What to Consider NOW for the 2024-25 School Year.
Thinking about making a move to boarding or independent school for the start of the 2024-25 school year? Most families don’t realize that a well-planned application process begins now. Here are some important things to keep in mind.
Applying is not enrolling:
Starting and completing the admission process for secondary schools does not commit you to attending one. Too often I hear from families that because they are not “100% committed” to the idea of attending a secondary school they are hesitant to begin the admission process. Going through the secondary school admission process is simply a way to create additional opportunities and options and applying to, or even being accepted to, a school is not a commitment to enroll. If you complete the admission process and are accepted to schools, you then have the opportunity to weigh that option against your current academic and athletic options and decide what is best.
Don’t let your options become limited by familiarity:
Too often families begin, and sometimes end, their secondary school search by only investigating and pursuing schools that they were previously aware of. Just because a school was a great fit for someone else you know, or its a school that has “name recognition” doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for you or your student. There is a wide variety of secondary schools, all of which are unique, and the goal should be to find the best academic, social and athletic fit for you or your student.
Create a list of factors that are most important to your family:
Begin by thinking about what factors are most important to your family, like distance, size, single sex v co-ed, academic programming and athletic opportunities. These should be the driving factors in creating your target schools.
Set a reasonable expectation for the number of visits you can complete:
While you may investigate 15 or more schools while doing your preliminary research, you need to set a reasonable target for the amount of schools you will plan to visit. For most families whose sons or daughters are playing highly competitive schedules, finding time to be able to visit more than 6 schools (3 to 5 days of visits assuming you can visit more than one school in day) will be challenging.
The sooner the better:
The sooner you can schedule your visits the better. At many boarding schools, appointments for Saturdays visits between September and Thanksgiving, or for public/private day school holidays (ex. Columbus day), will fill very quickly. While missing some days of school to complete your visits may be unavoidable, having your visits planned and ideally scheduled before Labor Day will give you the best chance of avoiding conflicts between your visits and school, work or athletic obligations.
I hope you found this post helpful. Please share a comment below if you have a question or reach out by email.
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