Admissions
If you are considering applying to The Bush School…
You have come to the right place. This section of our website will explain the application process and give you some key dates to remember. If at any point you decide, “I’d much rather speak to a person,” please call any of us in the admissions office.
Elizabeth Atcheson
Director of Admissions and Financial Aid
206-326-7735
elizabeth.atcheson@bush.edu
Sheila Hicks
Interim Assistant Director of Admissions for the Lower School and Diversity Assistant
206-326-7765
sheila.hicks@bush.edu
Johnica Hopkins
Admissions Assistant
206-326-7736
johnica.hopkins@bush.edu
Here are the steps you’ll take to apply to Bush:
Step 1: Call or email any one of us to request an application package and school literature. Please give us this information:
- Student’s name and birthdate
- Parent’s or parents’ name/s, address/es, phone number/s, and email address/es
- School where student is currently enrolled
- Grade to which student is applying for 2009-10
- How you learned about The Bush School
Step 2: Add the dates of our Open Houses to your calendar. Open Houses are the single most efficient way to learn a lot about the school in a short period of time. On each of these dates, doors open at 6 p.m., and the evening will wrap up around 8:30 p.m. Click here to see upcoming Open Houses. Please bring your child to Middle and Upper School Open House evenings.
Step 3: Contact the Admissions Assistant, Johnica Hopkins, by email or by phone at 206-326-7736 to set up your (optional but recommended) parent tour. Parent tours, which last approximately 1-1/2 hours, include classroom visits, as well as the opportunity to have your questions answered in a smaller, more personal setting than Open Houses. Tours will be offered during regularly scheduled weekday mornings from October through January. Please contact us in the fall for our tour schedule.
Step 4: Submit all the required application materials no later than 4pm on January 15, 2009. We encourage you to submit your application earlier, however, so that we can set up your student’s visit to the school as soon as possible. We will contact you once all application materials have been received, to schedule your student’s visit.
Preliminary application deadline for applicants applying to Lower, Middle, or Upper School is 4 p.m. on Friday, December 10. Submission of four items (Family Information, Student Information, application fee, photo) by that date allows you to pay a lower application fee and allows for earlier scheduling of your student's visit.
Step 5: Contact us anytime, by phone or email, if you have any questions – no matter how small those questions may seem. We see ourselves as “admissions counselors” and want to help you find the right school for your child.
If you think you may need to apply for financial aid…
Please make every effort to attend Financial Aid Information Evening, on Wednesday, December 5, from 7-8:30 pm in our Community Room. The process of applying for financial aid will be explained, and we will walk you through the materials you will need to submit to the School and Student Service for Financial Aid in order to apply for aid at most Seattle independent schools.
Application for financial aid is considered separately from a student's admission application to the school, which means that all admissions decisions are made on a “need-blind” basis. Approximately 15% of our student body receives aid, and the School has an ongoing commitment to significantly increase this percentage. Students at all grade levels are eligible for consideration, and all grants are kept confidential and filed separately from student records.
Tuition for the 2008-9 school year is as follows:
- Kindergarten-Second Grade: $17,230
- Third-Fifth Grade: $17,975
- Sixth-Eighth Grade: $22,355
- Ninth-Twelfth Grade: $23,420
If you have questions about financial aid at Bush, please contact Elizabeth Atcheson, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, at 206-326-7735 or elizabeth.atcheson@bush.edu.