This has been a year of many changes at the British International School of Boston, particularly for the school's Admissions Team.
Following the departure in December of the former Director of Admissions and Marketing, Lisa van Horne, the admissions department has done a wonderful job. Rather than appoint a new Director immediately, we resolved to open up new ways of thinking about the whole admissions process and we have managed the area quite differently.
Every member of the school – including teachers, students and parents - has played their part in hosting open days and visits, meeting prospective families and looking after visiting students. It has been hard but very enjoyable work and the sense of collaboration and team spirit has been uplifting.
I am very happy to report that we have had an extremely successful admissions season with a 33% increase in the number of new students enrolled compared to this time last year. A truly significant figure is that the number of students leaving us for other local schools has been reduced by almost 75% compared to last year!
I hope that this reflects the continued faith our parents and students have in our ever improving school. I imagine the dedication and high quality of our teachers, the expanding opportunities offered by being part of the Global Campus of Nord Anglia Education and the character and performance of our graduates and their university destinations, are major factors in this growing confidence in our school.
As a result, we are forecasting the continued growth of our school roll next year. Some year groups are full and we have decided to open up a third Year 3 class in the 2015-16 academic year, due to the intense demand for this year group.
As a consequence, NAE is encouraging us to consolidate our plans for facility development. In the immediate term, we are acquiring two classrooms from Showa for Middle and High School use. These are contiguous with the Wing. We will also develop an outdoor recreation patio for Middle and High School students between the wings opposite the school’s main entrance.
The school is still receiving many new inquiries from perspective students each day, and we hope to be able to share additional admissions news with our families closer to the start of the new school year.
Sincerely,
Paul Wiseman