What a spring! For any of you with school-aged children, you know how your life changed almost overnight right around March 11, the day that the state of Connecticut asked K-12 schools to close. At Country School, we were two days away from the beginning of spring break so, while startling in some ways, beginning vacation early didn’t seem all that bad and many went home and started to pack.
Here in the admission office, my team and I lingered for two more days to wrap up our end-of-term business which now included leaving slightly different messages on our voicemails and email auto replies:
Greetings! Following the State of Connecticut’s orders, Country School is closed to visitors for the next two weeks during which time we are also on spring vacation. We are due to reopen and begin classes again on Monday, March 30, if allowed; otherwise we will begin our Distance Learning program until further notice. Alongside Distance Learning, the admission office will also be working remotely however we continue to welcome your calls and emails in anticipation of working with you this spring! …
Messages in place, we were delighted to issue five more offers of admission on Friday the 13th (they all accepted our offer a week later!) on our way out the door - our satchels now filled with laptops and memo pads - imagining that we’d be working from home for just a couple of weeks…
You know the rest of the story. Few traveled for break and if they did, they did so with an awareness that they might not return for a long time. We hunkered down at home, bracing for the unknown. Looking back, I continue to be amazed at the nimbleness and ability to pivot that our faculty and families employed this spring. And my admission colleagues across Fairfield and Westchester Counties followed suit, continuing to host information sessions, conduct interviews and administer assessments, all Zoom.
With a little bit of time to breathe, admission directors are all turning our attention to the fall as we prepare to return to campus. This is indeed the plan for most of us, at least in the state of Connecticut. With new guidelines and protocols in place, admission teams are plotting our 2020-21 “seasons” with excitement and hope, if also a little trepidation. Having attended several “Fairchester Admission Directors” meetings this spring and summer, I’m confident that, collectively, we are committed to conveying the uniqueness of our schools, providing thoughtful admission and selection processes and ensuring that our prospective families feel known and supported throughout the experience. We are committed to clear and timely communication, adherence to new safety norms, creativity and flexibility, access for a variety of families, and collaboration school to school in the spirit of helping our families create choice and reduce stress.
So, what will the admission season look like this year? Much the same in some ways, and quite different in others is the answer. A typical season entails the following steps - here’s my sense of what each of these may look like this season:
Campus visit/tours: Be prepared for modified tours, possibly to include an online tour coupled with some kind of on-campus tour. Campus tours - if they happen at all - will vary from school to school depending on each school’s best judgment about adhering to their standards of safety. You should anticipate anything from no tours at all to outside only tours to quick walk-throughs of one building to tours of empty buildings on weekends.
Other programming: Open Houses, receptions, information sessions, etc. These, too, will vary from school to school and may well be online as often as in person. Again, school’s individual interpretations of health standards will shape their programming.
Interviews: It’s my guess that many of us will conduct interviews via Teleconference rather than bringing people to campus. If family tours are offered, certainly this is a time to get acquainted but don’t be surprised if you’re still invited to chat by phone or Zoom. The same will apply for student interviews.
Assessments: Depending on the age of student, assessments have always varied. Older students tend to take the ISEE or SSAT and that will likely continue (stay tuned as to how students will take those tests…) and younger students have often come to campus for their assessments. In the COVID environment many of us shifted to online assessments (facilitated by our teachers and usually with a parent present on screen) for our younger students and/or issued prompts for video recordings - at home - which then allowed us to evaluate our youngest learners. This is probably the area about which the least has been decided to date, but by the fall schools will post their instructions and, where possible, even collaborate among themselves in order to reduce “testing time” for our applicants.
Notification, Revisits and Decision Timelines: A typical schedule for most of us is application deadlines of January 15, notifications in mid to late February and Family Decisions are due in mid-March. It remains to be seen whether some schools may accelerate their timelines in order to provide families with the reassurance of a decision sooner in the year, or push deadlines back in order to allow for enough time - particularly as campuses may have to close at various times in the winter months - for families to investigate all of their options. Admission directors are working as we speak to come to a broad agreement about timelines - my bet is that they will remain largely the same as the past with the anticipation of rolling admission as space is available into the spring...
As prospective families prepare for the year ahead my final counsel, in addition to what I mentioned earlier, is to do what you’d always do:
Articulate why you’re looking at the independent school option and determine what your criteria is for the right kinds of schools (mission, culture, academic options, specialized focus, commutable distance, etc.)
Explore websites, ask questions (of the schools, of your friends) and become acquainted with an array of places in the spirit of creating good choices
And, this year especially, get creative - if you can tour one school but can’t tour another, maximize other tools (website, word of mouth, conversation with admission parent volunteers, etc.) as a way to become acquainted with schools. Don’t immediately conclude that because one school hosted an Open House and another didn’t, you need to eliminate the latter. This is a year like none other and we all need to be patient, flexible and understanding as we prepare to work together.
And finally, remember that your children will follow your lead. If you exhibit curiosity, flexibility and a sense of adventure, they’ll surely enjoy the process. If you are tense, distraught, irritated, they’ll wonder why and begin to imagine that this whole private school thing may not be right for them!
Good luck, and have fun!
Written by Pam Safford | Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid at New Canaan Country School
Pam Safford joined Country School in 2016. She has extensive experience in admission and enrollment management work, most recently having served as Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Deerfield Academy and, prior to that, as Associate Head for Communications, Enrollment and Planning at Concord Academy. She held previous roles in admission at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, MA and Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, MN. She holds a Master of Science degree in School Leadership from University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. of Sociology and Anthropology from Carleton College. Pam is a founding trustee and former board chair for the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals (AISAP). She currently sits on the Enrollment Management Association (EMA) board and the Ethel Walker School (her alma mater) board, and is the treasurer for the Fairchester Admission Group. Committed to supporting professional development among her peers, Pam has presented at various national conferences including IECA, NAIS, EMA and TABS.