How to Apply

Completion of a recommendation form by the applicant’s current teacher is required. Instructions to request the recommendation are included in your Applicant Portal.

If the student does not attend school but takes part in an activity such as music, sports or Religious School, please request that the teacher complete the Teacher Recommendation. 

To help us get to know your child, we ask that you please complete a questionnaire included in your Admission Applicant Portal. The Parent Guardian/Questionnaire must be received no later than your child’s scheduled admission visit/testing, or by January 10 at the latest.

The Bolles Lower School Parent/Guardian Questionnaire is a common form used by the members of the Greater Jacksonville area independent schools accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS). If you are applying to other schools listed on the form, you may print the completed form in your Admission Applicant Portal for submission at other schools.  If you have already completed a paper form at another FCIS school, you may upload it in your Applicant Portal or email it to Leslie Brotman.

Pre-K applicants visit Bolles twice as part of the Admission Process. Admission visits are scheduled by the Admission Office once an application is received and take place in January and February for first round admission decisions. You will be notified of the admission visit dates usually within two weeks of receipt of the application.

If we happen to schedule dates that do not work for you or your child, please let us know and we will do our best to reschedule. For applications that require a family to travel from out of town, the Lower School Admission Director will call to schedule a mutually agreeable date.

The first visit is an individual visit at which time the student will work one-on-one with a teacher for about a one-hour period. Our teachers are very experienced working with young children and will help your child to feel welcome and comfortable. Even the shiest of children usually engage quickly in activities that are enjoyable for them. These activities help us to gain a sense of your child’s development in many of the key school readiness areas – cognitive and academic maturity, speech and language, social and emotional maturity, fine and gross motor skills, ability to attend to a task and follow it through to completion, behavior and much more.

The second visit is a group visit at which time your child will be part of a small group of children also applying to Bolles for Pre-K. This visit takes place in a classroom with the teachers and is a mini-school experience, which includes time for a story, center activities and play. Pre-K group visits take place from 1-2:15.

During your child’s group visit, you are invited for light refreshments and casual conversation with current Bolles parents to learn more about the Bolles experience. Parent-to-Parent Gatherings are informal and are a perfect time to have your questions answered.

Admission decision letters will be sent on February 27, 2020.

Completion of a recommendation form by the applicant’s current teacher is required. Instructions to request the recommendation are included in your Applicant Portal. You will need the recommender’s email address to complete the request.

The school transcript request form is available on the Application Portal.

To help us get to know your child, we ask that you please complete a questionnaire included in your Admission Applicant Portal. The Parent Guardian/Questionnaire must be received no later than your child’s scheduled admission visit/testing, or by January 10 at the latest.

The Bolles Lower School Parent/Guardian Questionnaire is a common form used by the members of the Greater Jacksonville area independent schools accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS). If you are applying to other schools listed on the form, you may print the completed form in your Admission Parent Portal for submission at other schools.  If you have already completed a paper form at another FCIS school, you may upload it in your Applicant Portal or email it to Leslie Brotman.

Applicants to Grades 1-5 visit Bolles as part of the admission process. Admission visits are scheduled by the Admission Office once an application is received and take place in January and February for first round admission decisions. You will be notified of the admission visit dates usually within 2 weeks of receipt of the application.

Grades 1-5 applicants spend a school day at Bolles in their current grade level classroom. During the day, your child will become a member of a Bolles class and will join in with whatever that class is doing whether it is an academic lesson, an experience in the science lab, in our fine arts classrooms, library, technology or physical education. Our teachers and students love having visitors and are experienced at helping children to feel welcome, included and comfortable. Visiting students often report that they wish they could return to Bolles the next day too!

Admission testing will take place during the applicant’s school visit. Your child will work one-on-one or as part of small group to complete an assessment which is designed to provide a glimpse into his/her academic background and foundation. The assessment is approximately one hour in length and focuses on reading comprehension, phonics (for younger children), writing mechanics and mathematics.

Admission decision letters will be sent on February 27, 2020.