Admissions: Cambridge

ADMISSIONS FOR THE 2026-27 SCHOOL YEAR

For the 2026-2027 school year (beginning September 2026), we are enrolling for the following grade levels: Preschool (Age 3) and Pre-Kindergarten. The enrollment application will become available on this page on October 15, 2025.

We strongly encourage you to join our Interest List HERE to begin learning more about The Croft School.

1. Express interest and get to know the school.

While not required, we encourage families to add their name to our enrollment interest list HERE. Once you do this, we’ll invite you to have an informal conversation to learn more from one of our team members and/or come to visit one of our existing Croft campuses.

2. Complete our online application.

The first “formal” step in our admissions process is to complete a short online application and submit a $60 application fee. The application link for the 2026-2027 school year will be available at the top of this page beginning October 15, 2025.

One decision prospective families will need to make - within the application - is whether you would like to apply for our "Accelerated Admissions Round" or "Traditional Admissions Round."

Accelerated Admissions Round (opens October 15, 2025). This round is designed for families who know The Croft School is their top choice for their child(ren). We process accelerated admissions applications on a rolling basis, making admissions decisions as we go. Once we admit a child, we will notify the family and they will then have several weeks to make a decision about whether to enroll in the school (via an enrollment contract and 10% tuition deposit). The advantage of this round for families is that the odds of admission are greater; the disadvantage is that you need to make a decision about enrolling in our school ~10 months before the school year begins. We will close the Accelerated Admissions round once we have filled 50% of our Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten seats, respectively.

Traditional Admissions Round (opens October 15, 2025). Families choosing the Traditional Admissions Round may submit their application anytime from October 15, 2025, through February 28, 2026. We will not make any traditional round admissions decisions until early March 2026. At that point, families of admitted children will have several weeks to make a decision about whether to enroll in the school (via an enrollment contract and 10% tuition deposit). The advantage of this round is that it provides you with more time to research schools, etc.; the disadvantage is that, based on precedent at other Croft schools, we anticipate receiving significantly more applications than seats available and the mathematical likelihood of admission would thus be significantly lower than in the accelerated round.

3. Engage in admissions activities & complete an (optional) questionnaire to determine if your child/family qualifies for financial support.

Once we receive an online application, we will: (1) invite you to further get to know the school through various means; (2) share information regarding an activity that will help us to get to know your child; and (3) provide families with our financial support questionnaire. Occasionally, we will seek permission from a family to speak with representatives from the applicant’s current school or childcare program to gather further information about an applicant.

4. Receive the admissions decision and determine whether to enroll at The Croft School.

Families will be notified of The Croft School’s admissions decision within a respective notification window. A seat at The Croft School is secured via a signed enrollment contract and a 10% non-refundable tuition deposit.

The Croft School: Cambridge 2026-27 Tuition: $33,890*

We have worked hard to set tuition at a rate that enables us to provide extraordinary quality at better value. Cambridge and the surrounding communities are fortunate to have some incredible independent schools.  People often ask: how are you able to deliver such an outstanding education at tuition levels that are significantly less than some of the nearby independent schools? It is NOT that we have larger class sizes nor is it that we pay teachers less. Rather, there are three primary factors: (1) our facility is very nice, but it is not expansive nor fancy; (2) we empower our teachers to take on critical school-wide responsibilities, thereby eliminating the need for “middle management” positions; and (3) while we offer high-quality extracurricular options during our regular school day and during extended day, we may not offer as many options (our families feel this tradeoff is more than worth it, as they can supplement what we offer with out-of-school programs).

Extended Day

Our Monday-Friday drop-off window is 7:30-8:30am and our regular school day ends at 3:00pm. We offer two Monday-Friday extended day options for students:

• 3:00pm-4:30pm – $18/day (includes Extended Day Enrichment)

• 3:00pm-5:30pm – $30/day (includes Extended Day Enrichment plus additional after school activities)

Financial Support

The Croft School: Cambridge is committed to enrolling a diverse student body. We offer ample financial support so that the school can be accessible to families and students from a broad range of economic circumstances. Our process for determining whether a family and child may qualify for financial support is straightforward, efficient, and transparent. Please contact us for additional information.

Sibling Guaranteed Enrollment and Tuition Discount

Pending seat availability, siblings of enrolled children are guaranteed admission to The Croft School. An initial sibling receives a 5% tuition discount and all additional siblings receive a 10% tuition discount.

Students enrolling in our Preschool program are typically 3-years-old on September 1 of the year they begin our Preschool program. Please contact us to discuss enrollment for students outside of their respective age range; eligibility will be considered on a limited basis.  There are no geographic eligibility restrictions for students seeking enrollment in The Croft School. Our student body will include many students from Cambridge as well as many nearby cities and towns.

The Croft School: Cambridge admits qualified students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, or any other status protected by applicable law, and extends to them all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at our school. The Croft School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its admission, financial support, and its educational, extracurricular, or other programs. This policy is not intended to disallow financial support or admission policies intended to increase diversity within our community.

The Croft School is committed to a diverse community, which includes qualified students with disabilities. The Croft School does not offer special education programs for students with disabilities, but the school is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities so that the students can participate in the school’s educational or other related programs. For these purposes, a “qualified student with a disability” is defined as an individual with a disability who is able to meet and fulfill the fundamental requirements of The Croft School’s education, with or without reasonable modifications to the school’s policies or the provision of auxiliary aid or services. Reasonable accommodations include modifications in policies, practices or procedures when the modifications are reasonable and necessary to afford services to qualified individuals with disabilities. They do not include accommodations that would fundamentally alter the nature or purpose of The Croft School’s education or program, or that would otherwise create an undue burden for the school.