King's Schools 19351 Kings Garden Drive North, Seattle, WA 98133

"I was disappointed in the King's School Admission Process. Prior to ever meeting my 5yr old son, or myself in person the school reached out to schedule an "urgent call" to ask questions about my son's father who passed away 2 years ago after losing his battle with cancer. My son's father did make an unethical decision prior to my son ever being born but is deceased, so it was difficult to understand why this school would be asking about him, as naturally he would not be a part of the schooling process. With my son being mixed race, I did communicate to the school that I thought it was very odd to be asked about that, and my initial concerns I had about the online reviews surrounding race and the lack of inclusion at Kings including students and staff.  It's very important for me that my son is raised in a Christian environment, and the main reason we reach out to include Kings in our initial search. Then we have the in person  "interview" and I followed up with admissions via email following the interview to understand when we would find out if/when my son is accepted.  I explained he was already accepted at 2 other schools and we're trying to decide between the 3 schools.  Then 4 days ago I received an email that my son was awarded a small amount of financial aid for the 2023/2024 school year at Kings, so naturally I thought he was accepted.  Then today I get a call from the Elemetry Principal that Kings is not accepting my son due to the quality of his handwriting/writing his name, and that had he attended their pre-school vs. the montessori school he has been in since he was 2yrs old, that his "fine motor skills" for his handwriting would be much better.  I followed up to ask why the Kindergarten skills assessment is done 7 months before the school year starts vs some of the other schools who complete theirs in August, and they said they do re-assess students in August sometimes. I do believe that God has a path for each of us and clearly our path is not Kings.  It will always leave me to wonder if my sons deceased father and the fact that he is mixed race had more to do with his path at Kings then we will know.  Inclusion will remain an issue at Kings if judgements are passed and God does not lead the admissions staff to look at a young, innocent 5yr old little boy and say we are going to work with him on his hand writing vs rejected his access to a quality Christian Education because he didn't write his name good enough. Sending my prayers to the admissions team for inclusion not just on based on race but on little kids still mastering writing their name at 5yrs old. RESPONSE TO KING'S REPLY: It's my understanding from Katja in admissions that she forwarded my email that included this online review to Mr. Erick Streelman for review 2 days ago now. I have yet to hear from him via email or phone. It would be greatly appreciated if you provided this to him directly as well. My goal here is to save the tears of another 5yr old little child, and for parents to NOT assume that your child is accepted by King's when awarded financial aid and tell your child."

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