January 1, 2022

How To Get Into One of the Best Schools in the Portland Are

What makes Catlin Gabel School so incredible as an academic institution- and what it takes to be admitted as a student!

Introduction

Education has proven essential to many states and their instituted curriculums. All grades of varying levels and parameters all have their important place in the greater cultivation of a comprehensive learned knowledge. More importantly, school curriculums also make for a wonderful opportunity to broaden and exercise crucial life skills.

A very particular, exemplary location that emphasizes education is located in Oregon- Portland, specifically. Within Portland is a school that rises above many others with progressive measures to ensure their student body experiences the same caliber of transformational growth. This school is known as the Catlin Gabel School!

 

About Catlin Gabel School In Portland, OR

Catlin Gabel school is a private institution; they educate all grades from Preschool (PreK) up through the 12th grade. The grades themselves are separated into three distinct schools: Beginning & Lower School (PreK-5th), Middle School (6th-8th), and finally Upper School (9th-12th). Although the various levels of education are categorized based upon closeness in age & maturity, Catlin Gabel has a strong, tight-knit community fueled by consistent efforts of ethical and academic value.

This school has a very humanistic, enlightened approach to their schooling; they refer to it as “student-centered education”. According to their website, student-centered education was designed so that students “are encouraged to pursue their interests and exercise their natural curiosity”. By placing the student’s passions and skills at the center, they are able to “become active learners… to discover the pleasures and rewards of education and develop into adults for whom learning is a lifelong pursuit”.

What does this entail? Well, it’s an education dedicated to supporting original thinking skills, which overall strengthens self-awareness for real life scenarios. This fortifies the student body’s responsibility to take action in their communities, helps them with problem solving and creates space to “foster a curiosity” about life. Catlin Gabel teaches the WHOLE student, which means they develop learning modalities to best embrace the growth of their entire self. 

Educators have a BIG role to play in the deliverance of this powerful mission. Their communication with students is very responsive yet differentiated to reaffirm every individual’s own style of learning. Not only that, but educators inhabit a professional curiosity about the wholeness of the students; for instance, they don’t just focus on their academic skills but their interpersonal, physical, emotional, and ethical sense of selves. 

An empowering approach to Catlin Gabel’s education is their prioritization of discourse about power and privilege. This aids in the embodiment of diversity and inclusion within the curriculum and sees all backgrounds of the students as valid!

 

How To Get Into This Reputable School

Because Catlin Gabel School is an independent and private institution, admission is entirely based on a selection process. However, Catlin Gabel has provided an integrative application process combining forms with events.

First, there’s an official Admission Inquiry Form for the family of the prospective student to complete; this gains them access to an important admissions portal. Then, they are granted the steps to learn more about the parameters of the admissions and school in its entire entity.

Access to the online portal is integral, being that it’s where you can register for events and complete the official Catlin Gabel application. There are admissions events, both in-person and virtual, for the applicants interested in attending the coming school year. 

Now, there are a few different kinds of admissions events, depending upon the school you’re applying to. There are general information sessions, which are a GREAT chance to speak to Catlin Gable faculty. By creating an opportunity for educators to speak about the Catlin Gabel experience, families will  effectively learn about important school aspects such as curriculum, scheduling, extracurriculars, grading, resources, even financial assistance!

The earlier grades have a slightly more individualized session. There are drop in Q&As for specifically the beginning and Lower School. Being that this school offers education for much younger ages, there’s an opportunity for those who have particular questions to ask the personnel working at the school to answer them transparently. 

Once the events are attended, all the families have to do is complete an actual application. This encompasses varying assessments such as confidential teacher evaluations, prompted questions for both students AND their parents, school records, notes about the student’s visit. Catlin has a web page designed to share the detailed answers to common questions about the enrollment process. 

Catlin Gabel makes it quite easy to schedule a convenient visit to the school so the families are impassioned by the school’s environment to know they’re making the right choice. The careful consideration of the families also delves deep into processes that occur after the initial enrollment; financial assistance is one of them. More than a quarter of the student body receives need-based tuition as well as merit scholarships as forms of financial assistance (given a qualified application for it).

 

Conclusion

All in all, Catlin Gabel conducts a personable experience from the moment a family peaks interest in them. They sure live up to the tedious application process with great community engagement and consistent performance as a whole. If you’d like to learn more about this school or make a call to visit, check out their website.