Kindergarten FAQs
- How many spaces are available in Kindergarten?
- Can I tour before applying?
- Consider our age guideline
- How do I start the application process?
- What additional documents are required?
- What kind of testing do you require?
- When will my Family Meeting take place?
- When do you release admission decisions?
- How much is tuition and is there Financial Aid available?
- Do you have a sibling policy?
How many spaces are available in Kindergarten?
Can I tour before applying?
Yes! Click here to submit an inquiry, schedule a tour, and RSVP for our fall admission events. If you don’t see a time that works for your family, give us a call at 818-591-6560 or drop us a line at admission@viewpoint.org, and we’ll get back to you promptly.
Consider our age guideline
Be aware of our age guideline. Applicants to Kindergarten should have turned five years old no later than August 1 of the year they wish to enter Viewpoint. Please don't hesitate to speak with a member of the Admission staff if you have questions about this; we will be happy to give you planning advice if you are the parent of a child with a late summer or fall birthday.
How do I start the application process?
We need:
- Application for Admission.
- Application Fee of $125.
- A copy of the child's birth certificate. (Applicants to Kindergarten should have turned five prior to August 1 of the year they wish to enter Viewpoint.)
- A recent photograph of the applicant (requested, not required).
- A recent photograph of the applicant and parents together (requested, not required).
What additional documents are required?
As part of our admission process, we request confidential preschool director and teacher evaluation forms to be completed and sent to us. You can send digital copies to the educators of your choosing via the Parent Portal after you have submitted an application. You are also welcome to the use downloadable copies of blank paper forms located on the "Apply" webpage.
Parents of applicants to Kindergarten should distribute the Preschool Director’s Evaluation, the Preschool Teacher’s Evaluation, and the Consent for Release of Information form with the parents’ portion completed to the child’s current school after December 1.
If your child attends more than one preschool, please arrange to have evaluations completed by each school. The educators completing these forms should return them directly to Viewpoint School by January 15.
If your child's preschool provides academic progress reports, the Consent for Release of Information form, signed by you, and given to them, will permit them to release those records to us.
For families applying their children to repeat Kindergarten with us: If your child currently attends Kindergarten, we ask that you provide us with recommendations and records for their most recently attended school. In some cases, we may contact you for additional information from the child's preschool of the prior year.
What kind of testing do you require?
Customarily, applicants to Viewpoint’s Kindergarten attend in-person group screenings on campus. Unfortunately, due to Covid19 restrictions, this is not possible for the current admission cycle.
Instead, we have created a Virtual Assessment tool, developed in consultation with experts in early childhood development.
Parents of applicants will be asked to record and upload short videos of their child completing a few fun activities at place and time that is convenient for them.
Families will receive specific instructions and more information about the Virtual Kindergarten Assessment process after submitting an application.
When will my Family Meeting take place?
Applicant Family Meetings occur on schooldays once we have received the Application for Admission, and prior to your child's scheduled Screening Day. We ask that both parents and the child attend the family meeting. Families will be able to schedule their Family Meeting via the Parent Portal starting in late October. It is likely these appointments will be conducted via Zoom for the upcoming admission cycle.
We would like your child to show us something during the meeting that is of great interest to them (or a picture representing it) that they can share with us. This could be a book, a piece of artwork, a picture of a family member or pet, a piece of memorabilia, anything at all that is meaningful to them. We find that this is often the most fun part of getting to know the uniqueness of your child.
When do you release admission decisions?
Candidates for admission to Grades K-8 whose applications were submitted by December 15, 2020 will receive the decision on March 12, 2021, in keeping with the deadlines established citywide the the Los Angeles Consortium of Admission Directors. Those families whose children have been admitted have until March 22, 2021 to reply to our offer of admission
Qualified candidates to Grades One to Five may sometimes receive an initial letter placing them in the Wait Pool, if no spaces in these grades have opened by March. It is not unusual for spaces to become available later on, in the coming weeks and months.
Therefore, any interested family with a qualified child for admission should not hesitate to accept a spot in the Wait Pool. They may receive good news later on, when a spot suddenly opens!
How much is tuition and is there Financial Aid available?
Details on tuition amounts and the Financial Aid process are located on the links under the Admission drop down menu above for "Tuition Information" and "Financial Aid"
Families of younger students who may require Financial Aid to attend Viewpoint should be sure to take the following important information into consideration:
Because Financial Aid is a scarce resource, with far more applicants than funding available, we do not distribute the awarding of Financial Aid dollars evenly throughout the grades.
Viewpoint's Board of Trustees has mandated that students who are closest to their high school graduation have the highest priority to be awarded Financial Aid. This means that we favor Upper School students first in the awarding of assistance, followed by students in the Middle grades.
Although there may sometimes be exceptions, as a general rule, Financial Aid for families with children in Viewpoint’s Primary and Lower Schools, regardless of need, is very difficult to obtain. This is true for both currently enrolled families as well as those applying for admission.
Do you have a sibling policy?
Viewpoint is proud to be a family-oriented community enriched by many families with more than one child at the School. We are committed to working closely with our current parents to determine if Viewpoint School is the best match for each of their children. We recognize that no one school is the perfect match for every child. Thus, our goal in the admission process is to enroll children who will find personal and academic success at Viewpoint.
To this end, Viewpoint gives priority in the admission process to siblings of currently enrolled students under the following conditions:
- Provided all other factors are equal and the sibling is academically qualified to enter Viewpoint.
- Provided the family has maintained a positive relationship with the School, supporting its programs, policies, teachers, and administrators, including its fundraising programs.
- Provided there is space available in the grade to which the child is applying. Keep in mind that Viewpoint's entry grades are Kindergarten, Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Grades. A sibling who is qualified for admission but applying to a grade other than these may be placed in the Wait Pool if no spaces open. We cannot ever guarantee the availability of spots in a non-entry-point grade.
Please note that we encourage all our Viewpoint families to apply to several schools since we cannot ever guarantee admission for any applicant.
The application deadline for siblings of current students applying to any grade is December 15, the same as for all other candidates.