Our school, along with three other public schools in Orleans Parish, has academic admissions criteria that require a supplemental application and an admissions assessment. This process is essential to evaluate the readiness of applicants for our rigorous program and is reflected in a matrix score.

All applicants must complete their eligibility assessment in person at The Willow School. After your family submits the Willow Supplemental Admission Form (SAF), you will receive an email with the date of your child's assessment. Applicants to kindergarten sign up for an appointment time on their assigned date. Applicants to grades 1-12 are assigned a standard time for arrival based on their grade level. Remote testing is not available.

All students are assessed in math and reading. Applicants can earn a maximum of 20 points from the eligibility assessment (10 possible points in math and 10 possible points in reading). See the matrix page for more information about how scores and eligibility are calculated.

Kindergarten applicants are assessed individually at the Lower School campus (7315 Willow Street). Applicants take the assessment one-on-one with a Willow proctor. Parents are not permitted to be with their child during the assessment. Willow recommends that families prepare their child for the transition away from their parent to take the assessment individually with a new adult.

The assessment includes a a listening comprehension section and a math problem solving section. Students move at their own pace through the assessment and it may take about twenty minutes. Assessment appointments are scheduled for a half hour. The time a child takes to complete the assessment is not an indication of the child’s performance.

The listening comprehension section covers listening comprehension at the level of the word, sentence, and passage. Students receive a component score for receptive vocabulary (selecting a picture that matches a word) and oral discourse comprehension (responding aloud to questions after listening to a passage). Students must respond verbally in the oral discourse section. The math section covers basic concepts and everyday applications.

The kindergarten assessment is administered on an iPad, but applicants do not need to have any technology skills; students respond by speaking or by pointing.

Applicants to grades 1-12 will be assessed in a group setting at the Lower School campus or High School campus.

The assessment includes sections on reading and math. The reading and vocabulary sections cover grade-level content for informational reading and literary reading in the domains of vocabulary, explicit meaning, implicit meaning, key ideas, and author's craft. The math sections cover grade level content in the domains of number sense & operations, algebraic patterns/connections, data analysis, geometry, and measurement. The assessment evaluates essential competencies, conceptual understanding, and extended reasoning. Applicants complete the assessment for the grade level they are in currently; for example, fifth grade applicants (currently in fourth grade) take an assessment primarily addressing fourth grade standards.

The number of sections and time for breaks varies between grade levels. The assessment is administered on the computer. All questions are multiple choice.

The estimated time on the assessment day includes check-in, transitions, assessment sections, and breaks. The assessment experience is approximately:

• Grade 1 applicants take ~2 hours

  • One section on Vocabulary (~20 minutes)

  • One section on Word Analysis (~20 minutes)

  • One section on Math (~25 minutes)

• Grades 2-3 take ~3 hours

  • Two sections on Reading (20 minutes & 25 minutes)

  • One section on Vocabulary (15 minutes)

  • Two sections on Math (25 minutes each)

• Grades 4-9 take ~3.5 hours

  • Two sections on Reading (30 minutes each)

  • One section on Vocabulary (15 minutes)

  • Two sections on Math (30 minutes each)

• Grades 10-12 take ~2.5 hours

  • One section on Reading (40 minutes)

  • One section on Vocabulary (15 minutes)

  • One sections on Math (40 minutes)

Students receive accommodations during school testing for a variety of reasons, primarily to ensure that they have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities. These accommodations are typically provided to students with documented disabilities or special needs, as mandated by laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

If a parent/guardian wishes to request accommodations for their student on the eligibility assessment, The Willow School must receive a copy of the current accommodations paperwork before the deadline for their scheduled assessment date. Families must meet this deadline so the Willow School team can review the submitted documentation and ensure the accommodations are in place for the assessment. Please review the posted deadlines for accommodations paperwork for each assessment date on the assessment calendar.

For a student to receive accommodations, the submitted paperwork must include the student's full name, diagnosis and recommended testing accommodations, signature from a licensed professional, and be the most recent information available. Examples of accepted paperwork include an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), Individualized Accommodations Plan (IAP) or 504 plan, evaluation from a school system or licensed professional, school-based accommodations plan, or English Learners (EL) Accommodations Checklist. Submitted paperwork is reviewed by the Willow team to determine appropriate accommodations for the admissions assessment. If an applicant's paperwork is missing required information, the Willow admissions team will be in touch with next steps.

Students may only take the assessment one time per application round. If your child is sick or you suspect they may be sick, please reschedule their assessment (unless it's the last date available). If the child begins the assessment but is unable to complete it and does not receive a score, the child will not be considered for admission in that round. Applicants who are not admitted during Main Round can apply again in a later admissions round for the upcoming school year if seats are available at their grade level.

Suspected testing irregularities should be reported immediately. If you believe that your child has experienced a testing irregularity that would impact their score, it must be reported to The Willow School admissions office by emailing the admissions team (LowerAdmissions@willowschoolnola.org for grades K-4, MiddleAdmissions@willowschoolnola.org for grades 5-7, or UpperAdmissions@willowschoolnola.org for grades 8-12) within two school days of the administration of the assessment. 

The results of the admissions process are final. Appeals for assessment results, admissions decisions, or deadlines based on individual circumstances are not accepted in order to be fair and consistent to all applicants. Please reach out to the Executive Director of Admissions (maggie_schodell@willowschoolnola.org) with any questions.