Admission FAQ

There are three School divisions at St. John’s:

Primary School: Preschool, Pre-Kindergarten, Transitional Kindergarten (TK), Kindergarten

Lower School: First Grade – Fourth Grades

Middle School: Fifth Grade – Eighth Grades

Our earliest entry point is our Preschool (3s). Preschool applicants must be three years old by August 1 of their enrollment year.

Our largest (and first) entry point for admission is in Preschool (3’s). Note: Applicants must be three years old by August 1 of their enrollment year.  
 
After Preschool, Kindergarten and Fifth Grade (Beginning of Middle School) are the next natural entry points at St. John’s. The number of openings for our other grades vary year to year.

St. John’s is able to offer tuition assistance to students and families based on their demonstrated financial need. St. John’s does NOT award merit-based aid or awards. If your family is interested in applying for tuition assistance, please visit our tuition and tuition assistance page linked here and/or feel free to reach out directly to Lani Jones by emailing ljones@stjohnsschool.org or calling 214.328.9131 x108.  New families applying to St. John’s must complete their tuition assistance application no later than January 26, 2024. Decisions for tuition assistance award for new students will be communicated via email immediately after admission decisions are released on Friday, March 8 at 4:00 p.m.

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is a grade positioned between Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten. Unlike our other grades, there is only one class of TK. This class is designed to support children who are age-eligible for kindergarten, but who may benefit from extra time to develop socially and emotionally.

St. John’s uses Finalsite Enrollment for our online admission process. When you decide to apply, you will establish a username and password for Finalsite Enrollment. All aspects of admission and enrollment will be navigated through this site.

Our application deadline is January 12, 2024, but we strongly recommend that you begin the application process in the fall by creating an online login and completing the initial application form and fee.

Once you do so, you will then be able to access the online application checklist and have plenty of time to fulfill the requirements for your application: teacher recommendations, school records and transcripts, test scores (CATS (Collaborative Academic Testing Service) Pre-Kindergarten – First Grade; ISEE (Independent School Entrance Examination) Second Grade- Seventh Grade), parent and student questionnaires, parent interview, and student evaluation and visit at St. John’s.

For further details and to see a complete list of important action dates and deadlines for the 2023-24 admission cycle, please click here.

First, fill out an inquiry form. Once you complete this form, we will have your information in our system and be able to send you important communications about the admission process and opportunities to visit the campus in the Fall.  

Next, you may begin the application process by creating a login and completing the initial parent application form and fee. This will initiate your process and an admission checklist will be generated for you, detailing important deadlines and application requirements.

Although visiting St. John’s is not required, we highly recommend that you sign up for an Admission Coffee and/or our annual Open House. We feel a visit to campus is the very best way for you to get to know St. John’s. If you are unable to attend one of the admission events, please reach out to the admission office to schedule a tour on a Tuesday or Thursday.

CATS testing is required for Pre-Kindergarten– First Grade applicants. Please register for this test as soon as you are able to ensure that you receive a testing slot.  

A note from Collaborative Academic Testing Service (CATS): As the testing season progresses, CATS will become short on testing slots so that rescheduling is often not possible before application deadlines. Winter weather, illness, and holiday travel all interfere with appointments during Winter months. A student’s performance on the test is evaluated relative to other students within a narrow chronological age band, so waiting until later in the school year does not improve one's chance of achieving higher scores.   

ISEE Testing is required for Second – Eighth Grade applicants. You may register to take the ISEE at St. John’s Episcopal School on January 20, 2024, using the event code PJ4MKECB. 

Please be sure to select St. John’s Episcopal School in Dallas, TX (School code: 447538) as a recipient of your child’s scores so they will be automatically sent to us and included in your child’s application.  

The CATS Test is a standardized assessment administered by doctoral-level, licensed psychologists designed to measure an individual’s intellectual and cognitive ability and potential. The CATS is NOT an achievement test and therefore preparation is highly discouraged. The CATS test is a requirement for students wishing to apply to Pre-kindergarten/Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade. For more information and to register, please visit the CATS website linked here.

Preschool: 8:15 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. 

Pre-Kindergarten, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten: 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. 

First Grade – Second Grade: 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. 

Third Grade – Fourth Grade: 8:00 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. 

Fifth Grade – Eighth Grade: 8:00 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. 

Early morning care as well as our Extended Day and Enrichment Programs are available. For more information about our Extended Day and Enrichment Programs, please click here.  

Yes. The pencil-to-paper version of the ISEE test will be offered to applicants applying to grades 2 – 8 and administered at St. John’s on Saturday, January 20, 2024. You may register to take the ISEE at St. John’s Episcopal School using the event code PJ4MKECB. Please be sure to select St. John’s Episcopal School in Dallas, TX (School code: 447538) as a recipient of your child’s scores so they will be automatically sent to us and included in your child’s application.

The code to enter when registering to take the ISEE at St. John’s on Saturday, January 20 is: PJ4MKECB

Preschool–First Grade Evaluations: Applicants for Preschool, Pre-Kindergarten, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten and First Grade will be assigned an evaluation date. This evaluation will most likely take place at St. John’s on a Saturday in January or February. Students will engage with other applicants their age for approximately an hour in a classroom and on the playground. 

Second Grade - Eighth Grade Evaluations: Applicants for Second Grade – Eighth Grade will be invited to campus during the school week. Students will engage with current St. John’s students and have an opportunity to see St. John’s in action, participating in classroom and out of classroom activities. 

All interested families and their children are welcome to join us for our annual Open House in November. All students must be accompanied by an adult.

Yes, all enrolled students at St. John’s have the option to participate in our Extended Day and Enrichment Programs.  

Please visit link above to learn mor about our after school and enrichment opportunities.  

Primary School (Preschool, Pre-Kindergarten, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten): 
Average Class Size: 12–4 *each classroom in Primary School has 2 Full-Time Teachers 

Lower School (Grades 1–4): 
Average Class Size: 14–16 

Middle School (Grades 5–8): 
Average Class Size: 14–16 

Our students leave St. John’s to attend both independent and public high schools. Below is a list of some of the schools chosen by our students in the past: 

Bishop Lynch High School 
Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts 
Cistercian Preparatory School  
Greenhill School 
The Hockaday School 
Jesuit Preparatory School of Dallas 
Lakehill Preparatory School 
Parish Episcopal School 
St. Mark’s School of Texas 
Talented and Gifted Magnet High School 
The Episcopal School of Dallas 
Ursuline Academy 
Woodrow Wilson High School 

The first step is to complete an inquiry form so that we can add you and your child to the Admission Funnel for the current admission season.

The Admission Portal for applications opens each year on September 15. Admission events and tours begin in October.

All applications and materials are due by Friday, January 12 with admission decisions communicated via email on Friday, March 8 at 4:00 p.m.

We encourage you to submit the initial application form as soon as possible. Our application deadline is January 12, 2024. 

St. John’s is comprised of Episcopalians and non-Episcopalians, Christians and non-Christians, and people with no faith tradition. We welcome all to our School, recognizing the unique worth and dignity of all human beings as creations of a loving, empowering God.

Admission decisions will be emailed at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, March 8, 2024.

Yes, we typically have a small wait pool after admission decisions are released in March. Each year St. John’s typically receives more applications from qualified students seeking admission than we have to room to accept. Therefore, students are placed in the wait pool for continued consideration for admission, should a space become available. It is possible for a wait pool candidate to be offered admission as late as early August, and the wait pool officially closes once the new school year has begun. St. John’s does not rank applicants in the wait pool, and all candidates are individually reconsidered as a space becomes available.

All students who did not enroll in St. John’s after an admission season must complete a new application to be considered for future admission.

St. John’s Episcopal School requires that all enrolled students be compliant with the Texas Minimum State Vaccine Requirements. Newly enrolled students must show proof of immunization at the time of enrollment by uploading a vaccination record in their Magnus Health portal. Enrollment is not complete until immunizations have been reviewed and deemed compliant. 

The School does not accept exemptions for conscientious objections. Students requesting a medical exemption from the immunization requirements must annually submit a signed, dated letter from the student’s Texas-licensed, treating physician (Allergist, Immunologist, Hematologist, or Oncologist) specifically stating the basis for the exemption and that the required vaccines would be medically contraindicated or pose a significant risk to the health and well-being of the child or a member of the child’s household. Requests for medical exemptions will be considered and granted on a case-by-case basis. Students who have not received any vaccines will not be considered for medical exemption.  

For additional information or questions about the School’s Immunization Policy, please feel free to reach out directly to the School Nurse, Amy Johns at ajohns@stjohnsschool.org