Bay Area Private-School Admissions Timeline

The regional framework

ISSFBA, BADA, and BAIHS create coordination—not one application.

Verified fact: ISSFBA says it supports families applying to more than 110 member schools across San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and North Bay, and the East Bay. It is a regional starting universe, not a guarantee that every private school is a member or uses its calendar.↗

Verified historical framework: The BADA principles sheet says participating K–8 admission directors use common decision dates and accept Common Confidential Student Evaluation forms. The BAIHS principles sheet describes a collaboration of nonprofit high-school admission offices that recommends common application, decision, reply, aid, and Decision Week practices. Both public PDFs carry older cycle labels, so their role is reliable background and their old dates are not Fall 2027 facts.↗↗

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Editorial inference: “Decision Week” is the closest thing to a common finish line. It does not create a universal portal, testing rule, interview format, age cutoff, financial-aid system, late-application right, or deposit term.

Capacity without mythology

Use what a school says about growth—not what an open dropdown implies.

A listed grade can mean a planned expansion, an attrition-only opening, or simply permission to submit. The strongest public signal is a school’s own count or explicit “main entry point” language. When a current count is absent, capacity remains unknown.

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The 2027–28 master calendar

Work backward from the first gate—not the final submit button.

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The portal stack

A shared login reduces typing; it does not merge requirements.

Ravenna

Verified fact: Ravenna is the dominant portal in this representative set. Schools use it to expose checklists, register events and appointments, delegate recommendations, upload family materials, track status, and post decisions. Menlo, Harker, SFFS, Head-Royce, Athenian, MCDS, Marin Academy, Branson, UHS, and San Domenico all direct Fall 2027 applicants there.↗

Editorial opinion: Use one durable adult email as the portal manager, a password manager, and a separate family calendar. Add the second household’s real contact details rather than forwarding every message through a child. Export or screenshot each final checklist because a green mark is evidence of portal state, not a substitute for the school’s written requirement.

SAO

Verified fact: The Standard Application Online lets a family reuse core biographical information, parent statements, student essays, recommendations, and transcripts across participating schools. SAO’s own guidance warns that schools can still have extra requirements.↗↗

Verified fact: San Domenico accepts Ravenna or SAO, but an SAO family must still create a Ravenna account for events and decisions. Its international page adds grade-specific transcripts, English testing where applicable, and an interview. Submitting both full applications would create duplication, not extra consideration.↗

Direct or school-labeled portals

Verified fact: Some schools begin with an inquiry that produces a school application link. Chinese American International School’s live process page describes an emailed portal link and direct handling of common evaluation forms. That same page says “2026–2027” beside January and February 2027 dates, a visible mismatch.↗

Unknown: Do not “correct” an official page silently. Ask CAIS which cycle and deadline the page intends, then store the dated answer. More generally, the source of truth is the school’s current checklist and direct message—not the brand name above the login box.

Testing without folklore

Fall 2027 has school-run, STAR, ISEE/SSAT, test-free—and unknown.

Verified fact: ERB maps ISEE levels by the grade a child is entering: Lower for Grades 5–6, Middle for Grades 7–8, and Upper for Grades 9–12. Its family system is also where families register and apply for accommodations. That mapping does not mean a particular school requires ISEE.↗↗

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Editorial opinion: Test preparation should never make a child less available for school, sleep, or an honest visit. Learn the format, use official free samples, secure necessary access arrangements, and stop. A score is one school’s requested data point, not a diagnosis or a verdict.

The current-school dependency

Records and recommendations are delegated work—not parent uploads.

Verified fact: The common-form idea is real, but grade-level requirements differ. SFFS K requests a current teacher evaluation; its middle-school process requests evaluations and the last two years of records. Menlo Grade 6 asks for current and previous teacher recommendations plus principal/counselor and two years of transcripts. Menlo and Harker Grade 9 ask for current English, current math, principal/counselor, and current/prior records. Marin Academy uses the BAIHS activity form, current English and math, principal or counselor, two prior years plus current transcript, and a graded writing sample.↗↗↗↗

Editorial inference: The quiet deadline is often the sending school’s internal release date. A January 5 family deadline and January 31 school-material deadline do not authorize a family to surprise teachers on January 4.

1. In September, ask the current school who coordinates private-school records and whether teachers use Ravenna, SAO, common forms, or a single internal questionnaire.
2. After the list is real, send one matrix with school, applying grade, form, portal, and actual due date. Follow the sending school’s request window.
3. Invite only the required current teachers. Never substitute a flattering coach, family friend, or former teacher unless the receiving school explicitly permits it.
4. Track “requested,” “recommender opened,” and “school received” as different states. Send one courteous reminder through the proper channel.
5. If the current school cannot produce a named item—common in some public, international, homeschool, or trimester systems—ask the receiving admission office for an approved alternative.

Unknown: Portals do not always expose confidential content or immediate processing. A family is responsible for a complete checklist, not entitled to read the recommendation.

Interviews, tours, and roles

The format tells you who should prepare—and who should just arrive.

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Editorial opinion: Adults should prepare logistics, accurate facts, and real questions. Grade 9 students should own their voice and written work. Grade 6 students should gradually take the lead in conversation. Kindergarten applicants should be protected from the idea that they are competing for adult approval.

The parallel application

Financial aid runs beside admission and can close earlier.

Verified fact: In this current sample, UHS, Menlo, Castilleja, Marin Academy, Branson, Head-Royce, MCDS, Athenian, and San Domenico use Clarity for aid or indexed tuition. Dates vary: January 4 Head-Royce; January 5 at UHS, Menlo, Castilleja, Marin Academy, Athenian, Branson, and San Domenico; January 7 at MCDS. Current-year tax or wage documents can be due later.↗↗↗↗↗↗

Editorial inference: A complete admission file does not preserve an incomplete aid request. Start in autumn if a family has two households, self-employment, equity compensation, trusts, unusual assets, foreign income, recent job loss, or a pending move. Ask the aid office what explanation and documentation it wants; do not omit a complexity because the platform has no elegant box.

Editorial opinion: Compare the whole family year: tuition and required fees, deposit, transportation, lunch, care, devices, books, trips, athletics, arts, tutoring, and lost work time. MCDS, for example, explicitly lists many included items and additional indexed supports. Another school’s tuition number may cover a different bundle.↗

Decisions through enrollment

A short reply window is manageable when the questions are already written.

Verified fact: Current high-school pages commonly separate aid and full-tuition contracts. UHS and Branson publish March 18 aid agreements and March 19 full-tuition agreements. Menlo publishes one March 19 deposit deadline. SFFS publishes March 17 for K–8. MCDS’s pages conflict, though its aid page says March 17.↗↗↗↗

Before March, make a blank comparison with identical rows: signed contract deadline; nonrefundable deposit; net tuition; what the award covers; renewal process; transportation route and late bus; start/end time; care; and books, devices, and trips.

Add learning support, activity pickup, calendar conflicts, course placement, and the child’s observations. Keep “admitted?” blank until decisions arrive.

1. Read the entire enrollment agreement and award before clicking. Record withdrawal, refund, tuition-insurance, and deposit terms.
2. Ask unresolved factual questions immediately. Use admitted-family events to test ordinary life, not to collect reassurance.
3. Re-run morning, afternoon, and activity transport. Bay crossings, employer shuttles, and hybrid-work assumptions can all change.
4. Let the child name what felt intellectually, socially, and practically right without making them responsible for cost.
5. Accept one place by the controlling deadline, save confirmation, release others promptly, and keep wait-pool choices separate from the signed enrollment plan.

After enrollment, request final records, complete medical and emergency forms, confirm learning plans and testing documentation, and choose the payment plan. Register transportation and care. Resolve math and language placement, orientation, and sports. Close the current school relationship with gratitude.