Mount Vernon looks to partner with committed and connected families. We are looking for motivated students who share our passion for becoming college ready, globally competitive, and engaged citizen leaders. We are looking for students who seek to develop their own 21st Century Mount Vernon Mind; students who are and desire to become stronger solution seekers, ethical decision-makers, communicators, creative thinkers, innovators, and collaborators.

After your family has decided to apply, our admissions team will work with you to complete all required items in the application. Once your application is complete, it will be reviewed by our admissions committee. Led by our Director of Admissions, members of the admissions committee include representatives from appropriate division levels, academic resource, and the admissions team. Mount Vernon’s admissions committee does not review application files that are incomplete. Our team is extremely thorough and dedicated to finding the right fit above all other considerations. Our approach is holistic. We consider all aspects of the application file and the admissions process without overly relying on one particular test score, indicator, or measurement. All admissions committee decisions are final.

Preparing your child for the road ahead is a responsibility best shared between parents and the faculty of any school you choose – and we believe you should always be satisfied with the answers you receive. At Mount Vernon, your child will learn how to think critically, communicate effectively, act ethically, think creatively, innovate purposefully, and collaborate willingly. As you navigate through the admissions season in search of the right school choice for your family, we encourage you to ask us lots of questions. In fact, we suggest you ask any school you are considering the following questions as a starting point…

• How are you preparing children for the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century?

• What is unique about your school’s mission/vision?

• How does your school assess student learning?

• How do you inspire, sharpen, and equip your teachers?

• How is writing incorporated into the curriculum?

• What opportunities exist for leadership and spiritual growth?

• How do you help families get connected and build community?

• How are you innovating and leading in the local and national discussion concerning education?

• What opportunities exist for students to discover their strengths and engage in active learning?

We welcome these and any other questions you have about the School or the admissions process. Please call us to schedule your tour--bring your questions and your family to visit our classrooms, chat with our teachers, and discover our passion for 21st century education.

We believe you’ll be impressed with all that Mount Vernon provides…

• Our Mission Statement – “We are a school of inquiry, innovation, and impact. Grounded in Christian values, we prepare all students to be college ready, globally competitive, and engaged citizen leaders.” This is the filter through which all curriculum, practices, and assessments are measured from Preschool through Grade 12. College ready is a minimum expectation.

• 21^st Century Mount Vernon Mind
• Equips students with marketable and transferable skills
• Solution Seeker
• Ethical Decision Maker
• Communicator
• Creative Thinker
• Innovator
• Collaborator
• Develops higher level thinking (Bloom’s Taxonomy)
• Prepares for jobs that don’t exist yet
• Demonstrations of learning well beyond common model of memorize and test, or gifted model of glitter and glue

• Small Class Sizes
• Ability to differentiate instruction
• Ability to give specific timely feedback
• Ability to know your child, with their strengths and areas of growth

• Top Faculty – Our faculty includes a former CEO, a professional opera singer, a charter school founder, Georgia Tech’s band director, graduates of (among many others) Harvard, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, University of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the New England Conservatory of Music. Advanced degrees are held by 77% of Upper School faculty, including seven terminal degrees.

• Harvard’s Project Zero
• Thinking Made Visible – Thinking Routines
• See, Think, Wonder
• Headlines
• Claim and Support
• Conferences and Fellows

• Center for Design Thinking and iDesign Lab (K-4)
• DEEP (Discover, Empathize, Experiment, Produce)
• Lab design conceived by current MV students
• What does a 21st century classroom look like?
• Mount Vernon hosted an annual Design Thinking Summit

• AP Course Offerings (9-12)
• AP English Language and Composition
• AP English Literature and Composition
• AP Statistics
• AP Calculus: AB
• AP Calculus: BC
• AP Biology
• AP Chemistry
• AP Physics: B
• AP Environmental Science
• AP US History
• AP World History
• AP Government and Politics
• AP Economics
• AP French: Language
• AP Spanish: Language
• AP Latin
• AP Visual Arts Studio: Drawing Portfolio

• Honors Course Offerings (9-12)
• Foundations in World Literature and Composition Honors
• Modern World Literature and Composition Honors
• Geometry Honors
• Algebra II Honors
• Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry Honors
• Biology Honors
• Chemistry Honors
• Physics Honors
• World History Honors

• Interim Term

During the spring of 2012, Mount Vernon Upper School students will traversed Andean peaks in Peru, observed the spires of St. Paul’s in London, and delivered food and medical supplies to citizens of Graaff-Reinet, one of South Africa’s oldest towns.

• Career Internships
• Outreach Trips (South Africa, London, Peru)
• Boston Area College Tour and Georgia College Tours (open to all Upper Schoolers)

• Write Now!
• All Upper School students are given a short writing prompt on Mondays. They have a few minutes to process the question, sketch out ideas and develop a plan, then write their essays in a composition notebook. Prompts address issues that are being taught in their English, History, and Math or Science class. These subjects will rotate every week with the fourth week being reserved for feedback from instructors that stresses both strengths and weaknesses of a student’s writing. The essays are graded on a five-point scale with an emphasis on organization, analysis and argument. Over the course of the year, a student will complete twenty-four essays.

• Technology
• Dual Platform 1:1 laptop program in Upper School (Mac or PC)
• Two Wireless Campuses
• Innovation Lab for Lower and Middle Schools
• Interactive Promethean Boards in every classroom
• iPads, keyboarding skills, Microsoft Office Suite instruction
• Teaching infused with research-based technology, applications, and resources

• Academic Summer Programs
• Summer Credit Courses (Euclidian Geometry, US Government, Economics)
• Camps (Study Strategies and Educational Technology, Write On! Workshop, Creative Writing Workshop, Financial Peace for Teens)

Admissions will be contacting you to schedule the interview.

The interview will last approximately 30 minutes.

Current Mount Vernon faculty members conduct the interviews. We try to pair applicants with teachers in the rising grade level your child is applying to or a faculty member who shares a common interest.

No formal preparation is required for the interview. Your child should be encouraged to be him/herself.

Some of the topics that will be covered include interests, outside activities, service, and goals. This is also a great opportunity for your child to ask questions about Mount Vernon Presbyterian School.

Three Year Old through Kindergarten applicants participate in the observations.  They will be in small groups of up to 6 children.

Our teachers will take the group to a classroom for the observation.  Teachers will be looking to see how your child interacts with others, their ability to transition and follow directions. They will assess their development and readiness skills. There is no need to prep your child for this.

You will be called by an admissions counselor to schedule the date and time of the observation.  An application must be on file before the date will be scheduled. We will begin scheduling these after Thanksgiving.

The Three’s and Pre-K observations will last approximately 30 minutes.  The Young Fives and Kindergarten observations will last approximately 45 minutes.