Application Process

Submit an inquiry form to begin receiving information from Park Day School, or sign up to visit campus by selecting “explore” in Ravenna. Review the Application Checklist for details about the admissions process.

ENTRY POINTS

• Transitional Kindergarten: Park Day has one TK class of around 15 students, with two teachers in the class. All students must be 4 years old by Sept. 1 in the year they start TK.
• Kindergarten: Park Day has two kindergarten classes of around 18 students each, with two teachers in each class. In 2025-2026 we expect to enroll approximately 36 new kindergarten students. All students must be 5 years old by Sept. 30 in the year they start kindergarten.
• 6th Grade: There are approximately 44 students in each 6th, 7th, and 8th grade cohort. There are typically 22 students and one teacher in each class section. Each year we enroll new students to join our current fifth graders as they move up to sixth grade.
• Grades 1 -5: Applicants for first through fifth grades are considered as space becomes available.

Park Day School is not accepting applications for seventh and eighth grades for the 2025-2026 school year.

Register on the Ravenna platform to sign up for tours and events. 

• School tours begin in October and are held on weekday mornings.
• Weekend K-8 Open Houses take place Nov 9 and Dec 14.
• Affinity Gatherings typically take place in February and/or March.
• Parent Mixers (adults only) typically take place in late January/early February.
• If you have a specific question in advance of the information session or interview, you are invited to sign up for a conversation with Director of Admissions  josie.agshapiro@parkdayschool.org. This is an optional step and best for families with specific questions. For a general school overview, check out these videos!

Applications are completed through Ravenna and include:

• Parent/Guardian Application form and application fee ($65 until Dec 9, $100 thereafter). Contact josie.agshapiro@parkdayschool.org if a fee waiver is needed.
• Student Video Questionnaire (grades 2-8): Students answer questions via video, and upload video url through the Ravenna form as directed.

Teacher recommendation forms completed by your child’s current teacher are required for all applicants.

• Send your child’s current teacher an electronic recommendation form through Ravenna (follow the Ravenna step titled “Teacher Recommendation (Required)”
• Bay Area shared teacher recommendation forms: it is fine to ask your child’s teacher to make a copy of the completed recommendation form and send the same version to multiple schools if you are applying to other schools that do not use Ravenna. PDF versions of forms available here.
• Report Card Release Forms are required for grade 1-8 applicants (print form through Ravenna and upload your own copies of report cards/progress reports/transcripts to facilitate the process).
• Some OUSD schools do not permit recommendations: if this applies to you, please arrange for a current coach, activities teacher, or other adult who knows your child in a group setting this year, to fill out the teacher recommendation form.
• Extra recommendations: If you would like a previous year’s teacher to also submit a recommendation form, you may submit more than one recommendation form and Park Day will review both.

Upon receipt of your application, you will be invited to register for a parent interview, and will receive information about the student visit and assessment.

• Parent interviews are conducted via Zoom, and registration is available following submission of the parent/guardian application.
• Student visits and assessment requirements vary by grade level and details are provided on Ravenna. All students, K-8, have the opportunity to visit campus.

40% of Park Day families participate in the indexed tuition program. The application is optional and is the same day as the regular application deadline in January.

• Apply to the Indexed Tuition program by submitting a Clarity application.
• Indexed Tuition is assessed separately from admissions decisions. Once admission decisions have been made, the school assesses tuition levels for those being offered enrollment.
• Indexed Tuition levels accompany acceptance offers in March.

Admissions decisions are based on elements submitted during the application process, including the screening of the child and interviews with the family to determine a student’s academic and social readiness. In evaluating children for admission to any grade or class, the school considers the child’s strengths, needs, personality, and learning style in relation to the needs and functioning of the class as a whole.

• Park Day sends admission decisions electronically on a shared Bay Area schools notification date in March.
  • Tuition information for the upcoming school year will be included in the acceptance notice.
  • Families who have applied for tuition indexing will be notified of their tuition amount at the same time they receive their offer of admission.
  • To enroll, families must return signed enrollment contract and the required deposit within one week of receipt.
  • We know that choosing a school is a monumental decision, and are here to support you every step of the way.