Woodside Priory: A Small Bay Area Day School and an Even Smaller Boarding Community

Scale and social life

Small enough to be known, but not large enough to disappear

Priory reports 434 students across seven grades and an average class of 13. The Middle School says it has about 100 students, while the boarding program reports 53 students across four Upper School grades.

That is a meaningful social trade. A student may build close relationships with teachers and peers quickly.

The same student may have fewer ways to reset after a friendship conflict or find a new group without overlap.

Boarding magnifies both sides. Fifty-three students can create real cross-grade familiarity, yet dorm reputation and roommate dynamics can travel fast.

Ask how the school handles social repair and confidential reporting in a small community.

We would lean toward Priory when a student likes being visible and can tolerate repeated contact with the same peers. We would hesitate when anonymity and a very large menu of separate social worlds are important coping tools.

Grade 6 experience

The Middle School protects some childhood while teaching stronger habits

Priory describes its middle grades as a balance between academic preparation and time to be a child. The schedule includes recess, tournaments, community meetings, dances, and outdoor education retreats.

Sixth-grade Humanities combines English and social studies around community and early civilizations. The course page estimates about 15 minutes of homework per class meeting, though that is not a whole-night workload promise.

The Middle School has its own campus area while still joining school-wide Chapel and Spirit Week. Electives can include ceramics, rock band, improvisation, digital photography, and video.

We like the developmental intention. Families should still ask for a real Grade 6 schedule, average nightly homework by student, and the number of simultaneous deadlines during project weeks.

Grade 9 and transfers

Upper School mixes a prescribed core with room to explore later

The Upper School says students usually complete most college entrance requirements by the end of sophomore year. It then offers broader elective space and currently advertises 22 Advanced Placement courses.

Graduation rules remain substantial. The core includes four years of English, math through Algebra II, three lab sciences, and three and a half years of history.

Students also complete six theology semesters, four arts semesters, health, computer science, physical education or sports, and annual service.

This is not a fully build-your-own curriculum. Departments expect required courses in sequence, and transfer students need a written credit audit before enrolling.

Workload and pace

Balance is a stated goal; families still need numbers

Priory repeatedly uses balance as an organizing idea. That is more credible when the school also publishes course-level homework estimates, structured advising, learning support, and residential study hall.

The public material does not provide median nightly homework by grade, weekend load, sleep data, or peak-week ranges. Families should not translate a philosophy of balance into a personal workload guarantee.

For boarders, the prior handbook creates a clear work window from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. Grade 9 and new Grade 10 boarders begin with four to six weeks of proctored support study hall.

That structure can be excellent for a student who benefits from routine. It will feel restrictive to a student whose productive rhythm depends on late-night work, frequent group study, or an outside course during study hall.

Benedictine identity

Catholic does not mean optional religion

Priory reports that 21% of students are Catholic. It also requires the whole school to attend weekly Chapel, and Upper School students complete six semesters of theology.

The school says Chapel includes song, prayer, announcements, and a community member's reflection. Campus spiritual life is grounded in Catholicism while inviting different ideas and family faith traditions.

This can be welcoming without being religiously neutral. A secular, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or questioning family should ask a student what repeated prayer and required theology would feel like, not only whether non-Catholics are admitted.

We would lean toward Priory when the family values moral reflection and can engage respectfully with a Catholic framework. We would lean elsewhere when compulsory worship language or theology credits would create daily friction.

Learning support

Published accommodations are real; intensive remediation is not promised

The Office of Learning Support works with Middle and Upper School students on academics, executive function, and study skills. The school says it can create learning plans for documented mild-to-moderate learning disabilities, ADHD, and psychiatric conditions that affect learning.

Published accommodations include extended time, preferential seating, quiet testing, typing, audiobooks or text-to-speech, headphones, and alternatives to Scantron forms. A licensed clinician must provide documentation.

The director reviews documentation and decides which recommendations become a Priory plan. The school explicitly notes that not every clinician recommendation will be adopted.

Priory does not publicly promise daily specialized instruction, language remediation, a fixed caseload, or a certain number of one-to-one sessions. Families needing those services should request a written support plan before deposit.

Wellness and health

School-day support is visible; boarding families need the after-hours map

The wellness team offers individual counseling, check-ins, social-emotional learning, consultation, and crisis intervention. The school also describes optional opt-in counseling services and lists three wellness professionals.

The prior resident handbook says the nurse is available 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on school days. Athletic trainers were available until 5:30 p.m., while wellness counselors were available during the school week.

For a physical or psychological emergency, the prior policy directed residential staff to call 911 and then parents. That is an escalation rule, not a complete description of routine overnight care.

A boarding weekday

The rhythm is supervised and predictable

The 2025–26 handbook scheduled optional breakfast from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m., dorm closure at 8:55, class at 9:00, and dorm reopening at 3:10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Friday reopening was 2:45 p.m.

Dinner began at 6:00 p.m. and was expected. Study hall ran from 7:00 to 9:00, followed by meetings or free time, 10:00 curfew, a house meeting and chore check, and a 10:30 room deadline.

Ninth graders had lights out at 10:45. Older students could study later, but the handbook shut off internet near midnight and limited movement after 10:30.

This is a genuine residential curriculum, not an apartment beside school. A student should read the current handbook personally and be able to say what feels helpful, annoying, or unworkable.

Rooms and adult relationships

Two houses, mostly doubles, and assigned adult mentors

The prior handbook names Scholastica House and Benedict House. It describes rooms as generally doubles with twin beds, desks, wardrobes, a bookshelf, locking safes, and room keys.

All first-year boarders were assigned roommates. Room changes were considered only after mediation, and the dean retained final assignment authority.

Each boarder had a Residential Faculty mentor who monitored academic, social, and emotional wellbeing and acted as the main liaison among home, teachers, and school staff.

The current boarding page says about 30% of faculty live on the 50-acre campus. It does not publish how many adults are in each dorm overnight, which adults are awake, or the response-time standard after midnight.

Evenings and weekends

Activities are offered, but belonging cannot be scheduled

The current admissions page says Priory organizes off-campus activities every weekend. The prior handbook lists examples such as rock climbing, paddleboarding, surfing, museums, concerts, shopping, movies, bowling, beaches, and sports games.

Past policy covered activities costing less than $30 per student. Students paid the amount above that threshold, and small groups pursuing expensive outings could pay separately and arrange transportation.

Weekend meals were optional, while Sunday dinner and study hall were expected. Curfew was 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with a later allowance for second-semester seniors.

Leave and local guardians

Boarders can leave campus, but independence has a permission system

The prior handbook used Orah for passes, permissions, travel, and discipline. Leaving campus required a pass, parent or guardian approval when applicable, and activation by the residential adult on duty.

Overnight visits required parent or guardian approval and written permission from the residential dean. Visits without adult supervision required earlier approval.

All boarders needed a local guardian unless their own family lived in the Bay Area. The guardian had to provide or arrange housing during four major dorm closures, serious illness, suspension, or a sudden closure.

The current boarding page restricts international students' guardians to nine named Bay Area counties. The page tells families without a guardian to contact admission, but it does not publish a school-provided alternative or its price.

Commute and travel

Day families need a traffic test; boarders need a break plan

Priory sits at 302 Portola Road in Portola Valley. The school markets Stanford as about ten minutes away and both SFO and San Jose airports as about thirty minutes away, but those are not peak-traffic guarantees.

We found no current public day-bus route, stop, schedule, or fee page. A day family should drive the route at actual arrival and activity-dismissal times, then price the backup plan for games and performances.

The prior residential policy offered group shuttles to SFO, SJC, and local train stations only on designated dorm-closing and reopening days. It warned that students might wait at the airport to consolidate rides.

The dorms closed for four major vacations in the prior year. Families and local guardians carried responsibility outside those dates, for airline unaccompanied-minor procedures, and for arrivals after curfew.

Arts, athletics, and clubs

Participation looks broad, but verify the specific pathway

Priory describes an inclusive athletics philosophy and competitive Middle and Upper School teams. The school says every student has an opportunity to participate, but the public page does not provide team-by-team cut rules or playing-time expectations.

Named alternatives

Compare the part of Priory you actually value

We would compare Menlo when the priority is a Peninsula day-school experience without boarding or a Catholic theology requirement. Compare Harker when South Bay geography and a larger academic operation matter more than Priory's residential layer.

We would compare Nueva when the student's fit turns on a distinct inquiry and design culture. Compare Castilleja when an all-girls environment is a central part of the decision, not a minor preference.

For boarding, we would compare Cate and Thacher when the family wants residential life to dominate the whole school rather than sit inside a mostly day community. Compare Santa Catalina when an all-girls boarding option belongs on the list.

These are not rankings. They are different answers to the same family question: what should fill the student's day, evening, weekend, and social world?

Complete cost

The published total is a floor, not the family budget

For 2026–27, day tuition is $67,200 plus a $600 activity fee, for a published total of $67,800. Lunch is included.

Boarding tuition and housing are $97,800 plus the same $600 fee, for a published total of $98,400. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included for boarders.

Required books are separate. Other possible charges include Grade 6 and 7 outdoor education, the Grade 8 Washington trip, AP and other exams, college applications, payment-plan fees, travel, insurance, personal spending, and some activities.

The enrollment deposit is applied to tuition, but its amount is not public. Two-payment and ten-month plans carry a small administration fee disclosed in the contract; that fee is waived for aid recipients.

Fall 2027 tuition is not yet published. Request one written worksheet that includes deposit, every required fee, likely travel, health insurance, guardian costs, activities, and refund terms.

Financial aid

Aid is need-based, annual, and worth requesting early

Priory says it awarded more than $5 million in need-based grants for 2025–26 and that about 20% of families receive assistance. It does not offer merit scholarships.

Families apply through Clarity, which charges $55 unless that creates hardship. Priory requires both custodial and noncustodial parents, including stepparents, to provide information in separated or remarried families.

International boarding students may request need-based aid, but the school calls those grants highly competitive and says the request is considered during admission. That means international admission is need-aware.

The public aid deadlines still refer to the prior cycle. A Fall 2027 family should confirm the Clarity opening, application deadline, supporting-document deadline, and whether the early boarding round changes aid timing.

Priory warns families not to assume they can begin requesting aid later without an unusual financial change. If tuition may become difficult, apply in the admission year rather than hoping to revisit the question.

Fall 2027 entry map

Grade 6 and Grade 9 are the clearest planning points; other grades need confirmation

Grade 6 is the natural start of Priory's approximately 100-student Middle School. Sixth graders enter a dedicated middle-school area and join a Panther Pals program with seniors.

That makes Grade 6 the clearest day-school planning point, but Priory does not publish seats or an acceptance rate. It also does not promise that every Grade 6 applicant is competing for a newly created seat.

Grade 9 is the clear Upper School transition and the first boarding grade. It is also the cleanest point for a new student to enter the four-year advising and college-counseling sequence.

Day applicants to Grades 7, 8, 10, 11, or 12 should ask whether the grade is open before doing the full application. The public day page describes middle- and high-school applicants, but it does not publish grade-by-grade availability.

Boarding rules publish age limits for entrants to Grades 9, 10, and 11. That implies later entry can occur, but it does not establish annual openings.

Grade 12 boarding entry is not explained on the public page.

Day admission

The process is understandable, but the public page is one cycle behind

Priory's day page uses Ravenna. Its published checklist includes the application and fee, parent and student supplements, teacher recommendations, transcript release, on-campus STAR testing, and an interview.

Middle School applicants previously joined a group activity with a teacher. High school applicants previously had a one-to-one conversation about interests and aspirations.

Priory calls most admission events optional.

The page still labels its requirements and dates 2026–27. Treat STAR, the interview format, recommendation count, fees, and every portal item as a prior-cycle benchmark until the Fall 2027 Ravenna checklist is live.

The live boarding date ledger says the shared day application is due January 5, 2027. It lists day decisions on March 12 and enrollment agreements and deposits on March 19.

• Current-cycle date: January 5, 2027 — day and standard boarding application deadline.
• Current-cycle date: March 12, 2027 — day decisions released through Ravenna.
• Current-cycle date: March 19, 2027 — agreements and deposits due, except early boarding.
• Unknown: Fall 2027 application fee, recommendation subjects, STAR logistics, and transfer openings.

Boarding admission

Boarding has its own application route, testing, interview, and early timeline

Every boarding applicant needs a Ravenna account, including families submitting the Standard Application Online. Decisions are released in Ravenna.

The school accepts a Priory application through Ravenna or the SAO. Boarding applicants submit STAR testing virtually, while ISEE or SSAT results are also accepted.

Applicants from outside the United States must provide English proficiency through Duolingo, IELTS Academic, or TOEFL. Mainland China applicants use a Vericant interview, and Priory sponsors Forms I-20 only for residential students.

The boarding interview is with residential faculty and/or admission staff. That wording matters: it signals that the school is evaluating life in the dorm, not only classroom readiness.

Priory offers an early boarding round. The public page does not say whether it is binding, whether early applicants receive priority for aid or beds, or whether a family may compare other offers before February 19.

Ask in writing.

• Current-cycle date: December 11, 2026 — early boarding application deadline.
• Current-cycle date: February 5, 2027 — early boarding decisions.
• Current-cycle date: February 19, 2027 — early boarding commitments due.
• Current-cycle date: January 5, 2027 — standard boarding deadline.
• Current-cycle date: March 5, 2027 — standard boarding decisions.
• Page conflict: the Fall 2027 ledger says the application opened September 1, 2026, but mistakenly calls it the 2026–27 application.

How to prepare

Let the student sound like a student

The strongest application will connect curiosity, habits, and community contribution without trying to imitate school language. A parent can help organize dates and examples.

The student's supplement should still sound age-appropriate.

For Grade 6, prepare for collaboration as well as conversation. The prior group activity suggests that listening, flexibility, and participation may be more visible than a rehearsed speech.

For Grade 9 or a transfer, be ready to explain what the student wants to explore and how they handle help, deadlines, and unfamiliar peers. A boarding applicant should also discuss independence honestly.

Do not claim that Priory is a first choice unless it is true. Instead, explain why the actual program fits: small classes, the Benedictine framework, arts, athletics, residential structure, or the day-and-boarding mix.