EDUCATION MATTERS—SANFORD SCHOOL'S PRIVATE SCHOOL BLOG

The COVID-19 pandemic presented many questions for the futures of institutions and individuals alike. For independent schools in the summer of 2020, questions surfaced about how to safely reopen during the pandemic, what safety procedures to implement, and how to manage the additional labor needed to make reopening a reality.

Individuals, too, were plunged into uncertainty. In particular, college seniors graduating in 2020 found their plans drastically altered as a result of the pandemic. For those looking to enter the workforce, employers delayed or revoked job offers to recent graduates. Other graduates hoping to pursue advanced degrees were forced to relocate as many universities closed their campuses for the 2020-2021 school year. My own plans were no exception. The Fulbright Fellowship I was planning to begin the summer after graduating was postponed and postponed again before finally being canceled due to the pandemic.

Private school admissions can be tricky, and in 2020 the process is all the more confusing. Yet while the world may be on pause, your child’s education shouldn’t wait. Admission offices are finding new ways to connect with families and prospective students this year, providing myriad opportunities for parents to learn about and engage with their schools.

When searching for a school, academic rigor and extracurricular activities are important, but something equally critical that can be harder to assess is the culture of the community. You’ll gain information and an overall feeling of a school as you visit different times, such as going on a personal tour. Building a complete picture of each school you visit will take time, but one thing you should pay attention to from your initial interaction with the school is whether the environment feels like a welcoming one to you and your family. Specifically, on your first visit to the school, you should pay attention to three groups: students, teachers, and administrators.

Private school students are deeply involved in their schools through extracurriculars and service. Why should that end at graduation? Read about why getting alumni involved in their former schools is essential to providing a top-notch education.

Impending graduation at any institution fills its students with a variety of emotions: excitement at the idea of carving a new path independent of everything they have ever known, uncertainty about what their future may hold, and often the melancholy sadness that comes with having to leave friends who have become family over the last four years. These are their people. As graduates leave to start the next chapters of their lives, they will remember so much about their friends–their contagious laughter, their lengthy list of inside jokes, their support during times of impossible difficulty, and their shared experience of growing up at a school they’ll remember forever.

When you decide to move to a new area, one of the first things to do is to explore schools for your children. Below are a few tips for how to tackle each stage of the school research and selection process so that your move to a new city will be complemented by a smooth transition to a new school!

What does it actually mean to be a lifer at a school?

A lifer is a student who has chosen one school to attend from first grade through their senior year of high school, although some begin in preschool. At Sanford many students choose to pick the "Warrior Way of Life", many spending fourteen plus years laughing and learning with teachers and friends. Here's what being a lifer means to us:

Lifelines, resources, motivators, and inspirations, teachers act as the students’guides through the exciting, sometimes frustrating, but always challenging world of education. They are there to prepare the students for the adult world, help them grow into kind, curious, and diligent citizens, and inspire a love of learning. But a teacher’s role is relatively passive. They can only give so much without input on the parts of the students. Students have to take advantage of these giving members of a school community in order to fully profit from the efforts of a teacher. As such, it is essential that students maintain strong relationships with their teachers to wholly exploit their potential.

How do students maintain strong relationships with their teachers?

Working Parents Can Be Involved in Your Child’s School

It is the norm in today’s families that both parents are working while their children attend school. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both parents work outside the home in 63% of married couples with families. Yet, most working parents in a recent survey shared they also want to be involved in their child’s school. Not only are parents aware of the statistics that demonstrate student success rates increase when parents volunteer at their child's school, but they also desire to create satisfying relationships with other parents.

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