How to Apply

We are excited that you are considering a Sandy Spring Friends School education for your child.

To submit an application, please follow the instructions below. To download the necessary forms, click on the links within the text. If you don't have access to a printer, please go to the Request Admissions Information page. Complete the form and note in the "Comment" section that you need the application paperwork mailed to you. All application information should be submitted to our Admissions office by mail. Please note: an online application process is not currently available for applicants to Lower School.

To receive our viewbook in the mail, please Request Admissions Information and complete the required fields.

If you have questions about your child's birthday and our cut-off dates, please click on Age Requirements for Admission.

Application
To begin the application process, your completed Application for Admission form and $75 application fee should be submitted to our Admissions Office as soon as possible. Applications are being processed on a rolling admissions basis until grade levels are full.

The remaining requirements of the process should be completed as soon as possible:

Testing
Since it takes some time for testing to be administered and evaluated, please schedule the applicant to be tested by an educational diagnostician as soon as possible. A list of local qualified testers is provided on the Admission Testing Information sheet. The testing center will send the results directly to Sandy Spring Friends School.

School Records
Please print out and complete Section I of the School Records Request and give the form directly to the registrar at the applicant's current school in January to ensure that we receive information from the current academic year by February 10th. This permission form authorizes the release of your child's school records, including progress reports, test scores, health records, and any educational evaluations and IEPs.

For applicants still in preschool, if the current school does not have any school records to forward to us, the preschool administrator should write a statement to that effect on the School Records Request and return the form to our Admissions Office.

Teacher Recommendation

• For applicants to pre-kindergarten-grade 1, please write the applicant's name and grade applying to on the Confidential Teacher Evaluation Form (PK-1st). Please wait until January to distribute the form to your child's current classroom teacher, so that the teacher has time to get to know your child. The teacher should mail the completed evaluation form directly to our Admissions Office by February 10th.

• For applicants to grades 2-5, please write the applicant's name and grade applying to on the Confidential Teacher Evaluation Form (2nd-5th). Please wait until January to distribute the form to your child's current classroom teacher, so that the teacher has time to get to know your child. The teacher should mail the completed evaluation form directly to our Admissions office by February 10th. Applicants who have different teachers for math and language arts should ask each of those teachers to complete an evaluation form.

Visit and Interview
Please call Linda Cooper (301-774-7455 ext.115) to schedule the parent interview and the child's visit.

• Applicants for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade come on a Saturday morning in January or February for a 90-minute playgroup.

• Applicants to second through fifth grades spend a school day in one of our classrooms at their current grade level. They are guided by a SSFS student host and are our guests at lunch.

• Parent interviews for all grades are scheduled Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and generally take 45 minutes.

Admissions decisions for applicants who meet these deadlines are mailed in early March. If you have additional questions about the application process, please contact Linda Cooper at linda.cooper@ssfs.org or 301-774-7455 ext. 115.