February 2024 Secondary School Newsletter Hello Everyone, The official waiting period has begun! February 1 is the last major deadline for applications, although we sent our materials weeks ago. Most results will come out this year on March 10th, except for St. John’s Prep, other parochial and priority decision schools that will send notifications by early next week. There is nothing left for you to do other than read this newsletter and then take a well deserved break from this work. Communications with Schools and Declaring a First Choice Between now and March 10th, Evan often communicates with admissions personnel to help them to best understand the strengths of each applicant. These conversations also offer us another opportunity to advocate for students at given schools, and any opportunity we have to extol the virtues of your children is helpful and important. One piece of information that schools often seek is whether an applicant has a first choice. One of the most difficult aspects of this work for admissions folks is predicting yield on acceptances, thus knowing an applicant’s first choice is a very helpful tool and is often one of the only pieces of leverage we have at this stage in the process. If you have a first choice school, now would be the time to share it with us, keeping in mind that first choice means acceptance will result in enrollment for your child. While making this determination now is helpful, it is by no means essential. Thus, if a first choice has not emerged, then don’t worry; it certainly won’t be counted against an applicant. Some of you have already shared this information with us, but if you have a first choice and have not communicated that, please let us know. Alternatively, if you have narrowed your top choices to two, that is also useful information for us. We are not asking you to rank all the schools to which your child applied; we simply want to know if you feel confident that there is a definitive front-runner. Sending your responses to Cathy Marrero (hit reply) would be welcomed at this time. The name of one school with #1 next to it is all we need. A sentence explaining that you don't yet have a clue is fine, as well. No worries or pressure–just please let us know whatever you might know or feel at this time about your child's ideal placement for next year. Notification for 2024 Decisions will be sent by schools on Sunday, March 10th, the first weekend of Spring Break. Schools’ notification processes and timing vary, but most schools alert you to their decisions via email during the morning. Some of you may be away when notifications go public, but there is nothing you can do with the information over break, so there’s no need to change any plans. Secondly, it can be very difficult for students to receive this information when away from supporting adults and friends here at school, so please be mindful of how you respond to and share both happy and disappointing news. Celebratory texts fired off to chat groups can exacerbate hurt feelings and lead to further disappointment. Please share your news with a sensitive eye towards supporting everyone in the class. This message will be shared with the students closer to Spring Break as well.
Evan and Dave Samson will dedicate Community Class time with students the week prior to decisions going public in an effort to brainstorm together ways in which to share news appropriately and compassionately with peers. Reminder: March 10th is only the initial notification date and a lot changes in the month between notification and enrollment. It’s our top priority to provide a comfortable space for every member of the class, and you play an important role in helping us to encourage positivity and support. Last Words of Encouragement And remember–your kids are all terrific! They are juggling academic, theatrical, and athletic demands, as well as admissions anxieties with considerable grace and grit, and it is a genuine pleasure to represent so many bright, interesting, and high achieving students in the secondary school process. Having the opportunity to talk about your children with other schools is one of the most gratifying aspects of this process. We have so many wonderful things to share, and we just don’t get to engage in this type of happy discourse often enough! Don’t worry if you do not hear from us for a bit since we typically have little to share. As the late Tom Petty so eloquently offered on his album Hard Promises, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Patiently, Evan and Cathy