Application Process

You can complete your admissions application through either the Ravenna platform, or the Standard Application Online (SAO). To get started, create an online account, locate The Northwest School in the directory, and complete the Preliminary Application.  

The Preliminary Application has two parts—an Application for Admission Form, and a non-refundable application fee. If the application fee presents a challenge for your family, please reach out to our admissions team to request a waiver. 

You can create your account and complete the Preliminary Application in less than 30 minutes. Upon completion of the Preliminary Application, you will see a list of required next steps, forms, documents, and deadlines in your online application portal. 

We invite students and their parents/guardians to learn more about the Northwest experience through the required Interview and Student Visit Days application steps.

Pre-registration for both Interviews and Student Visit Days is required through Ravenna. Applicants using the SAO application portal are invited to contact the admissions team to sign up for your preferred date.

Interviews
Interviews are hosted by Northwest faculty members and include time for students and their families to ask questions. Requirements vary by grade level:

• Parent/Guardian Interviews – Middle School applicants (6th, 7th, and 8th grade)
• Student Interviews – Applicants entering at non-traditional grade levels (7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade)

Student Visit Day
To get a sense of daily life as a community member, every student applicant is required to attend the Student Visit Day. During the Visit Day, students will meet current teachers and students and learn more about Northwest through a variety of activities. Our community members look forward to learning more about prospective students during the visit as well!

Please request the submission of official school transcripts for the current school year and the previous two school years: 2024-25*, 2023-24, and 2022-23.

If your student has attended more than one school during this timeframe you will need to send a separate transcript request to all previous schools. Transcript requests can be completed through the online application portal. For Homeschool Applicants, we request additional information to better understand their learning program (see below).

Additionally, we request completion of two teacher evaluations and one school administrator report. Guidance on who to request the evaluations from, and the request forms, are available through the application portal.

*Based on your current school’s evaluation periods, we understand that some records will be shared with us after the application deadline in January 2025.

There are three written components of the application for your family to complete by the application deadline.

The forms include:

• Student Essay
• Student Interests & Activities
• Parent/Guardian Statement

Admissions decisions are delivered on the following dates. 

• Upper School Decision Release: Friday, February 21, 2025
• Middle School Decision Release: Friday, March 21, 2025

Families will be asked to reply to the decision within one week of its release.

The application deadline for the 2024-25 school year has now passed, however, we may be able to accept applications for select grades. Please don't hesitate to reach out to our office to get more information about availability. Please email the admissions team or call 206-816-6032 so we can assist you.

The heart of The Northwest School lies in its diverse and interconnected community. If applicants have siblings currently enrolled, if their parents or siblings are alumni, or if they are part of our faculty's family, they qualify for consideration in the early Community Deadline process (grades 6-12).

The application deadline for the Early Community process will be November 7, 2024, with decisions released to families on December 13, 2024. Admitted students will be asked to reply to their offer by December 20, 2024. 

Please note, while this gives families within our community an opportunity to hear earlier about their admissions decision, it does not change how an application is reviewed or perceived in the process. Questions? Please reach out to the admissions team for further information.

In support of equity and access, The Northwest School will not require or accept standardized testing results such as the SSAT or ISEE at this time. Our admissions committee will continue to focus on academic transcripts, teacher recommendations, student essays, extracurricular interests, and community engagement.

Please note, to ensure absolute equity within the admissions process, members of the Admissions Committee will not have access to any SSAT or ISEE results, even from applicants who offer their scores. Should any questions arise throughout the admissions season, please email the admissions team or call 206-816-6032 so we can assist you.

For applicants who are applying from homeschool, we ask for some additional information to better understand your learning program. We ask that the coordinator(s) of your student's program create a brief overview of the program. We suggest inclusion of the following:

• Goals of the program and educational philosophy 
• Description of the approach to teaching and learning: 
• Structure and timing of program
• Links to curriculum and/or online course information
• Important texts read/used
• Types of assignments, projects, and volume of workload
• If this was a cohort homeschool program, please include the number of students and grade levels
• If you worked with a certificated teacher to provide your homeschool programming, please include teacher names and contact information
• For the current year and two previous years: courses taken, topics covered, and any grades/grading scale, if one was used
• A current year writing and math assessment
• If student is a Washington state resident: A copy of the Annual Assessment or state standardized test score report, as required by the state of Washington for the years the student was homeschooled
• If student is not a Washington state resident: Please include any state-mandated testing/assessments as applicable 

A note on Teacher Evaluations: We require two teacher evaluations as a part of the application. We recommend at least one of the teacher evaluations is submitted by a non-family member whenever possible. Other recommenders to consider are coaches, tutors, mentors, or other adults in the student's life.

International Application Process