Session I

Locations listed by Building, Room

Supporting Neurodiversity in a Traditional College Prep Environment
Town Hall, Blue Lounge (Room 14)
Lizzy Rosen, Director of Skills & Academic Strategies & Assistant Director of College Counseling; Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School
Shannon Fortin, Associate Director of Admissions, Director of Financial Aid; Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School
Kathryn Saunders, Director of Enrollment Management; Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School
In an increasingly diverse world, it is imperative that educational institutions adapt to the unique needs of all students. This presentation delves into the critical topic of supporting neurodiversity within the context of a traditional college preparatory environment. In this presentation, we will explore what neurodivergence means, how to educate our students to contribute their unique perspectives to the greater community and provide resources to faculty on how to best support our student population to access both the curriculum and everything a boarding school has to offer.

How Everyone Wins: A Discussion on How Schools and Consultants Can Work Together Most Effectively
Town Hall, Swan Studio
Holly McGlennon Treat, Partner; The Bertram Group
Scott Eckstein, Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid; Solebury School 
The relationships between school personnel and educational consultants have incredible power. When these relationships are working as well as possible, students land in schools where they can thrive and contribute; school communities function well; schools achieve their enrollment and financial goals through strong new student recruitment and retention; and consultants have rewarding and successful outcomes. This session will be a discussion of the ways schools and consultants can most effectively work during the admission process and once a student enrolls.    

Athletics Outreach: Recruiting Mission Appropriate Students through Sports
Building A, Room 1
Matthew Greene, Assistant Director of Admission, Athletics Liaison, Head Coach of Boys Varsity A Soccer, Head Coach of Girls Varsity Softball; Fay School 
Athletics Outreach serves as one way our schools can attract prospective students and families. In brief, athletics outreach efforts are a combination of advertising, marketing strategies, relationships, and partnerships with local, national, and global youth sports programs, athletic events and showcases, and connections with secondary school or college athletic programs. This presentation will cover the benefits of developing a variety of athletics outreach opportunities and strategies to successfully attract more students to your school through sports. We will cover the importance of the athletics liaison position in an admission office, which connects various departments in our schools to collectively succeed in these efforts, thus capitalizing on the many opportunities to fill the top of the admission funnel.  

Data Mosaic: Crafting a Recruitment Strategy with Overlapping Data
Kayser/Samford Community Commons, Private Dining Room
Dana Nelson-Isaacs, Founder and President; DNI Consulting
David Tuttle, Director of Recruitment & External Affairs; Canterbury School In today's landscape, strategic recruitment is paramount to identify and engage prospective students who align with your institution's values and culture. Leveraging surveys and demographic and psychographic data provides a powerful edge in this process. Throughout the session, we will share concrete examples, illustrating how an understanding of this data results in more focused and effective marketing and admission strategies. We will discuss tips for effective surveys and focus groups, how to use demographic data for planning and recruitment strategy, and where psychographics fit into the picture. You will understand the impact of segmented and targeted recruitment and be able to identify immediate action items. Additionally, you will be poised for longer-term strategic recruitment planning, including deciding what areas to prioritize for travel.    

Great Expectations: EMA Data & Insights to Engage and Yield Prospective Families in 2024
Town Hall, John Badham Theater
Jim Daughdrill, National Director of Membership & Business Development; EMA
Allison Davis, Assistant Director of Membership & Business Development; EMA 
It's no secret that the wants, needs, and - most notably - the expectations of parents have changed over the years. As an enrollment professional, you are tasked with knowing and understanding what families seek for their children's educational journey. In this session, EMA staff will share data and insights to inform marketing and recruitment strategies for small boarding schools. We will draw from EMA's 2023-24 Ride to Independent Schools Report ("The Ride"), highlighting the results of a comprehensive survey of thousands of independent school applicant families about their journey through the admission process.

One Admission Staff Member Down, Four Student Interns Up: Is It Working?
Building C, Room 11
Jill Hutchins, Associate Head of School for Enrollment; Dublin School
Jackie Kenney, Senior Associate Director of Admissions; Dublin School
Small Boarding schools equal small admissions offices and small budgets with big, challenging jobs to complete. Last spring, two situations presented themselves simultaneously. A staff member needed to be replaced, and our student tour guide program needed an overhaul. Change needed to happen, so that is what we did. That's when The Dublin AI (admissions interns) program took seed, and we decided not to fill the empty staff position. We developed an intern program to essentially replace a staff position. Is it working? Do you have an ambassador program that needs to be re-thunk? We will talk about what we have learned and whether this is something small boarding schools should adopt.