Once we have processed the recommendation, it will be marked completed on your online checklist. We encourage families to log in frequently in late January and early February to ensure all documents have been received. Please keep in mind that our office receives 1000s of documents in the month of January and it can take up to three weeks to process them all. We will inform you of missing items.
Tours will be available for current applications only. Please check our website regularly for up to date information on tour registration. In the meanwhile, please enjoy a virtual tour of our campus at: https://admission.sjs.org/virtual-tour.
St. John’s adheres to the common decision date set by Houston Area Independent School and has traditionally been the Friday before Spring Break. This year, the common decision date is Friday, March 11, 2022.
Unfortunately, there is no way to predict when a spot might open up in a non-entry point. To be consider for a non-entry point, you must complete the application by our stated deadlines.
A parent meeting is required for all applicant parents for K, 1, 6-12 who do not have a child currently enrolled in the School. A member of the Admission Office staff will contact you to schedule your parent meeting.
We look forward to working with families moving to Houston from other areas of the United States and other countries. We understand that the admission process may present some challenges given your circumstances. We encourage you to submit an application as soon as possible so that we may assist you with the admission process.
Out of town families applying for Grades 2–12 can complete the process without coming to campus. All testing can be done out of state, and we can help facilitate. Additionally, interviews and parent meetings can be completed over Zoom.
Out of town families applying for Grades K and 1 need to be on campus for their group evaluation. Those dates are listed on our website far in advance, so you are able to make travel arrangements. Since applicants are required to come to Houston for their group evaluation, we encourage families to schedule their WPPSI appointment with CATS during their visit.
As a day school, St. John's policy requires that students reside with a parent, stepparent, or legal guardian. We do not offer a program for international students and do not issue I-20 visas.
The application deadline for Kindergarten is August 27, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. The application deadline for Grades 1-4 is October 22, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. The application deadline for grades 5-12 is December 3, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.
Please visit our Selection Process page under the Admission tab for information regarding admission requirements. You can also click on this link for our Admission checklist.
You must scan and upload your child’s report card. We do not need a transcript sent directly from your current school, however, certain area private schools do send over a package of transcripts for students applying to St. John’s from their school. In this case you do not need to upload report cards. Please check with the registrar at you school if you think you are in this category.
We strongly recommend that you apply your child to other schools in your area as well as explore your public school options. With a limited number of available spots, admission is not guaranteed at St. John’s. Sadly, each year, we have to say no to many highly qualified candidates.
St. John’s prides itself on the diversity of our student body. Each year, we seek to enroll students from a variety of ethnic, socio-economic, and religious backgrounds. Currently, 46% of our families self-identify as a family of color.
St. John’s is a non-denominational school with no official ties to St. John the Divine; however, St. John the Divine graciously offers use of its sanctuary for our Chapel program. If you would like more information on our Chapel program, please visit here.
Information about our Kindergarten process can be found here. We notify families at the end of September about their status regarding Kindergarten testing.
St. John’s seeks to enroll students from a wide variety of schools and backgrounds. During this past admission season, we offered places to students from 77 different schools.
Preparing for group testing is not necessary as what they are doing in school daily is sufficient. Dress your child in comfortable clothing, and we suggest avoiding language like testing or observing. You can tell your child that they are coming to spend time in kindergarten or first grade at St. John’s and it will resemble a day at school. We find that children are more relaxed when their parents are relaxed. Please note that specific exposure to our group testing material will disqualify your child from the process.
For our K-4 applicants, the cognitive ability testing (WPPSI or WISC) must be administered by Collaborative Academic Testing (CATS). There is additional information on the “Selection Process” pages for K-4. Group testing will be held at St. John’s. For Grades 5-12, the ISEE will be administered at St. John's. Please visit the link under the ISEE checklist requirement for more details including registration.
Test scores are only one aspect of a student’s file. A broad range of test scores exists among those students accepted by St. John’s, and we do not have a cutoff score for admission.
We will contact families if we are able to offer a spot from the waitlist. The waitlist stays open until the first day of school, and we will go to the waitlist over the summer if needed. Families do not need to check on their waitlist status as they will receive communication from our office should a spot become available.
Our natural entry points are K, 1, 6 and 9. You can find information about the number admitted on the Selection Process page. For non-entry points, we generally admit between 0-2 and is based upon attrition in that grade.
All recommendations and the Administrator's Report must be uploaded to your child's checklist by the recommender.
Current and previous report cards, as well as, the Applicant Questionnaire must be scanned and uploaded by the applicant or applicant's parent directly to the checklist in PDF form.
Yes. If you are your child’s primary instructor, then you should fill out the recommendation. If your child attends a homeschool cooperative, please have an instructor from that program complete the recommendation.
The best time to tour our campus is in the fall preceding the year you wish to enroll. This timeframe would typically allow us to share the most current information about St. John’s prior to all application and testing deadlines. For current applicant families only, our Open House events will take place on September 19 (Middle School and Upper School) and September 26 (Kindergarten and First Grade). Prospective families will still be able to speak with faculty and students, and hear from the Director of Admission about the application process. We hope you will join us! In the meanwhile, please enjoy a virtual tour of our campus at: https://admission.sjs.org/virtual-tour.
We look forward to getting to know your child if they visit our campus for a tour or interview. However, due to the large number of applicants, only students who are offered admission are given the opportunity to visit classes at St. John’s.
Yes. Students must apply each year that they wish to be considered for admission to St. John’s. Please keep in mind that our natural entry points occur in Kindergarten, First, Sixth, and Ninth grades. Openings in all other grades occur only through attrition.
Each candidate is considered for admission based on his or her own application and appropriateness of fit for St. John’s, regardless of siblings or relatives going through the process at the same time.
St. John’s has a generous need-based financial aid budget. Please refer to Affording St. John's in our Tuition Information section for details on our financial aid offerings.
Individual arrangements for interviews and testing can be made for those who live out of town. Please contact D'Hania Hunt at dhunt@sjs.org to coordinate the timing of your visit.
We encourage you to consider the admission process as a way of finding the best school for your child. As a result, we hope that your child will feel calm and relaxed throughout the process. Keeping your family’s standard routine the night before testing will help ensure your child is well rested on testing day.
Our students come from many different neighborhoods in and around Houston. We currently have families from over 64 different zip codes. Click here to view St. John's School families by zip code.
