The Kew-Forest School: The Small Queens School Where Being Known Is the Gift—and Scale Is the Question

Daily life

Life at 187 students: close adult attention, phone-free days, and small cohorts

Kew-Forest enrolled 187 students across Preschool through Grade 12 in 2025–26, with 66 of them in the entire Upper School. Average Upper School class size is consistently stated as eight.

Published ratios range from 3:1 in the 2025–26 Upper School profile to 4:1 on the current Upper page, 5:1 in the admission center, and 6:1 in the schoolwide FAQ.

None of those ratios answers the question a child lives: how many peers are in this grade, how many sections exist, and what happens socially when friendships strain.

Under the 2025–26 handbook rules, Middle and Upper School students turned in their cell phones and connected devices to the division office upon arriving each morning and picked them up at dismissal. Families were asked not to text their children during the school day.

The handbook explicitly prohibits harassment, discrimination, bullying, hazing, and retaliation. Students or parents can report concerns to the Head of School or any trusted staff member, and the school commits to conducting internal investigations.

It directs one-to-one meetings into visible or open spaces, limits personal transport, addresses gifts and physical contact, and gives rules for overnight trips and locker-room supervision.

The school identifies a nurse for student health, and counselors assist with social-emotional needs.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten: authorized IB inquiry and age placement

Kew-Forest is fully authorized for the IB Primary Years Programme, and its Kindergarten blends hands-on inquiry with explicit skills: Fundations phonics runs daily from Pre-K through Grade 3, and Math in Focus moves children from concrete materials to pictures and abstraction.

Admissions does not use a rigid calendar cutoff for Kindergarten. The school looks at chronological age alongside social-emotional development, prior classroom experience, current grade level, and the age range of the incoming cohort.

Grades 6–12

Grades 6–12: IB MYP through Grade 8, shifting to AP

The International Baccalaureate officially authorized Kew-Forest for both PYP and MYP in January 2026. The directory lists no Diploma Programme: Grade 9 therefore starts a Kew-Forest/AP high school, not an IB Diploma track.

In the Upper School, students carry at least five academic courses along with physical education and one or two electives each semester. Advanced Placement coursework begins in Grade 10, with departmental prerequisites guiding enrollment in upper-level AP classes.

In Upper School, semester grades are reported numerically, and the school profile clarifies that Kew-Forest does not rank students or calculate an internal grade point average on transcripts.

Elective offerings depend heavily on student interest, and the course catalog explicitly flags several classes that will not run during the 2026–27 school year. In select cases, students who exhaust on-campus coursework may take specialized online courses through One Schoolhouse.

According to the 2025–26 student handbook, the Middle and Upper Schools run on a ten-day cycle with extended lab and project blocks. A daily activity period is reserved for advisory, student clubs, AP review, and extra help from teachers.

There is an unresolved contradiction in the school's graduation requirements: the 2026–27 course catalog mandates 23 Upper School credits, whereas the 2025–26 handbook and school profile list 20 credits. The sources also conflict on whether 60 or 65 is passing.

Support

Academic help and counseling: close teacher contact and clear limits

In the Lower School, a dedicated counselor works with whole classrooms, small student groups, individual children, teachers, and parents.

The Lower School identifies a Director of Learning Support on its Child Study Team and describes referral support for private-clinician or NYC DOE evaluation. The school does not publish caseloads, service frequency, or Middle and Upper School specialist capacity, so ask directly which learning profiles it can and cannot accommodate.

All sixth graders take a structured Study Skills course covering organization, note-taking, self-advocacy, time management, test-taking strategies, and executive functioning. The daily activity period gives Middle and Upper School students regular access to teachers for extra help.

Upper School students participate in counselor-led workshops using the RULER social-emotional framework. The 2025–26 handbook notes that students showing mental distress may need outside professional evaluation and written clearance before returning to school.

The public description promises school-based counseling but does not promise ongoing clinical psychotherapy.

A New York City resident placed privately by family may be eligible for city-arranged services through an IESP; eligibility, annual filing, location, and delivery are governed by NYCPS rules and are not a promise by Kew-Forest.

Logistics

Commute, daily hours, and extended care: one block from the E/F train

The campus is located at 119-17 Union Turnpike, just one block from the Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike subway stop on the E and F lines. The school's visitor directions note that street parking in the immediate neighborhood is very limited.

Middle and Upper School students are expected to arrive by 7:50 a.m., with academic classes running from 8:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., followed by the daily activity period until 3:30 p.m. Lower School dismissal takes place between 2:50 p.m. and 3:10 p.m. The school offers complimentary early drop-off starting at 7:30 a.m., with morning supervision arrangements tailored by division.

Kew-Forest participates in NYC Public Schools stop-to-school busing and student transit card programs. Whether your child qualifies depends on their grade level, walking distance from home, borough of residence, route availability, and any approved special accommodations.

City transportation is eligibility-based, not guaranteed door-to-door service. The school's own FAQ still says 'MetroCard,' while NYCPS now uses Student OMNY cards.

In the 2025–26 auxiliary programs guide, afterschool care was offered for Preschool through Grade 6 with pickup options at 4:30 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. Full-year rates were $3,285 for the part-time schedule and $5,745 for full-time care.

There is a minor discrepancy across current materials: one FAQ answer states that extended day runs through Grade 5, while another says afterschool and mini-courses cover through Grade 6. The program guide details emergency drop-in fees and steep late-pickup charges.

For students in Grades 6 through 12, the FAQ notes that supervised study hall is available until 6:00 p.m.

The school offers an optional lunch program, priced at $1,500 for the year under 2025–26 rates. If you send lunch from home, food must be completely nut-free, and keep in mind that students do not have access to school refrigerators or microwaves.

All students wear school uniforms, along with a separate uniform set for physical education.

Tuition & aid

Tuition, financial aid, and all-in costs: the $31,500 reset benchmark

For the 2025–26 academic year, tuition was set at a flat $31,500 across all grades following a 33% tuition reset. That figure covered required textbooks and student accident insurance.

Kew-Forest says the reset tuition will remain fixed for three years, but the same page labels $31,500 as '2025–2026 tuition' and never defines whether that year is year one.

Using the dated 2025–26 figures only, tuition plus lunch was $33,000. Full-time Lower School aftercare would have taken that to $38,745; a student also assessed the international fee would reach $42,645.

The school says it awards more than $3 million in need-based assistance each year. The optional $1,500 lunch charge applies regardless of aid status.

During the last admissions cycle, prospective families applied for aid through the Clarity platform by January 1, paid a $60 platform fee, and received their admissions decision and financial aid offer at the same time. The school notes that families cannot request financial aid after an admissions offer has already been made.

Securing your child's spot requires a nonrefundable enrollment deposit equal to 10% of your net family tuition contribution. Families can pay in full, in two installments, or spread payments over eight months, though certain payment methods carry processing surcharges.

Admissions

Applying for Fall 2027: entry points, deadlines, visits, and testing

Kew-Forest names Preschool, Kindergarten, Grade 6, and Grade 9 as primary entry points and accepts applications in every grade.

The live page is still labeled for September 2026 entry. In that prior cycle, the application deadline was December 15, 2025, and the file-completion deadline was January 8, 2026.

Kindergarten decisions were scheduled for February 5 with replies due February 12; Grades 1–8 for February 11; and Grades 9–12 for February 20 with replies due March 12.

The same page says rolling files completed by January 9 could be considered in the priority round, one day after its January 8 completion deadline, and lists March 27 as the Grades 1–8 reply date.

For applicants entering Grades 6 through 12, the admissions office also arranges full shadow days paired with a student ambassador, capped at just one or two visiting students per day.

Regarding standardized tests, the school does not require the ISEE, SSAT, or TOEFL. Instead, international applicants who are not native English speakers take a free online English assessment administered by the school.

Applicants whose primary language is not English complete an online assessment through the school. Kew-Forest notes that students generally need at least an intermediate level of English proficiency to transition smoothly into the Middle or Upper School.

Enrolling in ELL replaces the traditional world-language requirement and fulfills that category for graduation.

Kew-Forest says it may assess a $3,900 annual International Student Fee for added oversight and services tied to visa status, homestay, international enrollment, or language support. Its definition can include a U.S. citizen placed in ELL.

While Kew-Forest is authorized to issue I-20 visa certificates, it operates strictly as a day school. The school does not provide boarding or directly arrange host families, and visa-sponsored students must be at least 14 years old to live with a designated host family.

For school-sponsored F-1 students, the host must be at least 21, live in the home full-time, sign the school's Homestay Agreement, and act as the parent representative when legal parents are unavailable. Families arrange the homestay themselves.

Late and midyear applications are possible only if space remains. The school says rolling decisions begin in April and describes its waiting pool as unranked.

Class sizes, credits and the calendar at Kew-Forest

Kew-Forest's small scale is its appeal, so ask for the real numbers in your child's grade, the credit requirements and the full Fall 2027 calendar.