Apply

Submitting an application through the link below is the first step of the admission process. You will start by creating an account with our school portal, called myGDS. Once your application has been processed, you will have access to your admission checklist in the myGDS portal. The portal will also provide access to all required paperwork. There is a non-refundable application fee of $100.

Families are highly encouraged to begin the admission process as soon as possible. GDS accepts applications for admission throughout the school year and will enroll students as space allows. Once a grade level is at capacity, we will create a waitpool. 

Apply for the 2026–27 school year

The forms listed below can be found in your admission portal once you have begun the application process. Required paperwork for all applicants includes:

• Parent Questionnaire
• Teacher Feedback Form(s)

Additional paperwork will vary by the age/grade of the applicant and may include:

• Transcript copies from current year and previous two years
• Standardized testing scores
• Administrative questionnaire
• Completion of a writing prompt
• Previous writing sample

Preschool 

Bengal Tot applicants (ages 2–3) and one parent/guardian will attend a small group observational playdate with a member of our preschool team.

Bitty Bengal (ages 3–4) and Junior Kindergarten (ages 4–5) applications will attend a small group observational playdate. They will also work one-on-one with a member of our preschool team on a sampling of age-appropriate school readiness skills.

Kindergarten–Grade 4

Lower school applicants will complete an age-appropriate assessment one-on-one with a GDS faculty member. Admission assessments are offered on Saturday mornings beginning in November. 

Grades 5–12

Applicants for Middle and Upper School are required to submit their most recent standardized testing scores. These may include, but are not limited to EOY/EOG, ERB, PSAT, or SAT scores. Additional in-house assessment may be requested, dependent upon scores submitted by the applicant.

To experience all that GDS has to offer both socially and academically, applicants for grades 1–12 will spend a full day shadowing a student in their current grade.

Once the applicant has completed all parts of the admission process, the Admission Committee reviews the file and makes a whole-file admission decision. Initial decisions are made, and families are notified, beginning in late November. All applicants who complete the admission process will receive an admission decision, regardless of timing or space.

Applicants who have been awarded admission to GDS will receive an enrollment contract once space has been confirmed in the grade for which they applied. Enrollment contracts for new students are sent beginning in early February and will continue until the grade level meets capacity. Once a grade level is full, admitted students will be put in an enrollment waitpool.