Admissions Wait Pool

The Foundation Academy admission process is designed to determine which applicants will be most successful in our program—and that number is often much higher than the number of available spaces in a given class. We place a limited number of students to whom we are not able to offer admission but whom we believe would thrive at Foundation Academy in our wait pool. In the event that a space becomes available with respect to a specific grade, we will evaluate the students remaining in the wait pool and make an offer of admission based on factors described below.

We don’t share specific numbers regarding our wait pool, but know that it may not include every qualified candidate who has applied. We want to be realistic about the number of openings that may become available after our initial offers of admission are sent and those families have made decisions regarding acceptance. In addition, a space may become available in a specific grade over the summer, usually due to an unexpected family move, and we will turn to those students who have chosen to remain in our wait pool with an offer of admission at that time.

There is no specific ranking, but we do take into account if the applicant has a sibling already enrolled at FA or also applying. Wait pools are made up of students who we believe can be successful at Foundation Academy. Each student brings a unique profile. Whenever an opening occurs, we consider the entire wait pool and which student would be the best complement to the class. We consider both demographic data (i.e. gender, age with respect to the birthday spread of a classroom, etc.) as well as more subjective data (learning style, social fit with a particular class dynamic, etc.).

We’ll reach out to parents via email and phone. We’ll ask you to indicate whether you are interested in considering an available (or potentially available) spot, but you will have 5 business days to contemplate your decision.

This is the hardest part of being in the wait pool. Seats can become available as early as February and as late as mid August. We typically do not admit students after the first day of school but may possibly consider up to September 1. Our suggestion is that you consider alternate enrollment plans for your child and keep us informed. Your commitment to another school will not affect our decision to offer you an available spot. However, we will encourage and expect you to honor whatever contractual obligations you’ve made to other schools.

While enrollment activity can happen at any time, June 1 is the date of our contractual obligation; a student can withdraw before that date without a withdrawal fee being assessed.

Foundation Academy’s retention is incredibly high—far above the national and regional averages. Still, for a school of over 1100 students covering 16 grade levels (from PK3 to 12th grade), it’s not uncommon for a family to move out of town unexpectedly or to accept a business transfer that is not planned and does not fall within our enrollment calendar. When this happens prior to the beginning of school in August, we will turn to those students who have chosen to remain in the wait pool with an offer of admission at that time.

That will be up to each family to determine what they are comfortable with. Should you seek out a 2nd choice in a school, we suggest that you read Enrollment Contracts carefully and consider your financial obligations. Most schools will not refund a deposit but have a date by which you can withdraw without further penalty. And some schools also will require you to pay the full year’s tuition if you withdraw after a certain date.

We suggest the following steps:

Please forward any new report cards or test results that are received to the appropriate admissions office. When we go to review wait pool candidates, it’s helpful if we have the most current information available. Spring report cards, progress reports, etc. can always be added to an applicant file.

Let us know if you are still interested. Let us know if you’ve made other plans. Let us know if you’ve made other plans but are still interested. We like to stay in touch!

In most cases, we do not complete a full review of a family’s financial aid application until we are ready to offer admission. That means that a student in the wait pool who has applied for financial aid has not yet gone through a thorough financial aid committee review. Should a space become available and we intend to offer it to a student in the wait pool who has applied for financial aid, we will review the financial aid materials and provide award information with the offer of admission. For this reason, we strongly suggest that you review the FACTS Family Report to see whether their analysis of your ability to pay is in line with yours.

Simply complete the online form that was emailed to you with the offer of a wait pool spot.

Only in the most positive way. Placement in the wait pool indicates confidence on our part that a student can be successful at Foundation Academy. It’s a reflection of our commitment to small class sizes and of our genuine interest in enrolling best-fit students, including your child.

We welcome all students who have been placed in our wait pool to reapply to Foundation Academy in the event we are not able to offer a space this year. In fact, for those that chose to remain in the wait pool, we will waive the application fee. It does not necessarily mean that there is a higher priority, but you do get to do an application at the earliest opportunity for the next admissions season.