New Clients: What To Expect

A New Normal

With Atlanta Public Schools’ recent announcement to not return to F2F learning until *hopefully* January, parents are scrambling. And rightly so. As one mom told me today, “I never thought we’d be doing iPad school.” School looks different than ever before. Remote learning isn’t meant to replace true, genuine 1:1 rapport between teacher and learner and viable, intentional collaboration amongst peers. Research has shown that, if we continue with this remote learning model, we may have consequences to pay. We know that students’ mental health has also been affected. So, in some instances for the very first time, diehard public school parents are reaching out, desperate for a lasting solution outside Google Classroom, Schoology, and Pods. Working and stay-at-home parents alike are searching for the best-fit academic and emotional environment for their student where they can be empowered to thrive.

That’s where we come in.

Fielding phone calls with prospective parents and potential new families, they all want to know “how it works.” How do we partner with parents? How do we partner with students? How do we determine “best-fit?” What about non-traditional entry points? The JATP? The SSAT? Ravenna? And the list goes on and on…

An Advocate in the Room

A parent told me this week that the Atlanta independent school admissions process is akin to her college application process—family statements, personal reflections, essays, interviews, observations, and testing. And she’s not far off. Admissions has tried to standardize some metrics of admissions slightly but at the end of they do, they do want to ensure that each admitted student is a reciprocal best-fit. I can’t stress that enough. But, understandably, especially at the beginning of the process, parents feel stressed/anxious/overwhelmed/less-than/inferior/drowning/fill in the blank. First and foremost, parents need an advocate. They need someone in their corner, on their team, in the ring with them. That’s where we start. With a trusted relationship from the start, we partner directly with parents to equip them with the insight and understanding into the independent school admissions process, yes, but also what life means beyond placement.

There’s No Nickel-and-Diming

We don’t believe putting price tags on friends, advocates, guides, or coaches. Why should arguably one of the most stressful and pivotal process in your child’s life be any different? We don’t believe in an hourly rate. Instead, we welcome your questions, your comments, your concerns, your daydreams, your brainstorms—day or night. Have questions in between our scheduled meetings? Fantastic! Call or email. You’ll never be charged a cent more for our services throughout the scope of the contract.

Relational-Insight into Admissions Success

More than just a tagline, it’s really how we do this. We have our own metrics and intakes, sure, but at the end of the day, we want to see our students succeed. And that begins by championing their unique strengths to better pinpoint what type of learning environment would foster, challenge, and support them best.

That begins with trust. That begins with a relationship. That begins with Whitehead Learning Group.