For pre-K and Kindergarten, Norwood adheres to the following birthday cut-off dates: pre-K students must turn 4 prior to September 1 and Kindergarten students must turn 5 by September 1. Additionally, no pre-K student should turn 5 earlier than June 1 nor any Kindergarten student turn 6 prior to June 1. This policy creates the maximum of a 15 month age range per grade which the School feels is best for social and emotional development. In subsequent grades, the School attempts to adhere to the same policy but will consider requests for exceptions on a case by case basis.
All pre-K students are expected and required to enter the School in September fully potty-trained.
All aspects of a student's file (school transcript, teacher recommendation(s), parent conversation, performance on required testing, Norwood visit) are reviewed carefully by the appropriate Admission Committee. Admission Committees include admission officers, teachers, learning specialists, and principals. Admission decisions balance the Admission Committee's assessment of a child's preparation for the grade to which she/he is applying and its effort to enroll a well-balanced class.
You may follow the status of your child's application online in your Ravenna account. As items are completed or documents are received, their status is updated. Reminders will be sent periodically to notify you any missing documents as deadlines approach. If you believe that an item was submitted yet Ravenna does not reflect this, please feel free to contact the admisison office at 301-841-2130. Please allow 48 hours for documents to be processed.
Qualified applicants receive either a letter of acceptance or one offering a place in the wait-pool. Those who are accepted receive an enrollment contract which must be completed and returned to the School with a deposit by March 15. A wait-pool letter signifies that the applicant met all admission requirements but has applied to a grade where not enough spaces are available to accommodate the number of qualified applicants. If the Admission Committee finds that Norwood is not a good match for an applicant at the time of application, the applicant receives a letter of denial.
Norwood School embraces a strong sibling policy. Norwood approaches each sibling application with a desire to offer admission. Ensuring a healthy educational match is important, however, so siblings follow a similar application process as non-siblings albeit with an earlier application timeline. Norwood does not offer any sibling tuition discount.
No. Norwood School accepts students based on academic merit, test scores, references, and personal qualities. Financial aid files are reviewed and awards made only after a student is admitted. However, financial aid requests must be made by the February 1 deadline in order for an award to be considered.
Norwood School greatly values its strong partnership with parents and there are many ways for parents to get involved in the daily life of the school -- from Parents Association-sponsored events to grade-specific celebrations. The School and Parents Association work hard to create opportunities that work for all families. Norwood would not be the wonderful and welcoming school it is without our parent volunteers!
The Parents of Students of Color Committee (PSCC) was established to further build a community at Norwood that understands and acts on issues of special concern to families of color and institutes plans and programs to help students achieve the highest level of personal and academic success. The group also works with the School to celebrate the unique perspectives that children from a variety of backgrounds bring to our classrooms and lives. For information about additional diversity initiatives at Norwood, visit the Diversity at Norwood page.
Norwood graduates do not “feed” into a small group of high schools. In fact, the Class of 2020 attends 33 different high schools. That’s one of the distinguishing aspects of Norwood: graduates attend “best-fit” high schools where their unique talents, strengths, and gifts can continue to shine.
Students from the Class of 2020 were accepted at the following high schools and will attend those schools in bold:
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Bullis School Cate School Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Choate Rosemary Hall Connelly School of the Holy Child Deerfield Academy Edmund Burke School The Field School Georgetown Day School Georgetown Preparatory School Gonzaga College High School Holton-Arms School Knoxville Catholic High School (TN) Landon School Langley High School The Madeira School Maret School McCallie School (TN) Montgomery Blair High School Magnet Program National Cathedral School Northfield Mount Hermon School Our Lady of Good Counsel High School Paint Branch High School Phillips Academy Andover Phillips Exeter Academy (NH) Poolesville High School Magnet Program The Potomac School Richard Montgomery High School IB Program Sandy Spring Friends School School Without Walls Sidwell Friends School St. Albans School St. Andrew's Episcopal School St. John's College High School Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart Vail Mountain School (CO) Washington International School Walt Whitman High School Whittle School & Studios Winston Churchill High School Thomas Wootton High School Humanities & Arts Signature Program Woodberry Forest School (VA)
Simply put, Norwood is the kind of school that I wish I could have attended as a child. – Parent Survey
Located in Bethesda, MD, Norwood School develops students in grades PK-8 into confident lifelong learners who have the academic, character, and leadership skills to succeed in high school and beyond. Recognizing that children are multi-faceted, Norwood provides many opportunities for safe risk-taking, exploration, discovery, and growth in a nurturing, supportive, and inclusive school community.