Admissions Process

The admissions process at Charlotte Latin begins in October with open houses. You are invited to attend an open house for Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten at 7:00 p.m. on October 7, 2008, or an open house for Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 12 at 9:30 a.m. on October 17, 2008.

As an educational environment concerned with the development of the whole child, Charlotte Latin School seeks to learn about the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of each applicant for admission.  To this end, the CLS Admissions Office hosts activities that provide applicants and their families various opportunities to learn about the School.  These activities are designed to be informative and comfortable for parents and children.  Additionally, they allow the admissions staff and faculty opportunities to know and appreciate the children applying for admission, and they provide the children with the experience of being a part of Charlotte Latin School.

Student visits to the campus provide both a welcome and an introduction.

During the months of December, January, and February, Kindergarten applicants are invited to the Latin campus for a small group visit. During this visit, a group of nine children and three teachers will work and play together.  Their activities are designed to simulate a preschool classroom and include circle time, a musical activity, drawing a picture, and interacting with the other children and teachers.  The visit lasts 1 1/2 hours and allows us the opportunity to see the children in a classroom setting.

In January, group visits are conducted for applicants for first grade. At this visit, a group of eight children will spend 11/2 hours in a classroom with three teachers. As the children participate in a variety of activities, the teachers will assess their reading and math skills and observe their classroom interactions.

Visits for applicants for grades 2 through 12 can take place on a day of your choice beginning in mid-October.  In an effort to make your child’s visit at Latin comfortable, a host or hostess is chosen to take him or her through classes for the day.  Applicants spend the day visiting classes in their current grade level. Students may bring their own lunch or be our guests for lunch on the day of their visit.

Age appropriate academic screening adds to our knowledge of each student.

To relieve the pressure which results from multiple admissions test sessions for Kindergarten applicants, the Charlotte Area Independent Schools has been formed. Members of this consortium include Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte Christian School, Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte Preparatory School, Providence Day School, and Trinity Episcopal School. A brochure, which gives information about the testing sessions and describes the process for scheduling testing, is included in this packet. The test, The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence (WPPSI), is an aptitude test designed to measure a child’s ability to learn. The WPPSI will be administered between November 1, 2008, and January 31, 2009, by the psychologists listed in the CAIS brochure. A 30- to 45-minute conference with a member of the Charlotte Latin Admissions Staff will be scheduled after the Kindergarten visit and testing are complete.

Applicants for grades 1 and 2 take the Woodcock Johnson Cognitive Abilities Test (WJ) and the Visual Motor Integration Test (VMI). The WJ measures cognitive ability and achievement. Over 11/2 hours, the children individually engage in problem solving, matching, and puzzle-type activities. Several areas assessed during these activities are short-term and long-term memory, receptive and expressive language, and visual and auditory matching. The VMI is an assessment of the integration of visual perception, spatial relationships, and motor skills. During the administration of this brief measurement, the children copy geometric shapes and designs so that we may appreciate the development of their hand-to-eye coordination.

Applicants for grades 3 and 4 take a portion of the Educational Record Bureau’s Comprehensive Testing Program (ERB - CTP4), which measures achievement in reading comprehension and mathematics. Specifically, the reading comprehension section of the ERB-CTP4 provides information about a child’s general comprehension of material, examining vocabulary, recall of factual information, identification of main ideas, and ability to analyze and form conclusions. The mathematics test provides information about a child’s application of mathematical knowledge to solve problems and to compute solutions. The ERB’s are used by many independent schools and, therefore, provide a consistent measure of comparison with students in similar academic environments.

For applicants for grades 5 through 12, the following Charlotte independent schools have contracted with the Educational Records Bureau to conduct the Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE): Charlotte Latin School, Cannon School, Charlotte Christian School, Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte Preparatory School, Davidson Day School, Providence Day School, and Trinity Episcopal School. The ISEE consists of several subtests. Verbal and quantitative ability tests measure a student’s capacity to learn, and mathematics and reading comprehension tests indicate how well a student understands concepts that have been studied. Additionally, the student will write an essay to demonstrate his or her writing skills.

The ISEE will be offered on nine Saturday mornings in December through April. Please note the registration deadlines for each testing date. Scoring and reporting of scores to parents will be done by ERB within two weeks of the administration of the test.