Application Requirements and Decision Dates

All required application items are listed on your child’s Admissions Portal and are necessary before our Admissions Committee will review, make an admission decision, and communicate the decision to parents. Depending on the grade applying to, we require demographic information, parent and/or candidate questionnaires, academic records, admissions testing, teacher recommendation(s), an interview, and a non-refundable $50 application fee.

If the applicant is not a United States citizen, we require a copy of United States government-approved documents (e.g., green card or visa). Note: The Bear Creek School accepts international students to all grade levels; however, we no longer issue the Form I-20 to new non-immigrant F-1 visa students. Bear Creek does not offer an English Language Learner (ELL) program.

Note: Scholarship applicants have additional requirements. See Scholarships for more information.

Space Availability

Current Bear Creek students are given the opportunity to reenroll to the next academic year in late January/early February, so the number of spaces available to new students will not be determined until after reenrollment is complete.

Age Requirements

Please note age requirements for the following grade levels when applying for the 2026 – 2027 school year:

• Kindergarten
  • Five years of age by August 31, 2026
• Preschool
  • P3 – three years of age by August 31, 2026, and toilet trained
  • P4 – four years of age by August 31, 2026, and toilet trained
  • P5 – five years of age by January 1, 2027, and toilet trained

Application Deadlines

Starting an application early (in the fall for the following school year) is highly recommended. Keep in mind, interview dates fill quickly, so please schedule these early via your Admissions Portal. For those grade levels requiring admissions testing (kindergarten and above), it is best to test sooner rather than later.

2026 – 2027 School Year

For priority (first round) admission decisions, the following deadlines apply:

• Wednesday, December 3, 2025: Application for admission deadline for sibling applicants of currently enrolled Bear Creek students and children of Bear Creek faculty or staff members (all required items completed)
• Wednesday, December 3, 2025: C.S. Lewis Legacy Scholarship* application deadline for sibling applicants of currently enrolled Bear Creek students and children of Bear Creek faculty or staff members—this scholarship also requires a separate tuition assistance application
• Friday, January 23, 2026: Application for admission deadline for all other applicants (all required items completed)—although it is to your advantage to apply by this deadline, we continue to accept applications and make admission decisions on a rolling basis if space remains available at the requested grade level; please email us at admissions@tbcs.org to inquiry about space availability
• Friday, January 23, 2026: C.S. Lewis Legacy Scholarship* application deadline for new applicants (those not mentioned above)—this scholarship also requires a separate tuition assistance application

* The C.S. Lewis Legacy Scholarship is available to students enrolling in grades K – 12.

Admission Decisions

Admission decisions for the 2026 – 2027 school year will be emailed:

• Preschool (P3, P4, P5): Beginning mid- to late January 2026 (continuing in February and March)
• Most sibling applicants of current Bear Creek students and children of faculty/staff members: Between January 16, 2026 – March 20, 2026
• Grade 9 and above: February 13, 2026
• Kindergarten – grade 8: March 20, 2026, and at our discretion, we may make some decisions earlier

We make rolling admission decisions after the above dates, depending on space availability.

Admission decisions are based on the strength of each applicant’s overall application compared with the overall pool of applicants. Applications are reviewed holistically, not based on one single component. Parents or legal guardians will receive one of three admission decision notifications:

• Accepted – Applicant meets Bear Creek’s admission criteria, and enrollment will be offered.
• Candidate Pool – Applicant meets Bear Creek’s admission criteria, but the number of qualified applicants exceeds class capacity. If/When an opening in a class occurs, a qualified applicant will be selected from the Candidate Pool and offered admission. Applicants are selected from the Candidate Pool based on a variety of factors including but not limited to the comparative strength of other candidates in the Pool (not length of time). If a candidate is not offered admission by the beginning of the school year, he/she is welcome to reapply for the following school year by submitting a new online application for admission.
• Denied – Applicant does not meet Bear Creek’s admission criteria and enrollment will not be offered.