General Transition Timeline

Winter/Spring/Summer of 7th Grade

• Update your child's cognitive testing. 

  • Call early to set-up appointments. (See Psychological Evaluations)

  • It is best to get this done over the summer to minimize lost academic time in the fall.

• March Conference - Use your March conference to gather a sense of your child’s strengths, challenges, and useful accommodations are, keeping in mind your child will continue to progress through the rest of 7th grade and 8th grade.

• Review Exploring Schools

• Look at websites for schools you think you would like to investigate

Summer Before 8th Grade

• Attend open houses at independent and boarding schools

  • In the summer, you may wish to include your child in these open house visits. 

  • Generally, these open houses are slick sales pitches, though, that don't always provide much good information for students. 

  • Parents will be able to get a sense of the school and ask targeted questions that may help narrow down the list of schools they wish to explore.

September

• Parents attend open houses

  • Generally, these open houses are slick sales pitches, though, that don't always provide much good information for students. 

  • It is not worth the lost instructional time for students.

  • Parents will be able to get a sense of the school and ask targeted questions that may help narrow down the list of schools they wish to explore.

• Independent School Entrance Exam: Apply for accommodations no later than September 30. Once you are notified of accommodations approval, you can register for an ISEE test date, including Benchmark's.

• High School Placement Test: Some schools have HSPT or other entrance exam testing in October. Be sure to register for any required by the schools you are considering.

October

• Attend 8th grade Directions Conference to update your picture of your child's needs.

• Start application process for independent & faith-based schools

  • Complete parent and student questionnaires

  • Request teacher recommendations

  • Note that all print recommendations and other forms need to go through Faith Cost in the Benchmark office.

  • Send transcript requests to Benchmark. (Faith Cost)

  • Arrange parent interviews and classroom visits for your child by calling schools of interest.

• Register for admissions testing for independent schools ISEE, SSAT, or HSPT. Do not register for ISEE until approval for accommodations has been received. Deadline for ISEE @ Benchmark is November 1, 2024.

• Have your child practice for any standardized testing (ISEE, HSPT, or SSAT)

  • Don't stress students out about testing.

  • Tutoring/test prep is probably not that helpful and can add to student anxiety.

  • Practice with the types of questions asked, for example taking one or two sample tests, may be helpful in reducing student anxiety. (See Testing for Independent Schools)

November

• Student takes the ISEE at Benchmark School, if required

• Complete the financial aid applications for the independent schools to which you are applying by December 1.

• Complete application paperwork for independent and faith-based schools.

  • Check deadlines as different schools have different deadlines.

  • Forms

    • Request for records forms should be emailed to Faith Cost (faithcost@benchmarkschool.org).

    • Teacher Recommendations - Teacher recommendations should be requested from your child’s current language arts and math teachers.

    • Principal/Counselor Recommendation - This can be sent to Eric MacDonald (ericmacdonald@benchmarkschool.org) who will work with your child’s mentor to complete the form.

  • In order to be sure that forms are completed in time to meet most independent school application deadlines, please submit recommendation forms by November 15. (Note that a few schools have earlier deadlines. Please alert us to deadlines you encounter that are prior to Thanksgiving.)

• Schedule school visits - If you are applying to independent schools, please schedule your child’s visits in November or early December. (There are a few schools that will not schedule visits until after all records have been received, which may push visits later in December or January.)

December

• Check admissions portals to be sure nothing is missing. Benchmark will send 1st trimester reports by the end of the week after Thanksgiving.

• Complete any outstanding application elements. 

• Be sure all school visits have been scheduled.

• Be prepared to help your child process admissions decisions, which often come right before winter break or in the first weeks of January.

January/February/March

• Public Schools

  • Begin research about obtaining an IEP from your public school district.

  • Contact the public school district to begin the process of setting up an IEP.

• Complete applications to independent schools with January, February and March deadlines.

• Independent School Decisions: Most independent schools will notify families of decisions prior to winter break or in January. Note that some schools may have rolling admissions or slightly later decision dates.

• Boarding Schools: Most boarding schools will notify families of decisions around March 10.

• Once a student is accepted into an independent school, they will provide a series of enrollment steps, including placing a deposit, any additional placement testing, course selection, etc. Please let Benchmark know if we can be of help with anything as you work through the enrollment process.