The Westminster Schools

The school

One Buckhead campus, three grades that grow

The Westminster Schools is one coed school in Atlanta, Pre-First through grade 12. Lower, Middle, and Upper School are divisions of that school, sharing a gated campus in Buckhead and its admission system.

Pre-First is the school's name for Kindergarten. For Fall 2027, Westminster calls Pre-First, Grade 6, and Grade 9 expansion years.

Other grades accept applications and have fewer spaces.

Westminster calls itself an inclusive, non-denominational Christian school. Students and adults come from Christian traditions, other faiths, and different theological perspectives.

Christian study, prayer, devotionals, chapel, seasonal worship, and religious performances appear across the divisions.

Faith

Bible, chapel, and worship, grade by grade

Pre-First has Bible Values, daily devotionals, and morning meetings. Lower School students also attend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter worship, a Christmas Pageant, and Christian Emphasis Week.

Grade 6 includes a two-week Bible Values unit, devotionals in Monday meetings and daily advisory, and monthly chapel.

Grade 9 includes a semester of Old Testament and begins with a family Blessing of the Backpacks prayer. Upper School also offers Friday fellowship, Christian groups, retreats, and electives, and it requires seasonal worship services.

Middle and Upper Schools offer voluntary affinity groups, including identity, faith, sexuality, and neurodiversity groups.

The week

What the day holds

From Pre-First through Grade 4, each classroom has two lead teachers. Longer homeroom blocks are paired with art, Bible Values, design thinking, language, music, physical education, and science.

Daily Morning Meeting, play, and weekly assemblies support community alongside academics. Field trips, Math Day, and a Day of Service are the focused experiences the school names.

In Middle School, seven courses rotate across six daily periods, and office hours meet four times a week. Bible and world religions is one of the seven.

Recess and homeroom are daily. Community time meets twice a week, and that is when Middle School clubs meet.

MayATL closes the year with short electives using Atlanta resources. The Grade 6 Outsiders project is the school's example of collaborative, cross-disciplinary work.

Upper School students take up to six classes on a seven-period rotation, along with co-curriculars, community meetings, advisement, and office hours during and after school. Every ninth grader attends Leadership and Wellness weekly, all year, on identity, belonging, leadership, resilience, physical and mental health, innovation, neuroscience, and learning.

One arts course is required for graduation. The school lists 24 AP courses, plus honors classes, independent study, and global options.

Westminster reports 26 varsity sports, 28 Middle School teams, more than 1,000 athletes, and more than 180 coaches, and it says over 75% of Upper School students participate in athletics. More than 90 clubs run across the school.

Upper School co-curriculars meet three or four times a semester and may add optional meetings beyond that. Some leadership roles and Fellows programs are application-based or elected.

Admissions

January 15, and what each grade adds

January 15, 2027 is the deadline for the application and for financial aid. The application opens October 1, 2026.

Supplemental materials are due January 30. Decisions are posted online on April 3.

Evaluations fall on selected Saturdays in January and February.

Every grade begins in Ravenna, with a Shared Applicant Information Form, the Westminster Supplement, and a $95 application fee.

Pre-First also requires a parent supplement, a teacher evaluation, an on-campus evaluation, and the JATP. The prior-cycle guide describes the JATP as an individual developmental-readiness assessment.

It looks at reasoning, language, listening, response to new tasks, and emerging learning behaviors, rather than academic achievement. Children join a small group on campus, where observers consider peer interaction, directions, engagement, and routines.

Georgia public-school kindergarten rules are not Westminster's rule.

Grade 6 requires a parent supplement, a student questionnaire, report cards, teacher evaluations, a principal or counselor evaluation, the SSAT, the Character Skills Snapshot, an interview, and a group activity. The linked prior-cycle guide specifies the Middle Level SSAT.

The interview is a small-group conversation emphasizing collaboration, listening, idea-sharing, and consensus. Preparation advice from the school mentions greetings, eye contact, mock questions, and conversational practice.

Grade 9 requires the core records, the SSAT, the Character Skills Snapshot, and an interview. The prior-cycle guides specify the Upper Level SSAT and an individual interview in which students discuss themselves as learners and leaders, along with interests, strengths, curiosities, communication, and what they might contribute.

Parents may book a guided school-day tour through Ravenna, observe classes, and meet admissions. A parent meeting is not required.

A phone call or a meeting can be scheduled when you have a specific question. Late applications enter wait-pool consideration.

After April, an incomplete file is reviewed, and the best initial decision is the waitlist. There is no midyear entry, even after a current student leaves.

The Character Skills Snapshot, required in Grades 6 and 9, costs $30 when purchased with the SSAT and $60 regularly. The guide that names the Middle Level and Upper Level SSAT is labeled for 2026–27 applicants.

At Grade 5, that guide still assigns the Elementary SSAT. The live checklist assigns the JATP.

Cost

Tuition, the extras, and aid

Published tuition is for 2026–27, not for Fall 2027. Pre-First through Grade 5 is $37,525.

Grades 6 through 12 are $42,865. The payment schedule on the site still carries 2026 dates.

Westminster tells donors that tuition leaves an $8,000 educational-cost gap per student and invites annual giving. Gifts are voluntary unless a contract says otherwise.

Tuition includes lunch, academic activity fees, and technology. Books are included in Lower School.

In Middle School, books and software average $400–$500. In Upper School, the average is $700–$850.

For Grades 6 through 12, start with tuition and add that book average. Dress code, athletics, arts, testing, trips, transport, and summer school are not in it.

ASK, aftercare for Pre-First through Grade 5, is separate from tuition. Stay and Play averages about $12 an hour, enrichment varies, and neither is in tuition.

JanTerm, in Upper School, is three weeks on one topic. Westminster reports 41 JanTerm26 courses, including travel to Guatemala, Poland and the Czech Republic, New Orleans, Florida, and Walt Disney World, along with local study.

Optional Middle and Upper programs run in many countries.

Aid is need-based. Westminster reports more than $6 million a year and says about 13% of Pre-First through grade 12 students receive assistance.

Admission is described as need-blind, and the school offers no incoming merit awards. New families apply through Clarity by January 15, 2027.

Both parents normally file separately. The school allows case-specific exceptions.

Income, children charged tuition, household size, assets, debt, and parent ages inform the calculation.

Families reapply every year. Westminster says it tries to keep support consistent when there has not been a significant change.

Award details must stay confidential. The income examples online are illustrative and still request 2023 income.

Support

Who helps

Classroom teachers, grade chairs, advisors, and learning strategists are described as a team. Middle School has a study hall for student-athletes and post-exam reviews.

The care model also names counselors, chaplains, nurses, a dietitian, and athletic trainers, and it describes allergy-aware dining, chronic-condition management, and concussion support.

Support here is not a public-school IEP or Section 504 plan, and the website does not promise equivalent services, so get a written plan for your child before signing.

The summer page also says some students may be required to attend summer school as a condition of admission; the cost and the trigger are not published.

The weekly Leadership and Wellness course for ninth graders is preventive education. "Rooted in neuroscience" is Westminster's description of its approach.

Getting there

Partial days, ASK, and the ride home

The campus is a gated 180 acres in Buckhead. Lower, Middle, and Upper School, arts, athletics, dining, and new innovation spaces occupy multiple buildings and outdoor routes.

Pre-First and Grade 1 partial-day students enter ASK at 2:30. The partial day ends at 3:15 Monday through Thursday and at 2 p.m. on Friday.

ASK serves Pre-First through Grade 5 from dismissal until 6 p.m. Stay and Play and enrichment end at 5, with an extra paid hour, and drop-in care is advertised.

Westminster on worship, Pre-First birthdays and dismissal

Westminster is a Christian school with Pre-First entry, so ask how worship works for your family, which birth-date rule applies and what the day looks like.