Admissions Process
Deadline for Applications
The initial deadline for submitting applications for the 2010-2011 school year has passed. If you would like to submit an application without the application fee, we will hold it in our rolling admissions file and contact you to complete the process should openings occur. |
Decision letters for TK and Kindergarten will be mailed on February 25, 2011, and letters for Grades 1 through 12 will be mailed on April 1, 2011.
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 p.m. on October 7, 2010, or an open house for Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 12 at 9:30 a.m. on October 12, 2010.
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 January and February, Kindergarten applicants are invited to the Latin campus for a small group visit. During this visit, each child will participate in one-on-one activities which will helps us to learn about his or her developmental readiness for Kindergarten. In addition, children will be observed in their current preschool classrooms.
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 8 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.
We would like to organize a visit for applicants for grades 9 through 12 which allows the student to learn more about subjects and co-curricular areas he or she is particularly interested in. The Applicant Statement in the application will help us learn about those interests. An interview with an Upper School administrator will be part of the 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 October 1, 2010, and January 31, 2011, 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 through 4 take the Woodcock Johnson Cognitive Abilities Test (WJ) and the Visual Motor Integration Test (VMI). The WJ measures cognitive ability. 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.
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 Saturday mornings in December through March. Parents register online directly with ERB as indicated in the enclosed ISEE borchure. (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.