Experienced international educator, Phillip Jarvis, created Jarvis and Associates in 2005 with offices in Massachusetts and British Columbia, to provide marketing assistance for American and Canadian boarding schools, and to advise families regarding school choices. J.&A’s main office is now located outside of Victoria on Vancouver Island, with easy access to Vancouver, the west coast of the United States, and to Asia.
Phil has consulted to a number of boarding school admissions offices in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Utah, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, and J.&A. is available to assist schools needing direction with their admissions program.
In his recent career, Phil has combined work within schools along with his consultancy practice. Over the past ten years Phil was first a consultant to the Brentwood College advancement office, and then honoured to be Director of the Centennial for Shawnigan Lake School, Canada’s largest boarding school. This role ended in December 2016, and Phil’s major focus now is working with families to find the best school match for their child.
Phil has deep knowledge of schools and through his career he has been privileged to have helped countless young people grow into successful adults. Helping young people develop is Phil’s passion. His cross-border experience in the United States and Canada provides families excellent perspective to aid in their boarding school search.
Phil’s associates have extensive experience with schools in the United States, Canada and Asia. J. & A. has an overseas associate, Johnson Cheng, who is based in Hong Kong and knows US schools as he graduated from Berkshire School in Massachusetts and Cornell University in New York state.
Johnson is a leading young entrepreneur in China, with prior experience at Deloitte Consulting.
When necessary, J. & A.’s associate in Hong Kong is able to interview families in Mandarin, Cantonese or English.
Assisting Phil in Canada is Nancy Gillies, an independent school graduate herself, who graduated from the University of Manitoba where she majored in English and French, subjects that Nancy taught at the high school level.
During her tenure at St. John’s – Ravenscourt School in Winnipeg, the oldest boarding school in Western Canada, Nancy developed a strong familiarity with Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) across the country.
She has served a variety of roles, including Director of Girls’ Boarding, Middle School Principal and Senior School Principal.
Nancy was the lead interviewer for this prominent day/boarding school and knows what it takes to be considered a strong candidate.
Phil, Nancy and Johnson are eager to help families find the school that is the best fit for their child, and to coach them through the interview and admissions process.
Also, they look forward to advising admissions professionals and heads in their important work as they build a strong pool of candidates for their school.
