Admissions

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• What are your school hours?

  Our school schedule supports our parents’ workday through childcare needs, but also provides the flexibility to customize to your household schedule.  

  7:00 – 8:00 a.m: Morning Care (optional, use as much or as little as needed) 

  8:00 – 8:30 a.m: Arrival, parents can drop off in classrooms for EYFS students or use our car line for Nursery – Year 6.  

  8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m: School Day (optional noon dismissal for Pre-Nursery and Nursery students) 

  3:30 – 6:00/6:30 p.m: After School program.

  Our clubs/enrichment classes for Nursery – Year 6 run 3:30 – 4:45 pm and our Aftercare program runs 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. for Nursery – Year 6 and 3:30 – 6:00 p.m. for our Pre-Nursery.

  Club registration is by term and aftercare can be used as much or as little as needed and is billed hourly by use.  

   
• What are the age requirements?

  Please reference the below chart to determine which US Grade and UK year group your child is eligible for based on their current age. Please contact the Admissions Team with any questions regarding appropriate placement for your child. 
  
  The following chart details age requirements and grades for admission for the 2024-2025 school year.
  
  Please note that children can enroll in Pre-Nursery as soon as they turn 15 months, depending on availability.
  
  

  Birth Date	Age	US Grade	UK Year Group	School Stage
  Sept 1, 2021 - Aug 31, 2022	2-3	Two Year Old	Pre-Nursery	Foundation
  Sept 1, 2020 - Aug 31, 2021	3-4	Pre-School	Nursery	Foundation
  Sept 1, 2019 - Aug 31, 2020	4-5	Junior Kindergarten	Reception
  Sept 1, 2018 - Aug 31, 2019	5-6	Kindergarten	Year 1	Primary School
  Sept 1, 2017 - Aug 31, 2018	6-7	Grade 1	Year 2
  Sept 1, 2016 - Aug 31, 2017	7-8	Grade 2	Year 3
  Sept 1, 2015 - Aug 31, 2016	8-9	Grade 3	Year 4
  Sept 1, 2014 - Aug, 31, 2015	9-10	Grade 4	Year 5
  Sept 1, 2013 - Aug 31, 2014	10-11	Grade 5	Year 6
  Grades 6-12/Year 7-13 are located at the South Loop Campus. Upon completion of Year 6 at the Lincoln Park campus, students matriculate directly to Year 7 at the South Loop without any additional admissions process.

  
  
  
• Do you offer financial aid?

  Yes, we offer a need-based financial aid program and families are welcome to apply as part of their admissions process. You can access more information about our financial aid program here: https://s-discountstores.club/bisc-lincoln-park/admissions/tuition-fees
• What are your class sizes and student:teacher ratios?

  Our class sizes vary by age, for which you can see a breakdown below. Please note, all students benefit from lessons with our specialist teachers in French, Spanish, dance, music, library, STEAM and PE, and these teachers are in addition to their classroom teachers.  

  Pre-Nursery 

  Toddlers: Maximum of 10 students – 1 lead teacher, two learning assistants, 1 assistant director 

  Twos and Young Threes: Maximum of 16 students – 1 lead teacher, two learning assistants, 1 assistant director 

  Nursery – Year 2: Maximum of 20 students: 1 UK-trained lead teacher, 1 learning assistant 

  Year 3 – Year 6: Maximum 20 students, 1 UK-trained lead teacher 

   
• How do you communicate with parents?

  We believe your child’s education is a partnership between home and school, and we're forthcoming and transparent with our communication. We send a weekly newsletter with information from all areas of the school, including a message from the principal. Our Early Years teachers use the Brightwheel app to share daily photos, videos and comments about your child’s learning that day. For our Pre-Nursery this also includes information about diapering, food and sleep.  
  
  Each class has a parent volunteer, who will share weekly emails with updates from your child’s class and messages from their teacher.  
  
  Three yearly progress reports are paired with parent/teacher consultations. You can access teacher email addresses to schedule a time for a phone call or to ask questions when needed.  
  

   
• What are your teacher qualifications and how long do they stay at your school?

  All our lead teachers in our Nursery – Year 6 program are UK-trained, and all lead teachers have completed a level of post graduate work. Our Pre-Nursery team is staffed with local teachers with an expertise in early childhood education. Our specialist teachers carry additional training and qualifications in their area of expertise. While we recruit internationally to ensure we have the highest quality staff, we have a very high retention rate of 96% annually.
• What does diversity look like at your school?

  As an international school in a large city, we have an incredibly diverse population. We have over 40 nationalities represented in our community and 45% students of color. Our enrollment is a mostly local population with about 10% of our community expatriate families.  
• Do you support children with learning challenges or gifted?

  We view all our students as individuals and support and challenge them accordingly. Our classrooms have flexible seating, low student-teacher ratios and our curriculum is designed to be responsive to every student. Lessons are developed with the age-related expectation as the target and then to encourage the children to select the appropriate level for themselves.  
  
  Our learning resources department can provide 1:1 or group work at either end of the spectrum. This team of teachers are highly skilled in differentiation and will work to ensure children are getting additional support in a pull-out or push-in model or will provide opportunity for additional challenge.