Application and Enrollment Information
The School admits students between the ages of 5 years and 19 years, who do not require intense supervision and do not have severe disabilities that the staff is not equipped to handle. Please note that prospective students should be five or older by September 30th of the year of enrollment OR have reached their fifth birthday at the time of enrollment after September 30th. Students may enroll at any time during the school year. Blue Ridge Discovery School welcomes racial and ethnic diversity and families of every composition. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or national or ethnic origins. The school is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Mon.- Thur., 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Fridays. Students are expected to attend at least 6 hours per day or 30 hours per week.
Our Admissions Process
The admissions process consists of the following steps:
Parents are encouraged to become familiar with our school and the Sudbury philosophy by reading the material and articles on our web site, and/or our brochure and fliers. All school-related material is posted on our web site. However you may also request a printed information packet by mail.
We recommend that you meet the staff, for example at our Open House (on the first Wednesday of each month), and take a tour of the School. You may also call the School to request a tour at a time that is more convenient for you.
Parents who decide they are interested in our educational philosophy may fill out an application form and submit it along with a $25 application fee. The application is included in the informational packet and may also be obtained from the website.
We will then schedule a one-hour enrollment interview with the student and both parents and one or more staff members. During the interview we discuss important aspects of our School and the Sudbury model, answer any questions, and give you a book on the Sudbury model.
Next schedule a visiting week. The visiting week is to determine if the School is a good fit with the student’s and family’s educational philosophy. During the visiting week, the student may participate in all school activities. Visiting students may attend School Meeting, but may vote only after official enrollment. Students are expected to follow all school rules. A non-refundable fee of $100 is charged for a 5-day visit. The fee will be applied to the total tuition due when the student officially enrolls.
Once you and we determine that our school is a good fit for your child, you choose a payment option (see Tuition section below), and sign the enrollment forms. Tuition assistance is available.
Tuition
Blue Ridge Discovery School strives to be within financial reach of every family. You may elect to pay the full annual tuition of $4,000 or participate in our Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), under which, if you qualify, your tuition may be reduced to as low as $1500 annually for your entire family. We alternatively offer sibling discounts. Families with more than one child attending may take a 20% reduction for the second child($3200), and 30% off for the third and additional children($2800). You may pay the full sum upfront, or use our monthly payment option.
TAP – How does it work?
Our Tuition Assistance Program is modeled after the Federal Student Aid Program, although our TAP is calculated differently. If you decide to take advantage of TAP, you would need to complete a financial data form which you would submit along with copies of your most recent IRS-1040 and W-2s to an independent party (our accounting firm) for evaluation. According to rules set by our school, similar to those used by the Federal Student Aid Program, the accounting firm will determine an amount of tuition that you can afford to pay. Copy of the TAP form for informational purposes. Print the application form.
You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to open and print each of the packages. If you need a paper version of the application, please contact the school.
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