Entry geometry changes the calendar
Kindergarten, Grade 6, and Grade 9 are three different projects.
| Target | What drives the work | Planning implication |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | Age rules, developmental observations, CATS or school assessment, and one current-teacher form where applicable | Reserve observations early; do not turn them into rehearsed performances. |
| Grade 6 | Often a small attrition doorway, with ISEE, records, teacher evaluations, and an interview | A balanced list matters more than squeezing another test sitting into January. |
| Grade 9 | Meaningful intake at several schools, but different cohort structures, interviews, course placement, and faith/program expectations | Protect January interview/test dates and compare the transition after admission, not only the decision. |
Greenhill publishes average openings of about 32 at Kindergarten, five to eight at Grade 6, and 30–35 at Grade 9. Those are openings, not acceptance rates; no denominator is published. Its FAQ also says late PK/K applications cannot be evaluated after decisions, while late Grades 1–12 may sometimes be reviewed for the waitpool. The same recovery rule should not be projected onto another school. ↗
Master calendar
Give each phase one job and one failure check.
| Phase | Family work | Control point |
|---|---|---|
| Now–September | Choose target grades and school models; open portals; reserve tours; request aid-process details; build a transport backup. | A school can be attractive and still be the wrong application if the entry grade, support boundary, faith life, or drive is wrong. |
| October–November | Visit, begin parent and student writing, register one usable test, alert teachers, and open public/charter applications as they appear. | Do not send confidential recommendations before the current teacher has enough evidence unless a school explicitly requires it. |
| December | Submit early private applications, schedule observations/interviews, and freeze the family conflict calendar before winter break. | Greenhill and Hockaday application forms close December 11 and 14 respectively; completion continues into January. |
| January | Finish school forms, records, tests, interviews, aid applications, and Dallas ISD rankings; inspect every portal twice. | An application receipt is not a complete-file receipt. |
| February | Resolve missing items, complete Fort Worth or rolling files, prepare public auditions/assessments, and compare likely costs. | This is recovery month, not a safe month to begin a narrow Grade 6 or Grade 9 list. |
| March–April | Read decisions and aid together, protect response deadlines, revisit only finalists, and hold one viable seat while managing a waitpool. | A waitpool is not an enrollment plan; a signed contract may create a nonrefundable obligation. |
Current private-school anchors
The application deadline and complete-file deadline are not synonyms.
| School | First gate | Completion gate | Decision | What the date means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenhill | December 11, 2026 | January 25, 2027 | March 12, 2027 | Application and parent form first; testing, interview/meeting, evaluations, records, and aid later. ISEE completion is due February 1 for Grades 5–11. |
| Hockaday | December 14, 2026 | January 29, 2027 | March 12, 2027 | Application, fee, and birth certificate first; grade-specific testing/observation, records, evaluations, questionnaires, and interview later. |
| St. Mark’s | December 14 for Grade 1; January dates vary later | January 29, 2027 for many file items | March 12, 2027 | Grade 1 uses CATS plus ATS and an observation; older grades follow their own testing and interview checklist. |
| Parish | January 8, 2027 | January 22 for many supplemental items | March 12, 2027 | The application date is current; confirm the grade-specific checklist and March 26 enrollment date inside the portal. |
| Cistercian | October 1 opening; January 15 document target | January 30 or February 6 testing by grade | March 12, 2027 | Grade 5 is the designed intake. Later grades depend on vacancy and join an established Form. |
| Jesuit Dallas | January 8, 2027 | January 29, 2027 | March 12, 2027 at 5 p.m. | The second deadline includes responses, activity sheet, recommendations, reports, ISEE receipt, and priority aid; interviews are January 23 or 30. |
| Ursuline | January 8, 2027 at 5 p.m. | Portal checklist controls | March 12, 2027 | The Ravenna application opened September 4; enrollment agreements are due March 31. |
| Trinity Valley | January 15, 2027 | Portal checklist controls | February 12, 2027 at 4 p.m. for on-time completed files | The page says 2027–28 but one completion sentence says February 1, 2026; get the corrected 2027 completion date in writing. |
The source page, portal checklist, and a direct written correction have a hierarchy: use the current grade-specific school instruction. A date copied from a sibling’s earlier application is not evidence for this child’s cycle.
The dependency map
A portal is a workflow, not a storage box.
- Submit the application form. This often unlocks the observation, interview, test code, transcript release, and teacher requests. Waiting to perfect the last essay can remove appointment choices.
- Schedule child-facing work. Greenhill’s optional shadow and required interview availability is limited; Hockaday schedules interviews after submission; Jesuit opens interview dates in RangerNet. ↗ ↗
- Trigger confidential forms. Give the registrar and teachers the school name, due date, and portal sender address. Ask permission before listing a personal email.
- Register the right test. “ISEE required,” “school placement test,” “CATS,” and “ATS” are not interchangeable phrases.
- Open aid separately. The aid platform can require tax retrieval, noncustodial information, or business records long after the admission form looks finished.
- Audit receipt. Screenshot each completed checklist one week before the deadline and again 48 hours before it. A sent recommendation may still be unmatched to the applicant.
Use one control row per school
Form submitted · fee/waiver · child writing · parent writing · test registered · test received · visit/interview scheduled · visit done · teacher forms requested/received · records requested/received · aid submitted/verified · decision time · reply/contract date.
Testing, records, interviews, visits
Protect the scarce appointment; keep the child’s story unrehearsed.
Greenhill requires ISEE for Grades 5–11, with registration by January 25 and completion by February 1. Hockaday requires ISEE for Grades 5–11 and uses grade-specific testing or observation below that. St. Mark’s Grade 1 requires both CATS and the virtual ATS assessment. Jesuit requires ISEE for freshman applicants and will host one sitting on January 9. ↗ ↗ ↗ ↗
Register early enough to survive illness or weather, use official familiarization, and stop before preparation changes the family’s understanding of the child. The test is one input. A heavily coached score can create a placement problem after admission.
For the parent conversation
Be ready to describe the child’s present strengths, an actual growth edge, the support that works, why this school model fits, and what the family will contribute. Give relevant facts about a diagnosis, divorce, relocation, or prior-school conflict and the current plan.
For the student interview or visit
A student should know why the school is on the list and have two honest questions. They do not need a memorized brand statement. Ask afterward what the child noticed about pace, student-adult interaction, movement, noise, unstructured time, and the ride home.
The public and charter track stays live
A no-tuition option has its own deadlines, eligibility, ranking, and transport.
Dallas ISD’s primary Fall 2027 Choice window runs November 1, 2026 through January 31, 2027. Families may rank up to five choices, with no more than two magnets. The system attempts to place the student at the highest-ranked eligible school; a lower choice is released when a higher offer is made, while higher-ranked waitlists may remain. Magnet eligibility and campus assessments add requirements beyond submission.↗ ↗
Offers generally arrive in March; a Dallas ISD transfer FAQ says a seat offer has a ten-day response. Put that response beside March 12 private decisions rather than assuming the clocks align. ↗
Uplift says its free charter application opens in mid-October, permits up to three network schools, runs a random lottery in early February, and generally gives two weeks to accept an offer. Confirm the exact 2027 lottery date and campus transportation before relying on a network seat. ↗
Fort Worth ISD’s Gold Seal page still displayed the 2026–27 priority window when reviewed. It describes up to three ranked choices, program-specific auditions or documents, and district transportation for in-district students, but families need the new 2027–28 catalog and dates before acting. ↗
Recovery paths
When something slips, replace panic with a school-specific question.
You are starting in mid-January
Call before paying. Ask which grades still accept a file, whether the result would be a seat or a waitpool review, and which visits/tests remain schedulable. Greenhill says late Grades 1–12 may be considered, usually for the waitpool; PK/K late files are not treated the same way.
A teacher form is missing
Do not recreate a confidential evaluation. Confirm the correct email, ask the school to resend, tell the admission office when the current school will act, and save the response. Greenhill permits an alternate adult form when a current school will not allow teacher evaluations; that is a school-specific exception, not a market rule.
The report card posts after the deadline
Upload what exists, name the exact release date, and ask whether the registrar should send the later report directly. Greenhill explicitly says a late-issued grade report may follow; another school may require a different workaround.
The child is ill on test or interview day
Notify both the test provider and school immediately. Ask for the last acceptable make-up route instead of booking a second unauthorized test. CATS warns that winter slots tighten; the Fort Worth consortium generally expects shared, not repeated, testing.
A private result is adverse
Keep the neighborhood seat, public-choice ranking, charter lottery, and one rolling private path alive. Ask whether the school uses a ranked waitlist or an unranked pool, what update is useful, and when the pool closes. Do not ask for a prediction the school cannot responsibly give.
The aid file is incomplete
Finish the admission file anyway, contact the aid office, and separate ‘may still review’ from ‘funding remains.’ Do not sign a contract on the assumption that a late grant will arrive.
Twelve materially different calendars
The child and the constraint decide what goes first.
Kindergarten family applying to Greenhill and Hockaday
Submit by December 11 and 14, reserve parent meetings and child observations early, and keep the neighborhood/charter plan active. The two schools do not use one interchangeable early-childhood assessment workflow.
First-grade son adding St. Mark’s
Budget both time and money for CATS and the Dallas-area ATS assessment, then schedule the St. Mark’s observation. Do not assume one cognitive assessment replaces the achievement test.
Grade 6 student seeking coeducation
Greenhill usually reports only five to eight Grade 6 spaces. Submit early enough to secure the required interview and treat a wider Grade 5 or Grade 7 doorway elsewhere as a separate strategic choice, not an automatic repeat-year plan.
Grade 6 son considering Cistercian and St. Mark’s
Cistercian is a vacancy-dependent transfer into its Grade 5 Form; St. Mark’s also publishes a small Grade 6 intake. Ask both how records, placement, summer work, and established peer groups affect a later entrant.
Grade 9 daughter comparing Hockaday and Ursuline
Hockaday requires its application by December 14 and completed file by January 29; Ursuline closes January 8 at 5 p.m. Compare all-girls culture, faith formation, support, late activities, and full cost while the portals are still open.
Grade 9 son comparing St. Mark’s, Cistercian, and Jesuit
Jesuit’s whole freshman class begins together; St. Mark’s adds a published cohort; Cistercian Grade 9 is scarce transfer space. Build the schedule around Cistercian testing and Jesuit’s January 23/30 interviews, then compare three genuinely different versions of boys’ formation.
Dallas arts student also applying to Booker T.
Submit Dallas ISD Choice by January 31, respect ranking rules, and reserve audition preparation alongside private interviews. The public offer clock can precede private decisions, so decide in advance whether you would accept a March 1 offer while waiting for March 12.
Fort Worth family applying to TVS, FWCD, and All Saints’
Authorize one consortium test to reach each intended school, but file a separate application everywhere. TVS has current Fall 2027 decision language; FWCD’s aid page is current while its public admissions calendar still requires direct confirmation.
Arlington family adding Oakridge
Treat Oakridge as a rolling path only after confirming its 2027–28 opening and priority dates. Its public process page still displayed 2026–27 dates at review, so a prior February 1 date is a planning clue, not a current deadline.
Student needing a specialized learning environment
Contact Shelton or Winston before building the calendar around a generic ISEE path. Record review, psychoeducational documentation, classroom visit, and program-fit work may be the real dependencies; ask whether the school can serve the child before rushing an application.
Family relocating after March
Start with grade-level availability, not a tour. Ask rolling schools, district enrollment, and charter waitlists in parallel; send complete records promptly; and do not count on Greenhill, which states it does not admit after the school year begins.
Two-household family
Put both adults’ portal access, consent, interview attendance, aid documents, and pickup authority on one control sheet. Use the harder commute and later activity pickup when judging whether the application is worth completing.
Decision week
Read the offer, aid letter, contract, and transport plan as one document.
- Record the exact acceptance, aid-appeal, deposit, and contract times.
- Confirm the grade, campus, aid amount, renewal assumptions, and required first payment.
- Price the complete first year, including fees, meals, devices, trips, athletics/arts, tutoring, tolls, and late pickup.
- Ask only decision-changing follow-ups; do not seek a second admissions performance.
- If waitpooled, complete the required form and state honest continuing interest.
- Hold one viable seat before gambling on movement elsewhere, after understanding the nonrefundable obligation.
- Release unused seats promptly and courteously.
Greenhill’s current FAQ is unusually clear: its waitpool is unranked, families must submit the form by March 25, movement is unpredictable, and an offer may come as late as August. That candor should produce a practical response, not false hope. ↗
Our read
The best-run family process protects choices without manufacturing urgency.
Apply early enough to access the child-facing steps, but do not apply everywhere simply because portals are open. Keep a private, public, and financial path alive until the family has a usable result. A narrow Grade 6 doorway, a long cross-metro drive, or a late aid file should change the plan before March, not become a surprise after an offer.
Current dates are strong where schools have published them. Where a page mixes cycles, the mature answer is a dated email and a calendar note—not a confident-looking deadline imported from 2026.
Sources and further research
Where to verify and keep reading
We favor direct links to the exact page or document a family may need next. Access dates matter because admissions, tuition, leadership, and programs change.
- Applying to Ninth–Eleventh Grade
Greenhill School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 application, visit, record, ISEE, aid, and decision dates
- Admission FAQ
Greenhill School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current openings, late applications, waitpool, hours, and midyear policy
- Visit
Greenhill School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 previews, parent visits, tours, and optional shadows
- Applying to PK–Kindergarten
The Hockaday School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 application, assessment, observation, and decision process
- Applying to Grades 5–11
The Hockaday School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 application, ISEE, interview, records, and decision dates
- How to Apply
St. Mark’s School of Texas · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 grade-specific applications, observations, tests, and records
- Admission FAQ
Parish Episcopal School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current January 8, 2027 application deadline
- Important Dates
Parish Episcopal School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 application, supplemental, decision, and enrollment dates
- How to Apply
Cistercian Preparatory School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current school-run testing and Fall 2027 dates
- Apply
Jesuit Dallas · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 two-step file, ISEE, interview, aid, and decision calendar
- How to Apply
Ursuline Academy of Dallas · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 application, decision, and enrollment dates
- Application Process
All Saints’ Episcopal School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 Fort Worth process
- Apply for Admission
Trinity Valley School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 application and notification dates; one displayed completion year appears stale
- Admission FAQ
Trinity Valley School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Fort Worth shared-testing and late-application guidance
- Tuition and Financial Assistance
Fort Worth Country Day · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 aid dates; the public admission page was not yet a complete Fall 2027 calendar
- Application Process
The Oakridge School · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Rolling process still labeled for 2026–27 when reviewed
- ISEE for Families
ERB · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Official ISEE registration and family guidance
- Schools
Collaborative Academic Testing Service · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Dallas early-childhood and first-grade assessment context
- Magnet Application Process
Dallas ISD · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current Fall 2027 eligibility, ranking, assessment, and offer rules
- Choice Registration FAQs
Dallas ISD · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Current November 1–January 31 Fall 2027 window and choice limits
- Gold Seal Choice Programs
Fort Worth ISD · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Public page still displayed the 2026–27 lottery calendar when reviewed
- Application Process and Lottery
Uplift Education · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Network-level October-to-February charter lottery sequence
- Texas Education Freedom Accounts
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · Accessed September 3, 2026 · Official status: Fall 2027 application period not yet published