Common Questions

Acceptance into Blue House Preschool is not an automatic acceptance into kindergarten at Trinity Episcopal School. When your child is eligible for kindergarten you must go through the full admission process for Trinity. We will send you admission decisions a week earlier than kindergarten applicants from other preschools.

We have a September 1 cutoff date, meaning that students must be a certain age by that date to be eligible for a particular program. Below are the cut-off ages for all grades.

Minimum Age by September 1

Preschool

• PK Two: 2 years old
• PK Three: 3 years old
• PK Four: 4 years old
• Bridging K: 5 years old

Lower School

• Kindergarten: 5 years old
• 1st Grade: 6 years old
• 2nd Grade: 7 years old
• 3rd Grade: 8 years old
• 4th Grade: 9 years old

Middle School

• 5th Grade: 10 years old
• 6th Grade: 11 years old
• 7th Grade: 12 years old
• 8th Grade: 13 years old

The application fee for grades PK–8 is $150 for those who apply by January 31. The application fee for late applicants is $200. Lower School applicants (grades K–4) must pay a $75 testing fee. If any of these fees present a hardship, we will be happy to waive them. Just let us know! The application fee for financial assistance is $65, but it's automatically waived for qualifying applicants.

The application for financial assistance is not part of the main application through the Admission Portal. Instead, it's through a third-party software platform, Clarity. The applications are separate for two reasons: 1) It ensures your information is kept confidential and does not affect your admission decision, and 2) it allows you to apply for financial assistance for multiple schools at once.

The deadline to apply for financial assistance is November 15 for Blue House Preschool and January 15 for Trinity Episcopal School. The Parent Financial Statement must be verified by the IRS before submitting, and verification usually takes 3–5 business days. There are many considerations besides net income (e.g. number of dependents), so we encourage everyone to apply to see if you qualify! Historically, the average award for grades K–8 has been about 50% of tuition and fees.

Get the step-by-step guide →

Apply for financial assistance →

We do not recommend test prep, tutors, etc. for the admission assessments. The best ways to prepare for the application is to look through our website and promotional materials, talk about Trinity with your child, participate in admission events (we offer opportunities for children and parents), and take a campus tour.

Lower School

We administer internal assessments in an age-appropriate manner. They are a combination of group and one-on-one engaging activities to give us a better understanding of your child’s academic and social profile.

Middle School

We accept either the ISEE or SSAT. ISEE Waivers are available for those who are also applying for financial assistance.

Applications open October 1, and our priority deadline is November 30 for Blue House Preschool (Ages 2–5) and Jan. 31 for Trinity Episcopal School (K–8). Applications received after the deadline will require an additional fee and will be treated on a case-by-case basis. Late applications are considered only after all of the regular season applications have been reviewed and if there is space available. If or when space is available, the admissions team will contact you to continue the application process.

The deadlines to apply for financial assistance are earlier than those for the main application: November 15 for Blue House Preschool and January 15 for Trinity Episcopal School.

The application for financial assistance is not part of the main application through the Admission Portal. Instead, it's through a third-party software platform, Clarity. The applications are separate for two reasons: 1) It ensures your information is kept confidential and does not affect your admission decision, and 2) it allows you to apply for financial assistance for multiple schools at once.

The deadline to apply for financial assistance is November 15 for Blue House Preschool and January 15 for Trinity Episcopal School. The Parent Financial Statement must be verified by the IRS before submitting, and verification usually takes 3–5 business days. There are many considerations besides net income (e.g. number of dependents), so we encourage everyone to apply to see if you qualify! Historically, the average award for grades K–8 has been about 50% of tuition and fees.

Get the step-by-step guide →

Apply for financial assistance →

This is a conversation between your family (including your child) and a member of the admission committee. If you have multiple applicants, we encourage a separate interview for each child.

Lower School

Your lead homeroom teacher should complete an evaluation. If you have questions about your child’s situation, please reach out to us.

Middle School

The lead teacher for each subject (English and mathematics) should complete an evaluation. If your child has the same teacher for both English and math, please send both evaluations to that teacher. If you have questions about your child’s situation, please reach out to us.

You may attend as many events as you'd like. However, please only register for one tour per family per division (i.e. Preschool, Lower School, Middle School) to give other applicants an opportunity to see our campus and ask questions. Tours have limited space, and there is no advantage to taking multiple tours for a single division.

Navigating the admission process can be especially tough if you're coming from another city and haven't settled in, yet. Help us help you by emailing our admission team at admission@austintrinity.org! We're here to accommodate your needs. We make every effort to be transparent about our application timeline and requirements. If your family has specific needs due to relocation, please contact us to discuss alternatives.

Prospective families are required to visit campus for a family interview, which includes your child. We also require students entering grades 5–8 to attend a half-day shadow visit, where they will enjoy fun activity, sit in a couple of classes, eat lunch, and attend a Chapel service.

Additionally, we host informational events and group tours for prospective parents from late September to late January. These visit opportunities are a fantastic way to learn about our programs and get your questions answered, and while they are not required, we highly recommended participating in at least one.

We communicate our decisions the third week in December for Blue House Preschool (Ages 2–4) and the first week in March for Bridging K and Trinity Episcopal School (K–8). We offer an Early Decision option for applicants to Middle School (grades 5–8). Those who choose this option learn their admittance status in mid February.

Our main entry points are kindergarten, 5th grade, and 6th grade. We are committed to families who want to be here through 8th grade and share our core values and approach to education. If Trinity’s mission speaks to you, we encourage you to apply regardless of grade.

We typically do not admit students after the school year has begun.