Admissions Procedures
Admissions Procedures
Families interested in joining the Green Hills community should contact the Admissions Director to discuss availability of space. If there is space, parents are encouraged to schedule a tour of the campus if they have not previously visited. GHA has an open admissions process and accepts learners throughout the school year if space is available.
To begin the admissions process, parents complete the application for admission, submit it to the Admissions Director and pay the application fee. Following receipt of the application fee, the Admissions Director arranges a time for an admissions test for children applying to Grades 1 and above. For children applying to Nursery, the Admissions Director schedules a visit during which children engage in activities to assess developmental readiness.
After the applicant completes the admission test or readiness assessment and all required admission materials are submitted, the Admissions Committee reviews the application and makes a decision regarding admission and grade placement. The Admissions Director then communicates the Committee’s decision to the parents. GHA offers places to applicants on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Equal Opportunity
GHA has an equal opportunity policy and does not discriminate against learners on the basis of race, nationality, gender or disability.
Grade Names and Placement
GHA’s classes in Nursery are Toddler, Nursery 1, Nursery 2 and Nursery 3. Primary School grades are Grade 1 through Grade 5, Middle School includes Grades 6 through 8 and High School consists of Grades 9 through 12.
When applicants are granted admission to GHA, the Admissions Committee decides the appropriate grade placement. Our goal is to place applicants in grades where they will be successful academically, socially, emotionally and physically throughout their time at GHA.
Learners are more likely to be successful and excel when they are among the oldest and most mature in their classes and peer group. They are also more likely to graduate from High School with excellent academic achievements and leadership experiences, which enable them to gain admission to the best universities globally. Thus, we encourage parents to apply for the grades in which their children are most likely to experience the highest levels of success.
GHA recommends that parents apply for admission to the grade in which their child will have turned the age of that grade by September 1. For example, GHA recommends that children are three years old by September 1 to join our Nursery 1 class, four years old by September 1 to join the Nursery 2 class and so on. However, as children develop differently, we recognize that some children may be ready for a grade before they are fully the standard age for that grade. Thus, we accept and consider applications for children who will turn the standard age of the grade between September 1 and October 31. For example, GHA will consider applicants who turn three between September 1 and October 31 for Nursery 1 and so on. The Admissions Committee considers children individually, and makes admission and grade placement decisions accordingly.
Waiting List
Once a class is full, a waiting list is created. When a place becomes available, parents are called following the order in which applications were submitted to the Admissions Office.
Exceptions
Learners who have studied overseas or have strong proof that they have completed the course requirements of their age-related grade may be considered for placement into a maximum of one grade above. These learners must also show themselves to be academically, socially and emotionally up to the standards of the grade and will be enrolled with the condition that they may need two years in that grade if they have serious difficulty with the academic, social, emotional and physical requirements of the grade. This agreement is to be recorded, signed by a guardian and placed in the learner’s file.
Parents who have concerns regarding their child’s development or ability to succeed academically, socially or emotionally may request that their child be enrolled in a maximum of one grade level below. In addition, should the Admissions Committee believe that a learner is not able to succeed academically, socially or emotionally, GHA reserves the right to place the child in the grade below the academic age or to refuse admission.
Green Hills Academy will not place learners in more than one grade above or below the child’s age-based grade. For example, a child that according to age should be in Grade 5, could be placed in Grade 4 and 6 but could not be placed in Grades 7 or 3.
Admission Assessment
Applicants to Nursery are assessed for developmental readiness for the grade to which they are applying. The developmental assessment helps us determine readiness for Nursery School and the appropriate grade level.
Learners applying to Grade 1 through Grade 12 take an admission test. The test covers both literacy (reading and writing) and mathematics. Learners must pass this exam to be admitted to GHA. Occasionally, the Admissions Committee will admit a child who did not pass the exam, but usually there are special circumstances the parents must agree to (tutoring, day boarding, reading intervention, etc.). The Admissions Committee may decide to offer the applicant a place in the lower grade.
Additional Educational Needs
GHA welcomes learners with additional educational needs when the school is able to meet those needs. When parents are aware of their child’s additional needs they should inform the Admissions Director so the Special Education Needs Coordinator can be involved in the admissions process to ensure that we can provide appropriate support. Due to the physical layout of the campus and available resources, GHA may be unable to admit some students given that the school would not be able to meet the children’s additional needs.
In the case of learners who wish to enroll but require a large amount of one-on-one support, parents will be asked to pay an additional fee, so an assistant can be hired. This could be for full time support or may be cost-shared with another learner who needs support. In some cases, GHA may also require that parents engage the services of a psychologist for assessment of a learner before enrollment can be approved. This is to be paid for by parents and does not necessarily guarantee enrollment.
For learners who are already enrolled, but are identified as having a serious behavioural, learning, developmental, physical or other needs/delay, GHA may require a formal assessment of that child if the School finds it cannot meet the needs of the child. Should parents refuse to have their child assessed, or provide the necessary support, GHA may refuse re-enrollment for that learner for the next school year.
In situations where a child has behavioural needs which are extremely detrimental to the health and safety of other learners, and the parents refuse to work with the school to manage the behaviour or provide the necessary support, this may be grounds for termination of enrollment during the academic year.
Procedures for Admission
- Interested parents visit the school if they haven’t previously visited, when possible.
- Parents complete the admission application (available on the website or from the Admissions Office) and submit school report cards from the previous two years, if applicable.
- Parents pay the admission application fee.
- Parents make an appointment and the child takes the admission test (Grades 1 to 12) or participates in a readiness assessment session (Nursery).
- Additional interviews and information may be needed for learners with additional educational needs.
- The Admissions Committee reviews the applicant’s files and makes a decision.
- When families are living abroad, GHA will make provisional admission decisions based on applications for admission and school records. To hold a space, parents need to pay the Registration Fee.
- The Admissions Director informs parents of the results.
- If an applicant is accepted, parents must submit additional documentation to the Admissions Office (see below under Enrollment Forms).
- Parents must pay the registration and tuition fees to hold the space.
Application for Admission
Before learners can start at GHA, parents must submit the following:
- Copy of vaccination record
- One passport-sized photo of the child
- Copy of the passport of the child or birth certificate from hospital
- Copy of parent’s passport or ID card
Enrollment in the IB Diploma Programme
New learners may join the IB Programme in the first term of Grade 11. After that, the School only accepts learners who were previously studying in the IB Programme when the previous school can release IB records to our IB Coordinator.