Families play waiting game for right school
It’s a reality parents have to face — space is finite and interest in independent institutions is not
It’s both good news and bad: Your child is perfect for the school, but there’s simply no room for him or her.
“It’s saying: your application file is very strong, it’s a good fit between your profile and the school, and that we believe you’d flourish,” says David Fischer, director of admissions for the all-boys St. Michael’s College School in Toronto.
“But we just don’t have a spot here, right now, to offer you.”
It’s difficult for independent schools to estimate how many students are wait-listed during each enrolment — it varies, sometimes greatly, from year to year — but it’s a reality parents may have to face. Space is finite, interest in the school is not.
Students may also be wait-listed due to late applications, priorities offered to siblings, or because some schools have to maintain a coed balance. Sometimes, especially in the earliest grades, a young child may not be ready.
“You might see that the student has a lot of potential, and may down the road be a possibility,” says Nancy Richards, head of school at the all-girls St. Mildred’s-Lightbourn School in Oakville.
“Some students need a little more time. Sometimes the assessments are in September, and it’s a huge amount of time between September and May, when we can reassess. And the growth could be quite significant.”
Whatever the reason for being wait-listed, the result is the same — now you wait. What’s next Judy Maxwell, director of admissions for the coed Bayview Glen Independent School in Toronto, acknowledges it can be disappointing news and a stressful experience for the family. Communication, and second choices, can mitigate that.
“We try to be as transparent as we can throughout the whole process. Ongoing communication is really important,” she says. “I think some families do look at options to make sure they have (other) schools to consider, if it turns out there isn’t space.”
Bayview Glen prefers to use the term “waiting pool,” Maxwell says, because they don’t use a ranked or prioritized list. Instead, she emphasizes to families that the fit between school and student is paramount.
“We tend to look at fit — and for us, it’s more than just academic fit,” she says. “It’s about the social and emotional fit, as well as family fit. We reiterate how important that is, while trying to be as accommodating as we can in terms of answering (parents’) questions to lessen their stress levels.”
At St. Mildred’s, Richards says their focus is to help families navigate the entire application process, which may include a wait-list — or two.
“For families that applied to two different schools and are waiting, I would really spend time with the families to help them see what is the best fit for their child,” she says.
“If you’re on a wait-list at both schools, then contact that other school and get more information: What is your timeline? What are my chances here? So the family can make a decision as soon as possible and start supporting their child with the transition.”
In other words, the family and school are on the same team. Fischer points out that St. Michael’s would never penalize families for having a backup registration, and his admissions office regularly updates parents when timelines get tight.
“We lay out all of the different scenarios for them so they can plan, they can make decisions that are in their son’s best in- “It’s about the social and emotional fit, as well as family fit.” JUDY MAXWELL DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS terests,” he says.
“We tell families that if a placement becomes available, we will contact them right away. We don’t leave them waiting until the last minute to find out when a placement opens up.
“I think that information sharing both ways is really, really helpful,” he adds. “Let the director of admissions know what’s happening in your child’s situation.”
The call
It could happen at the last minute — although it’s not a common way to get accepted, considering the financial commitment families have made. But it’s possible.
“Someone might say, ‘We can’t come back, we found this out late in the day’ — and we may have an opening,” says Maxwell.
“It’s a lovely call to make,” she adds with a laugh.
Fischer says St. Michael’s only had one spot open up this year, due to a family move. He says the calls to parents to tell them a space has opened up are “very exciting.”
“There’s certainly a lot of joy and enthusiasm, absolutely,” he says.
And at St. Mildred’s, Richards says the families might find it an emotional moment.
“You sometimes get tears,” she says. “There’s probably nothing more important as a parent to know that you’ve got the right fit for your girl, and she’s going to have a great education, and you feel like people really care about her.”
“That’s the happiest moment ever — it really is.”