You may apply online from September - January through Ravenna, our online admission portal.

Families should apply in the fall/winter prior to the year they would like their child to attend St. Patrick’s. The application deadline is January 17, 2020. Supporting materials are due January 24, 2020.

For Nursery, PK, and Kindergarten, St. Patrick’s adheres to the following birthday cut-off dates: 

• Nursery: Age 3 by September 1
• PK: Age 4 by September 1
• Kindergarten: Age 5 by September 1

In Grades 1-8, St. Patrick’s follows the same policy but considers requests for exceptions on a case-by-case basis. 

All students are expected and required to be potty-trained when they enter school in September.

• Nursery: 24-32
• PK: 15-20
• Kindergarten: 8-12
• Grades 1-3: based on availability
• Grade 4: 4-6
• Grade 5: based on availability
• Grade 6: 4-6
• Grade 7: based on availability

You may sign up for Parent Tours, Admission Programs, and Interviews through Ravenna, our online admission portal.

Attendance at a Parent Tour OR Admission Program is a required part of the admission process unless a family already has students enrolled at St. Patrick’s. Nursery, PK, and Kindergarten tours are conducted in small groups during the school day. Grades 1-8 tours are conducted individually during the school day. Admission Programs are conducted outside the school day. These events offer opportunities to meet teachers, administrators, and current parents and include a tour of the facility.

You are welcome to be a part of a Parent Tour or to attend an Admission Program prior to applying to St. Patrick’s. Please sign up for one or both of these events through Ravenna.

If you are applying to Grades 1-8, your optional parent interview will occur while you tour the school. If you are applying to Nursery, PK, or Kindergarten, you must submit the online application before scheduling your optional parent interview. 

Parent interviews are not a required part of the Nursery, PK, or Kindergarten admission process. However, we would love to get to know you better and welcome you to sign up to spend more time with the admission team. If you are applying to Grades 1-8, you will have an interview as part of your individual tour.

For applicants to Nursery, PK, and Kindergarten, applicants come for small-group play visits in January and early February. You may sign up for a play visit after submitting an application in Ravenna. Nursery visits occur on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 am, PK visits occur on Wednesday mornings at 9:30 am, and Kindergarten visits occur on Thursday mornings at 9:30 am. Individual student visits for children applying to Grades 1-8 begin in November and are scheduled by email after your application is received. Students generally visit in their current grade.

Nursery, PK, and Kindergarten play visits last for 45 minutes. Please arrive a few minutes early so your child has time to get comfortable and use the restroom, if necessary.

Grades 1-3 applicants visit for a half day and are picked up before lunch (specific times are noted in the confirmation email). Applicants to Grades 4-8 visit for the whole day, including lunch (which is provided by St. Patrick’s).

Applicants should wear comfortable clothes, possibly what they wear to their current school. Nursery, PK, and Kindergarten applicants will not go outside during the visit (though you are more than welcome to play on the playground before or after your child’s play visit). Children applying to Grades 1-8 may have the opportunity to play on the playground, so appropriate attire, including sneakers or comfortable shoes and a jacket, is suggested (based on weather conditions).

This issue is handled on an individual basis. At times a child may be enrolled in a class (art, dance, soccer) or may attend a church or synagogue where an adult is able to provide the necessary information.

Not as such. We receive applications from children who attend more than 50 schools in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, as well as from schools around the country and world.

You may follow the status of your child's application online in your Ravenna account. Statuses are updated as items are completed or documents are received. You will receive periodic reminders to notify you of missing documents as deadlines approach. If you believe that an item was submitted, but your Ravenna account does not reflect the submission, feel free to contact the Office of Enrollment Management by email (turinif@stpatsdc.org) or contact Ravenna directly. Please allow 48 hours for documents to be processed. 

The Admission Committee (comprised of admission officers, teachers, and division heads) reviews all aspects of a student's file (school transcript, teacher recommendation(s), parent interview notes, performance on required testing, child visit, and any other supplemental materials). Admission decisions balance the Admission Committee's assessment of a child's preparation and its goal of a well-balanced class.

We understand that applying from out of the area may be challenging. Please submit your application as soon as possible so that we can be of greatest help to your family throughout the admission process. St. Patrick’s does not offer a program in English as a Second Language (ESOL). Therefore, all students entering Grades 2-8 must be fluent in English reading, speaking, and composition. In addition, students applying to Grades 6-8 are required to take the SSAT or the ISEE.

As part of our mission to create a socioeconomically diverse learning community, St. Patrick's is committed to providing the opportunity for students from various economic circumstances to attend the Day School, offering a wide range of grants each year to families. The Day School assists families with moderate to significant need. The Board of Trustees designates funds for the Financial Aid Program each year. In 2019-2020, the school is providing approximately $2.6 million in grants to one out of four St. Patrick's students. Please visit Affording St. Patrick’s for additional information.

The Admission Committee is unaware of who has applied for financial aid, and admission decisions are made independent of financial aid decisions. However, financial aid requests must be made by the January 24, 2020 deadline in order for an award to be considered.

Founded as a church school, St. Patrick’s retains an extraordinary commitment to families within our parish and school community. That commitment finds expression in our strong endorsement of special consideration for qualified applicants to Nursery and PK who are children of active members of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, children and siblings of St. Patrick’s alumni who graduated from Grade 6 or Grade 8, children of St. Patrick’s faculty and staff, and siblings of students currently enrolled at St. Patrick’s. We ask that special consideration candidates submit applications by November 8, 2019. 

• Nursery: 8:30 am - 11:50 am (optional additional afternoons until 2:45 pm)
• PK: 8:30 am - 2:50 pm
• Kindergarten-Grade 3: 8:15 am - 2:50 pm
• Grades 4-5: 8:05 am - 2:50 pm
• Grades 6-8: 8:00 am - 3:15 pm

Students in Nursery and PK may arrive as early as 8:05 am. Students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 may arrive as early at 7:30 am. 

Extended Day offerings continue until 6:00 pm every afternoon for an additional fee.

In the Nursery full-day program and in PK, children bring their lunch from home. Beginning in Kindergarten and continuing through Grade 8, lunch is included in the program.

Students in Grades 5 and 6 may elect to participate in interscholastic sports after school. Students in Grades 7 and 8 must participate in interscholastic sports after school. We offer soccer, cross country, basketball, lacrosse, and track. Developmental athletics are available beginning in Grade 3 in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse.

Nursery-Grade 3 students are expected to dress in neat, comfortable clothing suitable for an active program. Students in Grades 4-8 adhere to a dress code. More specific information about the dress code is found in the handbook.

St. Patrick’s is determined to prepare our students to be successful, academically and personally, here in the present and well into the future. As part of that process, we provide a significant level of support for students and families as they consider secondary school options. St. Patrick's graduates become sought-after candidates at Washington-area day schools and boarding schools elsewhere. The Head of School and the Secondary School Placement Team use their insight into and respect for each student to find the best fit for the next step in that student’s educational journey. Detailed information about next school placement is located in After St. Patrick’s.