and budding self-esteem.
Application
Click here to obtain an electronic version of our Admissions application, or please contact our Admissions Department at 952.381.3500 or admissions@hmjds.org. Receipt of your completed application form (signed by all parents/legal guardians) and $100 non-refundable application fee starts the formal admissions process. We will contact you to schedule your admissions appointments.
Teacher Feedback
The admissions office will provide you with a Pre-school Teacher Evaluation Form for your child’s current teacher to fill out and return directly to the Day School. This form provides the Day School Admissions Team with important information about your child in a classroom setting. Please confirm with your pre-school that this form will be mailed or faxed to the Day School in advance of your child’s Group Screening appointment.
Individual Screening
All prospective Day School kindergartners have a one-on-one screening with our school counselor or another member of our Admissions Team. In most cases this entails administration of the screening assessment used is a developmental screening measure designed to assess skills that are encompassed in the foundation for academic learning and successful functioning in the classroom. It consists of five screening areas: motor, concepts, language, self-help development, and social development. A brief interview with your child will also be conducted, providing information about inter-personal skills and social-emotional development. This appointment is generally about 90 minutes.
Group Screening
Next, we ask that you and your child attend a one hour and 15 minute Group Screening. This session, led by a Day School kindergarten teacher, will give your child an opportunity to experience a “snapshot of kindergarten”. Applicants spend time in an actual classroom with other prospective students, providing for individual pursuit of interests as well as a group activity. The Admissions Team will interact with and observe your child in this small group setting while parents share information and get to know each other in a guided discussion across the hall.
Follow-Up Meeting
After the Individual Screening and Group Screenings, you will be invited back for a half-hour, parent-only follow-up meeting with our school counselor and our Associate Head of School, to gain feedback and hear what we have learned about your child. We hope that the information provided at this meeting will give you valuable insights about your child’s emerging profile as a learner. This is also a time for you to share any information about your child that you do not feel was communicated on your application form.
Final Review
After each Group Screening, the Day School Admissions Team meets to review applicants’ files. Admissions criteria used to determine whether or not the Day School is an appropriate learning program and environment for your child include: information from the application; Individual and Group Screenings; Pre-school Teacher Evaluation Form; and any other information provided in writing by parents. Sometimes the admissions team will request additional information before making a decision about admission. (Please see Additional Information below.)
Admission
A letter of acceptance, along with an enrollment form, fee schedule, and a Parent Covenant, will be mailed to your home, in accordance with the Admissions Timeline listed below. Please review, sign and return to Day School the enrollment form, along with a $600 deposit (applied to tuition), by the date indicated on the contract, to hold your child’s place in the coming year’s kindergarten class. Enrollment forms received after the date requested will be considered on a first-come/first-served basis, pending space availability.
All families will be invited to attend a variety of Day School events and meetings during the summer leading up to enrollment including: Parent Orientations, informal neighborhood park playgroups, the Ice Cream Social, and End of Summer Picnic/Meet The Teacher.
Financial Assistance
The Day School is committed to socioeconomic diversity. If you are considering applying for financial assistance, please be sure to check this box on your application. Financial assistance information will be emailed to you under separate cover, early in the calendar year.
Additional Information
Please provide the Day School with any/all outside testing or evaluations done by OT, PT, medical, psychological or other professionals.
Sometimes it is helpful for us to observe a child in their preschool environment, and/or secure releases to communicate on the phone or in writing with health care providers. If we are in need of this type of information we will let you know.
Admissions Timeline
- Families whose application forms and fees are received by mid-December, and who have completed the other necessary steps in a timely manner, will receive early notification of admissions near President’s Day.
- Families whose application forms and fees are received by mid-February, and who have completed the other necessary steps in a timely manner, will receive notification of admissions in mid April.
Admissions-Related Questions?
If you have questions regarding scheduling admissions appointments, please contact Ethan Tarshish, Admissions and Outreach Coordinator, at 952.381.3506 or etarshish@hmjds.org.
If you have questions regarding our Lower School program, please contact Helen Siegel, Associate Head of School, at 952.381.3500 or hsiegel@hmjds.org.
If you have questions regarding financial assistance and/or payments, please contact Ellen Marty, Business Director, at 952.381.3510.