Grade Six Placement
How does The Caedmon School support graduating 5th grade children and families through the Middle School Admissions process?
Montessori educational philosophy is characterized by an emphasis on independent thinking, organized study habits, intellectual and creative risk-taking, and conceptual understanding as the cornerstone of true knowledge. Caedmon elementary students augment these fundamental attitudes with rigorous, experiential training in writing, research, criticism, calculation, problem solving, and public performance. As a result of such training, sixth grade admissions personnel frequently remark upon how well prepared Caedmon children are for the challenges of middle school. Caedmon graduates are poised, confident, self-aware children who have strong work-study skills.
As graduation approaches, Caedmon’s administrative team takes great care to help families determine the middle school environment in which their child will thrive academically and emotionally, based upon the skills, personality, and learning styles that have blossomed during their time with us. Caedmon is not a “feeder school” to any particular institution. The ultimate goal in the process is to find a school that is the best match for each child and his or her family.
Caedmon provides extensive placement assistance to those families whose children are a part of the graduating fifth grade class.
In the spring of the children’s fourth grade year, Caedmon families take part in a comprehensive workshop concerning the transfer process. They are given information on the entire sequence of events from initial search through final application, including test requirements, deadlines, and the role that Caedmon will play in the process. That same spring, the Head of School, Director of Admissions, and Educational Director meet individually with each family to discuss a broad range of schools that may be of interest to the family, and suitable for the child.
By early September of the fifth grade year, the family has another meeting to edit the number of schools being considered for visiting. As the search progresses, communication between parents and the Head of School is vital and continuous.
From September through December of their fifth grade year at Caedmon, students take part in a weekly series of after-school workshops to prepare them for their role in the placement process. They practice interviewing and writing “on-the-spot essays”, and receive personalized instruction on test-taking strategies. Children have the opportunity to take the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) at Caedmon, in a comfortable and familiar environment.
Throughout the fifth grade year, the Head of School repeatedly shares lunchtime with small groups of graduating students to get to know them fully as individuals, and to reassure and encourage them.
In recent years, Caedmon graduates have been accepted to the following New York City independent middle schools:
Bank Street School for Children
The Berkeley Carroll School
The Birch Wathen Lenox School
Brooklyn Friends School
The Browning School
The Cathedral School of St. John The Divine
The Collegiate School
Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School*
Convent of the Sacred Heart
The Dalton School
The Dwight School
Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School
Ethical Culture Fieldston School*
Friends Seminary*
The Hewitt School
Horace Mann School
Manhattan Country School
Marymount School of New York
Packer Collegiate
Poly Prep Country Day School*
The Riverdale Country School*
The Spence School
Trevor Day School*
Winston Preparatory School*
York Preparatory School*
*Indicates where students chose to enroll.
In addition, recent graduates have been accepted at the following special public middle schools:
Hunter College High School
The New York City Museum School
East Side Middle School
