ADMISSIONS Q&A WITH DUANE EMERY DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT As Duane Emery has taken on his new role as Director of
around the school. It also allows us to include links to pages on
Enrollment Management, he has done it in the midst of multiple
our site as well as videos about key aspects of Sycamore. We are
obstacles: school began six months into the COVID-19 pandemic,
offering individual tours to potential families, but some families
he was new to the school, and was forced to forge relationships
prefer the virtual option at this time, and it helps us control the
with existing parents in some non-traditional ways. Along with
number of visitors as we attempt to attract families in the safest
Erica Harrison, the longtime Enrollment Management Assistant,
possible manner.
they had to find the best ways to engage with prospective parents without the traditional face-to-face meetings. He and Harrison
HOW HAVE YOU ADAPTED THE WEDNESDAYS WITH
tackled these challenges, along with numerous others, in his first
SYCAMORE TOUR TO BECOME A VIRTUAL PIECE?
year at the helm. The best way to understand the numerous
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE NOW?
adaptations and innovations that they have put forth is to hear
Since the Wednesday tours have taken place during the school
about them in his own words.
day when students are here, we opted to move these to a virtual event, unlike the Fall Open House that took place on a Sunday
TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE CHANGES YOU HAVE MADE SINCE COMING TO SYCAMORE.
when students were not here. We created a video version of the detailed presentation about the school’s mission, history, divisions,
In addition to spending a great deal of time trying to meet
and enrollment process. Families are asked to watch this at their
current parents to become engaged in the school community,
own leisure prior to the Wednesday for which they are registered.
I have focused on utilizing technology more effectively to tell
They also are encouraged to take the virtual tour of the school
the Sycamore story since it is more difficult to have groups of
on their own. We then meet with the families at 10:00 a.m. via
potential families visit the school. The admissions section of the
Zoom, which allows (Head of School) Diane Borgmann, the
website has been enhanced to include more information about
Division Heads, and the Enrollment Management staff to answer
identifying and understanding gifted students, a more robust
questions. This actually gives families more flexibility in how they
alumni outcomes page, more detailed information about the
experience these events and does not require them to give up two
various visit opportunities, and a virtual tour. Additionally, we
hours or more on the actual Wednesday, which we think families
have begun offering virtual “Wednesdays with Sycamore” events
will appreciate. This format is something we will consider even
in lieu of in-person Wednesday tours. We did offer an in-person
when families can be back in the building during the school day.
Open House this fall, but had had to adapt to keep visitors and our own community safe in doing so.
FOR PROSPECTIVE FAMILIES, HOW HAVE YOU STREAMLINED THE PROCESS?
A NEW VIRTUAL 360 TOUR IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR NEW PARENTS TO ACCESS. HOW HAS THAT HELPED?
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I think that the enhancements to the website, the virtual tour, and the online presentation for the Wednesdays with Sycamore events
I think the availability of a virtual tour has always been important,
have resulted in much more information being available to families
but the pandemic makes that need even greater. The tour is very
at their convenience. We also have gone to online applications only,
interactive and gives the users the chance to control how they move
and the teacher recommendation process all is done seamlessly
