• Students apply from all over Fairfield and Westchester counties. We have students from 23 towns at St. Luke’s.
• About fifty percent apply from public schools and fifty percent apply from independent and parochial schools.
• Students looking for a small school with high academic standards and who want to be actively involved in the life of the school (arts, athletics, student government, etc.)
• Candidates represent all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The admission committee selects students who possess character, scholarship, an interest in being part of a rigorous and diverse community, and a willingness to share extracurricular talents or interests.

The best predictor of success at St. Luke’s is past performance. Through teacher and personal recommendations, a current transcript, a personal interview and student essays, the admission committee seeks to assess a student's ability to thrive in the St. Luke’s environment. We also use standardized testing to support our assessment of student potential. Students with special talents should not hesitate to submit portfolios or videos of independent work or activities.

Begin with developing your own list of educational needs and desires.

• What is missing in your present school?
• For what type of environment are you looking?
• What type of educational program will best serve your learning style and abilities?
• Do you have a special talent or interest that demands a special program (i.e., athletic or musical)?
• Which geographical areas are possible for you to consider?

Be careful not to limit your options by prematurely ruling out groups of schools. You may want to look at a variety of small, medium and large schools, as well as single sex and coed schools, before you determine to which schools you will apply.

Consult school guides, such as Peterson's Education Center, Association of Independent Schools in New England, and Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, for general information about school options.

Ask your school counselor for advice on possible educational alternatives. Call a variety of schools to request catalogues, as well as additional information about departments and activities that specifically interest you.

Once you have the above information, you are ready to go visit a school on an open-house day, complete an application and do an on-campus tour and interview.

There are many wonderful schools from which to choose. If you do your homework you will find a number of good matches!

• Keep a journal from your school visits to remind yourself of the less tangible aspects of each community.
• If you have the opportunity to revisit after you are admitted, you will find it interesting to see if your impressions are different. Chances are they will be.
• Make lists of the pros and cons of each school.

Refer to the initial lists you made when you began your school search. If you began looking for a new school because you were not being challenged academically, academics should be the priority in your decision, not the condition of the locker room or the size of the campus. Once you are sure your short list contains schools that meet your needs, then you need to go with your gut instinct. How did the school feel to you? Can you see yourself as a student there?

Be careful to take into consideration that you need a school that you will not outgrow. Be confident in all the research you have done. You have the pieces of the puzzle, you just need to put them together.

The school’s overall student to faculty ratio is 8 to 1.

Classes at St. Luke’s average 11.5 students.

75% faculty members including 41 men and 33 women hold advanced degrees ranging from masters to doctorates.

St. Luke’s is comprised of an even fifty percent young women and men. This year, we enrolled 244 females and 246 males.

St. Luke’s has students coming from 23 different towns in Connecticut and New York. The top five towns represented are New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Wilton, and Ridgefield.

Last year, the St. Luke’s admission committee received more than 350 applications. We offered admission to approximately 29 percent of this applicant pool.

Every year, 52 new fifth graders begin their journey at St. Luke's. They are joined by 8 new peers in the sixth grade as the class expands to sixty students and stays this way through graduation. Additionally, we generally expect 12 openings for each 9th grade class.

The St. Luke’s curriculum is designed to provide every student with a strong and broad foundation in the arts, humanities and sciences. During their years at St. Luke’s, students develop a wide range of basic skills and, with the advantage of flexible planning and much choice, are able to reach as far as their strengths and talents will carry them. The courses and diploma requirements are described fully in the Course of Study, available on the Academic section of the website.

Academic Accommodations
Individuals with disabilities are guaranteed certain protections and rights to equal access to programs and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In order to access these rights, a student must present documentation indicating that the disability substantially limits some major life activity, including learning. Students who present the school with appropriate documentation will be granted those requested academic accommodations that are supported by the documentation and considered reasonable in this educational setting.

For more information about the School’s documentation standards and the granting of accommodations, or for those families who have questions about our Educational Support Services center (ESS), please contact Gerard Wall at 801-4920.

Non-standard Administration of College Board Exams
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) of the College Board offers non-standard administration of the SAT I and II and the Advanced Placement exams to qualified students. In order to qualify, students must apply to ETS for accommodations by the registration deadline of the test for which they wish to use them. (Students who have applied for accommodations when at a previous school must re-apply to be allowed to take the exams under non-standard conditions here.)

To help a student avoid a special review of his or her application by ETS, the School must be able to certify that it regularly provides the student with the special arrangements for instruction and/or assessment that are being requested for College Board examinations. Students considering taking any of the College Board examinations with accommodations should consult with their college counselors.

Applications for non-standard administration of the College Board examinations are available with the Director of Student Services (Ms. Nancy Weinberg, who can be reached at 801-4842).

Every St. Luke's student has an individual adviser who helps design the student's course of study and extracurricular programand follows up with weekly meetings. The permanent adviser and student are paired until graduation, so their relationship grows as the years go by.

The College Counseling Office carefully guides upper school students through the college admission process. Counseling begins in the freshman year with a parent meeting to discuss class selections, continues in the tenth grade to discuss the PSATs and standardized testing, and then becomes more individualized in the winter of the junior year, continuing on through to graduation. Each student meets repeatedly with one of the two college counselors individually to discuss his or her own academic profile and school search. The College Counseling Office maintains a comprehensive online presence and you are encouraged to consult their webpages on this site for more information.

St. Luke’s students attend a variety of colleges and universities all around the country and the world. Please browse our college counseling matriculation page for more specific information about the colleges that our graduates select.

Students are not required to bring a personal computer from home, since there are computers (both Windows and Macintosh) available to students in classrooms and labs across campus at about a 1:3 ratio. Students are, however, welcome to bring laptop computers to classes and to the library.

St. Luke’s has a dress code, but not a uniform. Students should consult the student handbook for details.

Offenses involving a student’s integrity, social offenses that threaten the well-being of other individuals or the school community, or continued infractions that indicate an unwillingness to come to terms with the demands of the school all may lead to dismissal. St. Luke’s takes special care to address issues associated with alcohol and illegal drugs, both of which are forbidden. All incoming students receive a copy of the school’s rules, published in The Student Handbook, and are responsible for knowing and complying with its contents.

Starting in the 2007-08 school year, only twelfth graders are allowed to apply for a parking permit through the Dean of Students Office.

Tuition for 2007-08 is $27,900 for grades 5 through 8 and $28,300 for grades 9-12. There are additional book fees, Parents' Association fees, and special program fees (arts, athletics, etc.) that may also be incurred. Not every family faces every one of these items, and many of these are optional...this is a cumulative list that kids could face over the course of their time here at St. Luke's: * Tuition Refund Plan insurance * Accidental Medical Expense insurance * Books * Parents Association Fee * Art fees (supplies for photography, for example) * Music fees (instruments, lessons) * Sports fees (mouthguards for lacrosse, or cleats, or to row crew, for example) * Technology (Laptops, Texas Instrument calculators, etc.) * Class/Signature Trips ("bonding" trips at the beginning of the year, for instance) * Field Trips (more curricular-mandated, such as the trip to the museum for art, or a class trip to Gettysburg, Boston, etc.) * Yearbook * Prom (tickets? limo? clothing rental?) * Supplemental Educational Testing or counseling * Food (meal plan) * Transportation (busing) * Standardized testing (AP, SAT, PSAT, ACT, etc.) * Spring vacation trips (sports, music, world language, community service) * Testing prep (SAT, ACT, etc.) * Summer enrichment programs * Photo Day * Annual Fund donation (always expected, no?) * College Application Fees * Clothes for dress code * Supplies (ladder lockers, notebooks, pens, etc.)

Yes. St. Luke’s awards its $1,400,000 financial aid budget on the basis of need to approximately 16 percent of the student body. St. Luke’s does not award merit scholarships.

Financial need should never discourage a student from applying for admission to St. Luke’s. The School offers nearly full financial aid grants for low-income families and financial aid grants to meet a broad spectrum of need.

St. Luke’s School administers fee waivers for required application procedures, including financial aid application fees.