"NAIS"
Heather Hoerle Named SSATB Executive Director
The Secondary School Admission Test Board (SSATB) has appointed Heather Hoerle to follow Regan Kenyon as the board’s executive director. Ms. Hoerle brings a full independent school background to SSATB having worked in independent schools and at independent school professional associations. Her professional stops include the George School, Westtown School, The Association of Boarding Schools, [...]
Read MoreBoarding School Affordability and Financial Aid in the News
Troy Onink author of the “College Crossroads” blog at Forbes.com posted a conversation (Affordability of Independent Day and Boarding Schools) with Mark Mitchell, Vice President for School Information Services at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). In his NAIS capacities Mitchell heads School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS). Many readers are familiar [...]
Read MoreGreat News for SPSG Families: Trustees Announce Lower Tuitions for 2011-2012
While outside of our normal boarding school purview, the actions and decisions of the trustees at St. Paul’s School for Girls (SPSG) regarding affordability and their implicit respect of their families provides a lesson to any of us in independent school management. SPSG trustees have lowered tuition and included the price of textbooks in the [...]
Read MoreBoarding Schools: Don’t Rank Them, Understand Them
The fall admission season has opened and admission directors everywhere are facing the same questions – the most enduring of which is the “Where is your school ranked?” We all respond with the same mantra: There is no such thing as official rankings of U.S. independent schools, boarding or day. Our schools have not participated [...]
Read MoreState of Private School Enrollment: Connecticut Schools Fall 2010
The opening of school brings a spate of what I call state of the community articles in generally smaller local papers. When you’re in New England, or any other area with a boarding school and/or private day schools, these articles often mix a little boarding school angle with their mostly day school slant. We highlighted [...]
Read MoreA School Answers Four Common Boarding School Admission Questions
Editor’s note: We welcome a new contributor to the blog today, Baylor School in Chattanooga, TN. Baylor takes a look at the four most common questions their admission office receives from families- presenting their answers and thoughts on these family concerns and queries. The questions center on the unique situations and requirements that boarding present. [...]
Read MoreBoarding School Waiting List & Financial Aid Questions
“We’ve been wait listed; is there anything we can/should do? And, did I mention that we also need financial aid?” We’ve been individually replying to variations of these two questions several times a day for the last few weeks. However, I suspect that readers from whom we haven’t heard might benefit from having our suggestions [...]
Read MoreSupporting the Green Schools Alliance
This week Jeremy McGeorge & I attended a fund raiser for the Green Schools Alliance, a project of Global Environmental Options: GEO. The truly inspiring event was hosted in New York City at the Green Depot (an innovative supplier of environmentally friendly and sustainable building products.) The gala was framed by shelves of products ranging [...]
Read MoreSubiaco Academy’s Enrollment Grows
More good news from the boarding school enrollment front. We saw recently that Subiaco Academy (Subiaco, AR) opened the school year with a 7% enrollment increase. Subiaco’s Director of Admission Scott Breed explained to the Southwest Times Record (Private Schools Growing): Subiaco is one of the least expensive boarding schools in the country, (Breed) said. [...]
Read MoreWhat is a Canadian Boarding School?
I was thrilled when asked by AdmissionsQuest to contribute to the onBoarding School Blog, to provide information on and insight into the Canadian boarding school experience and highlight some of the issues facing the institutions north of the border. As this is my inaugural post, I thought it would be appropriate to simply pose the [...]
Read MoreSelecting a Private School: It’s not easy nor should it be
After fielding questions from a caller inquiring about our school (The Webb Schools), it is inevitable that I get: “So, where can I find your ranking among other boarding schools?” Happens all the time. Much to their dismay, I have to tell them that there is no such thing and happily so. Yes, there have [...]
Read MoreBassett Blog: Blogging Perspectives from NAIS’ President
Pat Bassett, President, National Association of Independent Schools shares his observations and thoughts on independent schools on his blog- Bassett Blog. A global picture, Bassett Blog provides some nice insights regarding consideration, admission and special opportunities in boarding schools. His latest post addresses may of the common myths associated with independent schools. It’s worth a [...]
Read MoreThe Sims & Boarding School?
The latest craze at our house this summer is The Sims, the wildly popular “life simulation” video game. Our 11-year-old daughter, who normally does not go in for gaming, has spoken of little else this month. Her big sister, just home from her junior year of boarding school at The Madeira School, has more urgent [...]
Read MoreBoarding School Podcast Sustainablity Series
In light of the economic downturn, school sustainability and adaptive strategies have been hot topics for a number of months. No one is spared from the realities of a shrinking economy- schools, families, students- we’re all impacted. To encourage a conversation about the options available to families and schools, AQ’s Boarding School Podcast hosted a [...]
Read MoreThoughts on the Opening of the Boarding School Financial Aid Season
The boarding school financial process officially kicked off this past Saturday (11/15) with the opening of the 2009-2010 PFS or Personal Financial Statement completion window. The PFS- the information or form gathered and processed by School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS)- is used to report family financial information to member schools. The processing [...]
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