Tuition and Affording a Summit Education

A non-refundable deposit is due with your returned contract to reserve a space for your child at Summit Montessori School for the new academic year. For the 2025-2026 school year the deposit is $2,500. This amount is indicated on your contract. Your deposit is applied as your last tuition payment of the year.

Your financial obligation to the School is for the full annual tuition as stated in the School’s enrollment contract.  The School cannot refund tuition or cancel unpaid obligations if your child must withdraw during the academic year. If your son or daughter withdraws, the Tuition Refund Plan will return 50% of tuition pro-rated for the balance of the school year. Insurance claims are honored regardless of the reason for withdrawal, provided the student has attended school for a minimum of 14 consecutive days. It provides substantial assistance in meeting your financial obligations. The Tuition Insurance Plan is required for families who pay in installments, and optional for families who pay their full balance by May 1. Families that pay in full by May 1 may participate on a voluntary basis.

The financial aid program is designed to make a Summit education available for as many families as possible based on demonstrated financial need and the availability of funds. Summit is proud to use Clarity Financial Aid to determine a family’s level of financial need based on the information that families share in the application which includes assets, income, expenses, and debts. The application is mobile-friendly and fully translated into Spanish.

Financial aid decisions are made independently of admissions decisions. The financial aid program is open to students of any race, creed, sexual orientation and national or ethnic origin.

The steps for submitting an application are outlined below. Application deadlines can be found on the “Admissions Process” page of the website.

Step 1

Go to https://app.clarityapp.com/sign-up or click on the button on the bottom of the page to begin your application. Add Summit Montessori School to your student applicant entry. The Summit Access Code is 1347. You can save your application and log out at any time and return later to complete it.

Step 2

Enter your financial information, review your application, and pay the $65 Clarity application fee. Fee waivers for the financial aid application are automatically offered to families who meet certain income guidelines. Please reach out if you need a waiver and are not offered one automatically.

Step 3

Complete the Clarity Enhanced Tax Verification (ETV) process to release your W2 and personal tax return transcripts from the IRS. You’ll be asked to authorize the sharing of your tax transcripts and verify your identity. This is a one-time security measure required by the IRS to protect against identity theft and the compromise of personal information. Clarity offers two options for enhanced tax verification process: “Clarity” and “IRS”. Please reference the Tax Verification Guide to preview the steps of this process.

(The “IRS” option is significantly faster, allowing for the tax documents to transfer to Clarity within 24 hours. Clarity has found that families who have an IRS.gov account before starting the Clarity Application have a much easier time completing the process.)

Step 4

Submit your Clarity application and follow the link to return to your dashboard. Here you will see any additional supporting documents requested by schools. Keep in mind that at a later date, you may be prompted by the school via Clarity to upload additional documentation as needed.

Clarity Support

If you need support during the process of completing your application, there is in-app, phone, and email support available through the “Help” button in the bottom left of the screen. Additional resources:

• Clarity Family Application Guide
• Guía de Aplicación Para Las Familias
• Clarity Application Quick Reference Guide
• Guía de Referencia Rápida