Admissions Process

CSS has an admissions process in order to accommodate the high demand for space in the school.

As of February 1, 2012 our waiting lists are closed EXCEPT for the grade 4 list for 2015 admission and the grade 9 list for 2012 admission. All other waiting lists are full, with over four hundred names on each grade 4 waiting list and one hundred names on the grade 5 to 9 waiting lists.

The purpose of the process is to ensure that there is a good alignment between the learner profile of potential students and the nature of our program. Given the extremely low attrition rate, the primary intake year is grade 4.

The nature of our program is such that learners should have the capability for independent learning, the desire to learn and grow with the support and guidance of peers as well as teachers, and an adventurous spirit. As with every school, there is a wide variation in terms of the types of learner at CSS, but those who have found the most success at CSS have had the capacity for independent learning but also appreciate and have the capability for highly collaborative work.

The admissions process is comprised of the following steps:

1. Placement of the waiting list – Parents or guardians can put their child’s name on the wait list on September 1 of the year that the child enters kindergarten. Siblings of existing CSS students are placed at the top of the waiting list. Placement on the waiting list is based on the date that the family first contacts the school.
2. Parental Attendance at the School Information Session – In late January or early February of the year prior to admission in grade 4 parents must attend a school information session. Failure to attend the information session or make alternate arrangements will result in the child’s name being withdrawn from the waiting list.
3. Students Write the Placement Test – When at the school information session parents will sign up for a date on which their child(ren) will write the placement test. The test is the Weschler Test of Fundamental Skills and is administered in a group setting on any one of three consecutive Saturdays in February.
4. Parents Provide Supplemental Information – The school collects a current report card, a student questionnaire, a student writing sample, and any other information that would inform the admissions process.
5. Decision on Admission

Decisions on admissions can be appealed according to Board policy.