You've Applied to Private Schools...Now What?

Whew. You've done it. You conquered Ravenna. You’ve woken everybody up at 8am on a Saturday for virtual observations. You’ve tracked down transcripts, booked JATP appointments, and ironed first-day outfits. So….now what?

Make the Waiting Game Count

As your family waits over the next few weeks for decisions to be released, find purpose in the waiting. We can do this by being proactive and modeling productivity. A tangible way to do this is to help your student identify specific goals. Be as detailed as possible (again, this is dictated by grade and emotional maturity level). Invite your student to create SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals. Identify immediate SMART goals (what holistic success and contentment would look like in the day-to-day of school), as well as future SMART goals (course offerings, academic rigor, future field of study, university path, and pursued career options). 

The best leaders lead themselves towards what they value most, not what they want now. This ongoing tension of immediate versus ultimate is a test of self-control. Provide intentional framework around your conversations about school change to help your student truly comprehend that what we want now is rarely what we value most. Conclusively, we can’t lead ourselves well until we discover what we value most. We always know what we want now, but until we do the work of identifying what we value most, we can’t lead ourselves well.

Very few people ever stop and discover what they value most—as a result, they settle for what they want now.  Don’t allow your student to fall into this trap—they deserve more. Encourage your student to understand that their destination is encircled within their values. Help them reach their goals and in turn, show how the puzzle piece of a new school fits flawlessly into their life roadmap.