How to Apply

We are passionate about welcoming new families to the school and introducing them to what makes Academia Cotopaxi unique. We are here to guide you through all stages of the application process, and to offer you individualized assistance. We know that phone calls and websites can’t capture the feeling of walking onto Academia Cotopaxi’s campus and seeing the students and their teachers in their daily activities. We would be happy to meet with you to discuss our school and our admissions process, and show you our campus.

Please note that admissions meetings and school tours are available by appointment only.

Before starting the application process, please make sure that you have selected the correct grade level placement for your child. Also, it is also very important that parents of students who have an individualized education or learning plan (IEP/ILP) or who have been diagnosed or tested for any learning differences (e.g. ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Speech Delay, Autistic Spectrum Disorder etc.) include all the supporting documentation that is asked in the application in order to ensure our ability to provide appropriate learning support.

Documents and Information Readily Available

The online application process is designed to be user-friendly. At any time you can save your application by selecting "Save & Sign Out" and return at a later time to finish. In order to save you time, please have the following documents and information readily available and, in some cases, to upload if it is applicable to your situation:

• Ecuadorian cedula of student
• Non-Ecuadorian passport ID page of student
• Ecuadorian cedula of both parents
• Non-Ecuadorian passport ID page of parents
• Last four years of student report cards, transcripts or progress reports
• Standardized tests: MAP, PSAT or SAT
• Learning Support documents - see section below “Learning Support Services”
• Name of insurance provider and policy number
• Physician and dentist names
• Contact information of persons who you consent to release information, i.e. school records, doctors, therapists, learning support case manager, etc.
• Billing information (RUC, contact name, address, phone number and email address) if the tuition will be paid by a sponsoring company or person other than a parent. 

Which Grade?

When a family first considers educating their child, the first question they ask is often, “In which grade will my child be placed?”, especially when they are outside their home country.  If you are unsure to which grade your child should apply, see the chart comparing grade levels and ages.

Important Note: 

• The grade that children enter is determined by their age by October 1st and their school history.  Students must have reached their third or fourth birthday by October 1 for PK and fifth birthday for Kindergarten. 
• Students transferring from a country with a school year that follows a different calendar than Academia Cotopaxi (e.g. the Ecuadorian coast calendar or southern hemisphere calendars) will be required to continue at the same grade level they have just completed. For example, a student who completed Grade 8 in Colombia in December would be placed in Grade 8 for the remainder of the academic year at Academia Cotopaxi.
• Students successfully transferring into Academia Cotopaxi mid-year will be required to continue their academic program at the same grade level for the remainder of the Academia Cotopaxi academic year.
• For other national curriculum grade equivalents, please check with our Admissions Office directly.

Learning Support Services

In order to ensure that we are able to provide the appropriate level of learning support, we ask that all parents of child/ren with an individualized education or learning plan (IEP/ILP) or diagnosed learning differences include all the supporting documentation that is asked in the application in order to ensure our ability to provide appropriate learning support. Please be prepared to provide and upload to the online platform all supporting documentation related to the IEP and/or the diagnosis, including (but not necessarily limited to):

• Previous year’s education or learning plan (IEP/ILP)
• A report/evaluation stating diagnosis (could be one or more of the following)
  • Psycho-educational report
  • Doctors letter or medical report
• Psychologist report
• Therapy report
• Grades and teacher comments

The School’s Learning Support Department will review the submitted documents as part of the application process to ensure that we can provide the appropriate level of support. 

Please note that it is not in the student’s best interest to withhold information that would allow the school to make a determination as to whether the school can support the student’s learning and wellbeing. If, after admission, it is discovered that such information existed but was not provided, we must reserve the right to withdraw our offer of admission or to not offer re-enrollment.

The application process is completed entirely online and can be completed in either English or Spanish. The process is a straightforward one, however if you require any assistance, the Admissions team is here to help. Any potential applicant can start the online application process here.

LINK TO ENGLISH APPLICATION

LINK TO SPANISH APPLICATION

Applications are considered complete once we have received all of the supporting documents listed. Please upload all required documents into the admissions online portal. Exactly what is required varies slightly depending on the age of your child.

Important: Recommendation Forms are provided in the online application. Please download the recommendation form applicable for your child and share it with the student’s current school. This form is confidential and requires the current school to return it directly to Academia Cotopaxi’s Admissions Office by scanning and emailing the form to admissions@cotopaxi.k12.ec.  This does not apply to students coming from IMAGINE. 

Academia Cotopaxi uses PowerSchool for its admissions online portal.  PowerSchool is a leading provider of K-12 education application technology supporting over 45 million students in over 80 countries. The data provided in the portal is safe and secure and we do not collect, maintain, use or share student personal information beyond what is needed for authorized educational or school purposes. For more information of PowerSchool’s commitment to security: https://www.powerschool.com/security/ 

Listed below are the documents applicants must provide during the online application:

The Pre-matriculation fee is due once all online application is complete and the required documentation has been submitted. The fee is $200.  For those who are not receiving benefits from employers who pay partial or full tuition and if one of the parents is an alumni or if the student is coming from IMAGINE Valley or IMAGINE Quito, the fee is $100. Once you have submitted the online application and the required documentation, you will receive instructions on how to pay the pre-matriculation fee via email. The fee is non-refundable.

Applicants for only Grade 3-12 require a MAP test if a MAP, PSAT or SAT is not provided in step 4. A MAP test is an assessment in English with three sections, reading, comprehension and math.  Each section has twenty questions and, on average, takes about an hour and a half to compete.  The test can be taken in person or remotely.  The Admissions Office will schedule the testing.

Students applying to Middle School (grades 6-8) and High School (grades 9-12), whose mother tongue is NOT English, may be required to take an additional test in English.

An interview for all applicants is required and scheduled by the Admissions Office. 

For local applicants the interview will be conducted in person.  The applicant will meet with the counselor, so it is not necessary for both parents to come to the school.  

For non-local applicants the interview will be conducted by video conference and conducted as follows:

• Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 2: The interview will be with the division counselor and the parents.  The applicant may join if willing to do so.
• Grades 3-12: The interview will be with the division counselor and the applicant.

As soon as we receive a fully completed online application, required documents, testing results, interview and payment, your child’s file will undergo a detailed review. In certain circumstances, such as learning support, the file will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee.  This committee includes the respective Division Principal, Division Counselor, Director of Admissions, School Director and other members of the educational team. Each student’s application is given careful consideration. This may involve some additional follow-up in certain cases, when we feel this is necessary to enable us to make a decision.

Academia Cotopaxi has a rolling admissions policy that starts as early as October 1 of the year prior to the requested year of admission and we recommend that you apply early so that we can organize the appropriate evaluations and interviews. Students can be admitted during the school year; however, students from Ecuadorian schools may only be admitted during the first semester of the school year as permitted by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education.

Academia Cotopaxi is aware that receiving an answer as quickly as possible is of utmost importance to potential families. If there is a clear opening, the Admissions Office will provide a confirmation of placement.  However, current Academia Cotopaxi families have until the beginning of April to inform the Admissions Office if they will be returning to Academia Cotopaxi. In the case where grades and/or resources are full, it is only at that point that it is clear how many spaces will be available in each class and cannot give confirmation of placement until that time.

Parents/guardians will receive one of the following responses from Academia Cotopaxi:

• Accepted
• Conditionally Accepted, in cases of additional support required
• Wait Listed, due to space or resources
• Rejected