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Admissions Process

Carrollwood Day School welcomes all prospective applicants and families. The school seeks to admit those students who show the potential to grow significantly while at CDS. Students must be academically on or above grade level.

Each division – Lower School (Early Childhood and Elementary), Middle, and Upper School – has slightly different admissions procedures, so please view the division in which you are interested. Regardless of the age of the student, Carrollwood Day School strongly recommends a personal tour for the parents prior to submitting an application. Families will receive an admissions packet during their visit. Beginning in PreK 3, all applicants are required to complete a developmental/learning assessment.

Middle School and Upper School applicants are required to come in for a shadow visit. You will receive more information regarding this in his application, once the initial inquiry has been submitted. Experiencing our learning environment firsthand is a key component in the school selection process.

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In this Section

Early Childhood (Preschool & Kindergarten)

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  • Schedule a tour of the Early Childhood Campus
  • Complete an online application
  • Schedule an assessment and group observation (if applicable)
  • PreK 4 and Kindergarten only: Submit teacher recommendation form
Elementary (Grades 1 - 5)

Primary School Kid

  • Schedule a tour of the Bearss Avenue Campus
  • Complete an online application
  • Submit one teacher recommendation form
  • Submit two years of report cards & standardized test scores (if applicable)
  • Complete an Admissions assessment
Middle (Grades 6-8)

Middle School Years

  • Schedule a tour of the Bearss Avenue Campus
  • Complete an online application
  • Submit one teacher recommendation form
  • Submit previous two years of report cards & standardized test scores (if applicable)
  • Schedule a shadow day for your child. Your child will complete admissions testing (separate from the SSAT) and an interview with the Middle School team during this time.
  • Register to take the SSAT (www.ssat.org). Designate CDS with code: 2137.
Upper (Grades 9-11)

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  • Schedule a tour of the Bearss Avenue Campus
  • Complete an online application
  • Submit student portion of application - must be completed by the student applicant
  • Submit two teacher recommendation forms
  • Submit previous two years of report cards & standardized test scores, to include the first semester of this current school year.
  • Schedule a shadow day for your child. Your child will complete admissions testing (separate from the SSAT) and an interview with the Upper School team during this time.
  • 9th grade ONLY: Register to take the SSAT (www.ssat.org). Designate CDS with code: 2137.
  • IB Diploma Programme Admissions Policy (link to CDS-DP Admissions Policy.pdf)

Waiting Pool

Once a class has reached capacity, qualified applicants are placed in a waiting pool.  When an opening arises in a particular grade, the Admissions Committee reconvenes to determine which candidate in the waiting pool will fill the position.