My last blog was just over a year ago. It was gloomy. What a difference a year makes! Despite my concerns for independent school enrolments in this Covid era, those fears have proven to be unwarranted for the most part - certainly for schools in British Columbia and New England. These are the two areas of concentration for my consultancy work.

Parents saw that safety protocols in fact are easier to implement and enforce at a boarding school. Zoom classes were a necessity last spring, but have been unnecessary in the boarding school bubble. Once the students were able to get to their schools in September - not an easy feat - and then allocated to their learning pods, things seemed to move smoothly on these naturally ‘quarantined’ campuses.

The oft criticized insularity of boarding schools has in fact proven to be a strength. Allied with this, on Vancouver Island our covid transmission rates have been low. Our schools have built on these advantages through their own well-drilled protocols.

Brentwood College School’s gates, for example, are intentionally closed to keep students safe, shutting out visitors - and Covid - so that their strong program can continue in safety, both on line at first and then in person. Parents are responding in numbers. They have also marketed confidently with a national advertizing campaign on the theme of “where students choose to be.”

Ten minutes away, Larry Lamont, Head at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island, observes that in these tough times there is a student and family “flight to quality.” In Shawnigan’s case, applicant numbers have increased significantly and the re-enrolment numbers of current students returning for next September is a staggering 95%.

Fifteen minutes away, Queen Margaret’s School in Duncan, after close to one hundred years as a girls school, is now a co-educational boarding school under the experienced leadership of newly appointed Head, David Robertson. Numbers there are thriving too. I am delighted to have one of my students accepted into the new boys boarding program at Queen Margaret’s for this September.

The flight from overcrowded cities to quieter and safer natural environments is helping boarding schools thrive in the Cowichan Valley, and on Vancouver Island in general. Long established day school in Victoria, Glenlyon Norfolk School, has even purchased a heritage building and is converting it into a boarding house for next September. Head of School, Chad Holtum, calls this move “a bold and confident step to create a unique boarding experience in South Oak Bay. ”

In the United States schools have arguably suffered more, and endured many months of shutdowns. Even so, the alumni director at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut - consistently rated as being one of the top three to five American boarding schools - has spoken to me of this year’s application increase of 20%, on top of record numbers from the previous year. He also outlined to me that their acceptance rate for September is a frighteningly competitive 11%. One of my student clients this cycle is a top student at a leading day school in Vancouver - and I was told by Choate that my student did an amazing job in getting onto their wait-list - of close to 300 students!

That’s cold comfort - but hope remains. When I ran admission offices at two boarding schools in Canada and the US, my staff and I were always wary of what we called the “summer melt.” People’s lives change and one parent phone call informing us of a late decision to drop out would change the admissions puzzle and create a late opening. We are living in hope for such a phone call to help my student with Choate! The same feeling is there also for another client of mine wait-listed at the prestigious Middlesex School outside of Boston, which was also swamped with applicants this cycle.

While recognizing that not all boarding schools have thriving enrolments, in this year of no travel by admission staff many boarding schools are still bursting at the seams. Generous travel budgets may prove to be a thing of the past. With so much talk of whether employees will return to their offices post Covid, in admissions the question is will the travel needs return? In light of strong enrollments without travel, is it needed? Heads would certainly appreciate the curbing of travel budgets, as it would free up funds for student programs.

If there is one silver lining in the cutting back of travel, admissions staff have been more accessible for immediate personal contact. The personal aspect of customer service comes shIning through and I have noticed the increased accessibility of admissions staff on a daily basis, rather than their being difficult to contact on the road.

Educational consultants navigate the often murky admission waters with both the early - and the late - applicant family. We are here to help.