What a Complete Application Includes
If anything on this list is difficult for your family, please let us know. We would rather learn more from you and start the conversation than have you stop here
The completed application form
A $125 application fee
Transcripts or report cards from the past two years
Recommendations from two teachers who have taught your child within the past two years
Any cognitive assessment reports or learning plans from the past three years, if you have them
A parent tour, a student visit day, or both
Optional, and genuinely useful: two or three work samples your child is proud of. Their own independent work tells us more than a school assignment does.
How We Get to Know Your Child
Here is the plain answer to the question every family asks.
We do not require cognitive testing of every applicant. What we need is enough understanding of how your child learns to teach them well from the first week, and there is more than one way to get there.
Knox works because of who is together learning in the same room. A class of curious, motivated children who push and steady each other is what families come to Knox for, and it is what we are responsible for protecting. That is why we ask for a fuller picture of each applicant than a form alone can give.
What we are looking for is the shape of how your child learns. Where they are ready to be stretched. Where they need support. What lights them up. Analytic ability is one measure among several, and no single score has ever told anyone everything worth knowing about a child. We read the whole report, not the summary at the top of it.
What we accept
Cognitive assessments, administered individually by a licensed psychologist, school psychologist, or credentialed educational diagnostician, from the past three years. For our youngest applicants, a more recent report is more useful.
WISC-V, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition
WPPSI-IV, the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition, for our youngest applicants
DAS-II, the Differential Ability Scales, Second Edition
KABC-II, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition
WJ IV COG, the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities
School-based reports and private evaluations are equally welcome. It makes no difference to us who arranged it.
Other evidence we read closely
Often enough on its own for students applying to 5th grade and above: California state testing, MAP Growth scores or other standardized results, group ability screeners, achievement testing, a current IEP, 504 plan or psychoeducational evaluation, and recent report cards with a recommendation from a teacher who knows your child well enough to write honestly about them.
If your child’s testing is more than three years old, send it anyway. Older results are still useful, and we will tell you plainly if we need something more current.
If your child has not been tested
While we do not require cognitive testing, it may be recommended or necessary to determine if Knox is the right fit for your child.
If you would like to pursue cognitive testing, we keep a list of professional evaluators across the Central Coast and we will happily share it. We also partner with specific evaluators who offer abbreviated assessments at reduced cost to Knox applicant families.
For many families, a full assessment is not the most useful next step and records or academic or standardized testing you already have can tell us a great deal, especially for an older student.
The simplest first step is to inquire to begin the process and we can discuss your questions and share information you currently have before taking any further action. Email us at admissions@knoxschoolsb.org to begin the conversation.
Twice-Exceptional Learners
If your child is gifted and also has a learning difference, send us the whole picture: the full evaluation, available IEP or 504, and all the information from your child’s previous school. We take a close look at the information through the lens of our holistic approach.
Key Dates
After the priority round, we review applications and release decisions on a rolling basis as space allows (typically within a few weeks of a completed application).
September 15, 2026
Applications open
October 2026 to February 2027
Tour and open house dates
February 15, 2027
Priority application deadline
February 22, 2027
Tuition assistance application deadline
November 2026 to March 2027
Student visit days
March 5, 2027
Priority decisions released
March 19, 2027
Enrollment contracts due
Questions are welcome, and expected
Call, email, or just start. We’ll help from there.
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