Ethical Culture Fieldston School

What kind of school is ECFS?

Ethical Culture Fieldston School is a coed school in New York City from pre-K to grade 12. Its two lower divisions are Ethical Culture on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and Fieldston Lower in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Grade 6 is the first year of Fieldston Middle, on the Bronx campus.

Does ECFS admit grades 5 and 6?

Grade 6: yes. The school calls 6th grade its primary entry point, with about 30 openings for new students each year in a class of about 134.

Grade 5: as space allows. Openings in grades 2–5 depend on attrition. Applicants choose Ethical Culture or Fieldston Lower and can tick a box to be considered for either campus.

Does ECFS ask for the ISEE? Can the SSAT stand in?

Grade 6: required, either test. The school asks for an ISEE or SSAT score report from a test administered before December 31. School codes: ISEE 336242, SSAT 3079.

Grade 5: the school's own assessment. If the school expects an opening in your child's grade, it schedules a parent interview and a one-on-one assessment on campus. The grades 2–5 page does not mention the ISEE or SSAT.

Does ECFS publish score ranges?

No. The school's pages give no score ranges or minimum scores.

This season's timeline (2026–27)

Deadline or decisionsOther step

1. October 1, 2026Applications due for siblings, alumni and faculty or staff families (passed).
2. November 13, 2026, noonApplication due, noonApplication due.
3. After the application40-minute online interview (grade 6) and a self-booked campus tour, from the parent portal.
4. December 1, 2026Financial aidFinancial aid application due.
5. Before December 31, 2026Last test dateGrade 6: take the ISEE or SSAT.
6. February 5, 2027Decisions, after 4 p.m.Grade 6 decisions by email after 4 p.m.
7. February 25, 2027Reply by noonReply by noon.

As listed on ECFS's Applying to Fieldston Middle and Applying to the Lower Divisions pages on October 25, 2026. The application deadline is printed as "Friday 11/13" without a year. The school's pages are the authority.

How do the interview and tour work?

For grade 6, the parents and the applicant have a 40-minute online interview, scheduled after the application is processed. Families book a campus tour themselves from the checklist in the parent portal.

The application uses two parent or guardian statements rather than a student essay. It also needs a teacher evaluation from the current 5th grade teacher, a school report from a principal, division head, counselor or dean, and transcripts for last year and the first marking period of this year.

How to prepare

ECFS has the earliest deadline among the New York schools in these guides, and the grade 6 test must be taken before December 31. A grade 6 applicant taking the ISEE sits the Lower Level. A grade 5 applicant does not need the ISEE here. How often a child may sit the ISEE is covered in our ISEE guide.

Glentavo's practice tests follow the ISEE Lower Level format.

Common questions