Applying to Garrison Forest School

Fall 2026 Application Timeline

Application Process

How to Start

To begin your application, create an inquiry through Veracross. Upon submitting the inquiry form, you will receive instructions to set up your Veracross account. Make sure to use an email address you will have access to throughout the admission season as this will be your primary email contact with our school.

Veracross Inquiry

Support or Help
If at any point you should have a question about Veracross and your application, please contact the Admission Office at admission@gfs.org or 410-559-3111.

Come Visit

Admission Testing

Garrison Forest is proud to be test optional, which means that we do not require students to share results of entrance exams. Choosing to send or not sent standardized test scores will have no bearing on a student's application.

If you do decide to take an entrance exam, either the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) or Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) is available for all applicants in grades 5-12.

SSAT results should be sent directly to Garrison Forest by including our school code 3358 on the registration form at www.ssat.org. We are also accepting the SSAT Character Skills Snapshot.
ISEE results can be sent via email to admission@gfs.org when they are received by the student's family or school. You may register for the ISEE on the web at www.iseetest.org.

Notification of Decisions

Application Requirements

Preschool

Two's & Three's Class

Application in Veracross
Family interview
Common recommendation form
Optional parent short answers

Pre-Kindergarten

Application in Veracross
Family interview
Two common recommendation forms
Optional parent short answers

For students applying to Preschool, there is no application deadline as we accept students on a rolling basis until a class is filled.

Lower School (Grades K-5)

Lower School

Grades K-5

Application in Veracross
Family interview with student and parent(s)
Parent short answers
Current and previous transcripts
School standardized testing
Teacher recommendations
Admission assessment for grades K-1
Optional entrance exam for grades 2-5*

Please reference your Veracross profile for further details.

*See above for Admission Testing policy

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

Upper School (Grades 9-12)

International Students (Grades 8-12)

International Students

Grades 8-12

Application in Veracross
Student & parent interview
Application essays
Current and previous transcripts
School standardized testing
Teacher recommendations
Optional entrance exam
English based language test

An English based exam is required for any student whose first language is not English. Garrison Forest will accept the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), Duolingo, or the TOEFL Junior (8th grade applicants only). GFS code for the TOEFL: 5267

Questions?

For questions about our application process, please email admission@gfs.org.