Applying to McGillis

Throughout the application process, we want you to know that we are in this together. Our admissions team is eager to connect with you personally, help you navigate our application process, and learn why McGillis is different and right for your child.

The information listed below outlines The McGillis School's admissions process. Application forms as well as further details about each step can be found on our online application. If you have any questions or need assistance completing these steps or forms please call (801) 583-0094 or email admissions@mcgillisschool.org.

Steps to Apply:

Lower School (K-5)

Create An Account

Parent Questionnaire

Student Response

Your child has their own portion of our application to complete!

Below are the questions we ask applicants. You will see these same questions in the Admissions Portal and will upload their responses directly to your child’s application checklist items.

If applying for grades K – 2, please select one of the following topics:

(Parents! Please write an explanation of your child’s drawing for the admissions committee if necessary)

Write about or draw a picture of something you like to do when you are not in school
Write about or draw a picture of a time when you were happy

If applying for grades 3-5 please select ONE of the following topics:

Write about a time in your life when you felt successful. Describe why you felt this time period was successful.
Write about something you like to do when you are not in school. Describe why you enjoy this activity.

Teacher Recommendation

Through the Admissions Portal you will enter your child’s current teacher’s email and the teacher will be automatically sent the teacher recommendation form. You will receive an email once the teacher has completed the form.

If you have a Kindergartener and your child has not attended a preschool, please send the form to another adult who has had the opportunity to see your child in a setting outside the home and with other children, such as a coach, church or synagogue class, gymnastics program teacher, etc.

Further instructions on how to submit the recommendation are available via your online account.

School Records

Application Fee

Middle School (6-8)

Create An Account

Parent Questionnaire

Student Response

Your child has their own portion of our application to complete!

Below are the questions we ask applicants. You will see these same questions in the Admissions Portal and will upload their responses directly to your child’s application checklist items.

If applying for the Middle School (grades 6 - 8) please respond to all of the questions below:

What is your favorite academic subject and why?
What are your favorite activities and/or sports and why?
What is your favorite book or magazine? Please write a paragraph explaining why.
Describe the most memorable thing that has happened to you.
Describe the most difficult challenge that you have ever had to face and how you responded to it.

Teacher Recommendation

School Records

Application Fee

The Learning Center

The McGillis Learning Center currently accepts students with a primary diagnosis of a language-based learning difference such as dyslexia. An applicant’s cognitive ability (Full Scale Intelligence Quotient determined by a psychologist) must fall in the average to superior range. Our program requires that students have the intellectual ability to acquire information and move forward in our curriculum. We currently accept students in grades 2-6.

Diagnosis: The Learning Center program is designed to meet the needs of students who have a diagnosis of a specific language-based learning disability, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. An educational psychological evaluation must be conducted by a licensed psychologist working independently of The McGillis School and must be current within a two-year period at the time of application.

Cognitive Ability: Students entering The Learning Center typically demonstrate high intellectual potential and lower than expected academic performance. They have solid abstract reasoning abilities and are able to progress in an academic environment.

Openness to new ways of learning: A child with diagnosed dyslexia or a language-based learning difference needs to be receptive to new ways of learning and be willing to work hard to acquire strategies as a means of achieving academic independence.

Needs we do not address: The Learning Center program is not designed to effectively meet the needs of students who have learning difficulties that are the result of primary emotional or behavioral problems, below average cognitive ability, Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Autism Disorder (including Asperger’s Syndrome), or Traumatic Brain Injury. In addition, The Learning Center cannot effectively serve students with significant physical limitations inhibiting their ability to take full advantage of multi-sensory techniques and our Specialty programs.

Create An Account

Parent Questionnaire

Student Response

Your child has their own portion of our application to complete!

Below are the questions we ask applicants. You will see these same questions in the Admissions Portal and will upload their responses directly to your child’s application checklist items.

If applying for grades K – 2, please select one of the following topics:

(Parents! Please write an explanation of your child’s drawing for the admissions committee if necessary)

Write about or draw a picture of something you like to do when you are not in school
Write about or draw a picture of a time when you were happy

If applying for grades 3-5 please select ONE of the following topics:

Write about a time in your life when you felt successful. Describe why you felt this time period was successful.
Write about something you like to do when you are not in school. Describe why you enjoy this activity.

If applying for the Middle School (grades 6 - 8) please respond to all of the questions below:

What is your favorite academic subject and why?
What are your favorite activities and/or sports and why?
What is your favorite book or magazine? Please write a paragraph explaining why.
Describe the most memorable thing that has happened to you.
Describe the most difficult challenge that you have ever had to face and how you responded to it.

Teacher Recommendation

Further instructions on how to submit the recommendation are available via your online account.

School Records

Application Fee

Psychoeducational Evaluation

Neuropsychological testing is an in-depth assessment of skills and abilities linked to brain function. The evaluation measures such areas as attention, problem solving, memory, language, I.Q., visual spatial skills, academic skills, and social-emotional functioning. The benefit of the evaluation, and the diagnoses and recommendations that come along with it, is that it allows other treating professionals, teachers, and parents or guardians to better understand why your child may be having difficulty in specific areas. The evaluation will provide recommendations for the types of interventions or treatments that may be effective and appropriate, given your child’s specific set of strengths and weaknesses.

Individual Education Plan (IEP or Student Plan)

An IEP is a map that lays out the program of special education instruction, supports, and services a student receives to make progress in a public school. The term IEP is also used to refer to the written plan that spells out the specific types of help a student receives. Both the program and the written plan are covered by special education law, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). A student must be tested through a special education program at a public school/district to determine qualification for these services.

504 Plan

A 504 plan has two main purposes. One is about removing barriers for students with disabilities in public schools. The second is to protect students and adults with disabilities from discrimination in school settings and beyond.

At times, 504 plans can be confused with IEPs. They are not the same. Special education is special instruction for students who need more than the standard classroom instruction. A 504 plan, on the other hand, is about making sure the classroom fits how a student learns. A 504 plan is not to change what a student learns. It’s to change how the student learns. A student will read the same books, do the same math, and work on the same material as other kids. But the student may be doing it a little differently.

Student Visit

After all of the required admissions materials are approved by The Learning Center Director, the Director of Admissions will schedule a variety of virtual visiting times with TLC Director and teachers. These visiting times will provide the opportunity for us to observe your child interacting with others, engaging with the curriculum, and be evaluated by a specialist in our Center. A candidate’s evaluation results from these virtual visits are only one of a number of items that are given consideration during the admission process. McGillis is equally concerned with a child as a person as with a child as a student.