Helping Your Child Move Forward with Confidence
The goal is to find a school your child is excited to join, and a community just as excited to welcome them. I help families look beyond the admissions process to discover day and boarding schools where their child will be known, challenged and supported.
My Core Communities for Day Schools
Aspen
Knows the culture of the Roaring Fork Valley and the questions families face about high school options. Having lived on the Front Range twice, I know schools across Colorado.
Worked at Aspen Country Day School
Chicago
Understands the independent, parochial and selective enrollment options across the area and helps families weigh them alongside boarding schools.
Graduated from and returned to work at Latin School of Chicago
New York
Knows the schools from Manhattan and Brooklyn to Westchester and understands the reasons boarding school can be an attractive fit for families.
Worked at The Dalton School
San Francisco Bay Area
Knows day schools from San Francisco and Marin to the East Bay and Peninsula, and when boarding schools might be a good fit for Bay Area families.
Worked at Head-Royce School and Town School for Boys
Considering a move to a new city? See how I support relocating families
Choosing a school starts with understanding your child, knowing the schools and recognizing where the two connect.
Every child deserves a school that knows them, not just one that admits them. I look to understand the whole student: what motivates them, where they excel, what challenges them and what will help them grow. Drawing on my experience inside schools and my understanding of admissions, I guide families as they identify strong matches, make important decisions with clarity and find environments where their children can flourish.
Student-athletes guided
How I Can Help
- Getting to know your child's strengths, interests and how they learn
- A balanced school list built around your child's interests, strengths and potential, while reflecting how admissions teams may read their application
- A timeline for visits and applications, with clear moments to set goals for reach schools and to narrow the list to places where your child will thrive
- Essays, applications and interview support that builds skills to help your child celebrate themselves and is shaped by what schools look for
- Portfolio guidance for arts, coding and robotics applicants, from someone who has taught those subjects and guided applicants into programs that enrich their skills
- A manageable structure that keeps stress at home low and gives your child room to be confident and authentic
- An advisor and sounding board for hard conversations, so you can think through critical details
- Help making timely decisions and narrowing your school list with your family's values and priorities at the center and a lens into the admissions process
- Guidance on parent statements and recommendation letters, and what admissions teams hope to learn from them
- Guidance drawn from my coaching experience to help your child identify athletic opportunities, build meaningful relationships with coaches, showcase their potential and find schools that support both their athletic and academic ambitions
- A trusted advisor throughout the waitlist and late-application process, providing a clear action plan, strategic guidance and effective communication support to help applicants navigate next steps with each school
- Help when changes occur in family circumstances to rethink strategies, timing and options
- Guidance in weighing decisions to transfer by looking closely at what is and isn't working for your family and considering what could be available at other schools
- Transfer applications, timelines and midyear entry, which can follow different rules than a typical application cycle
- Personalized communication and coordination with schools to support a smooth transition for your child, creating alignment between both sides and the opportunity for a positive fresh start
- A proactive approach to school planning that evaluates early academic experiences, sets meaningful goals, anticipates family needs and explores schools and visits well ahead of admissions cycles, giving families clarity and confidence
- Finding summer programs that match your child's interests and help them explore what excites them
- Guidance on the summer program application process, which can also be a helpful first practice run for school applications
Engineering, programming & robotics applicants guided
Students guided who were still discovering what excites them and where they want to go to school
FAQ
Getting started
What grades do you work with?
Every stage, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. I work with families on independent and parochial day schools, boarding schools and transfers, and I've taught every one of those grades myself.
Do you work with day schools as well as boarding schools?
Yes. Many families I work with are looking only at day schools in their city, and others are weighing day and boarding options together.
Are there certain cities you work with?
I work with families nationally and internationally and know boarding and independent schools across North America and abroad. I also have close knowledge of the communities where I've lived and worked:
- Chicago: the city from Hyde Park to Lincoln Park, the North Shore from Evanston to Lake Forest, and the western suburbs from Oak Park and Hinsdale to Naperville
- New York: Manhattan from Tribeca to Harlem, Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights, plus Scarsdale, Rye, Montclair and Greenwich
- San Francisco Bay Area: Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights and Noe Valley, plus Oakland, Berkeley, Piedmont, Mill Valley, Menlo Park and Palo Alto
- Colorado: Aspen, Snowmass Village, Basalt and Carbondale, plus Denver and Boulder on the Front Range
When should we start?
It depends on your family's needs and how your child's school experience is going. Most families begin three to six months before an application cycle opens, but I can help at any point, and a short call can show how to use your time best.
Can you guarantee my child will be admitted to a particular school?
No. No school, coach, consultant or admissions officer can guarantee a spot, and I won't promise a specific outcome. What I offer is an honest, informed view of fit and help presenting your child's strengths, so admissions teams see who your child is.
School search and applications
How do you help us find the right school?
It starts with getting to know your child. I learn how your child thinks, what interests them and where they'll feel known, then build a school list that balances fit with how admissions teams may read the application. I often help families weigh day schools and boarding schools side by side, along with the different demands each can place on your family.
Can you help with Gateway, Ravenna, SAO and other applications?
I help with every part of these applications. I guide families through Gateway to Prep Schools, Ravenna and SAO (Standard Application Online), as well as a school's own application or any other platform, from deadlines and checklists to student essays, parent statements, teacher recommendations and interview practice. Getting to know your child and knowing each step of the application helps your child apply in a way that sounds like them and stands out in a crowded applicant pool.
What else can you help with?
Families also turn to me for support with a wide range of needs throughout the school search and admissions process, including executive functioning and organization, academic or behavioral concerns, identifying STEM and leadership opportunities, navigating family dynamics during the search, managing application portals, researching schools and communicating with admissions teams. Every family's needs are different, so if there's something you don't see listed here, bring it up during our first conversation. I'm always happy to explore how to best help you.
A School Search With Someone Who Knows the Schools and Takes the Time to Know Your Child
Bring your questions, even the ones that feel too early to ask.
Let's Talk About Your Childor write to anson@ansonkendall.com
Performing, visual & technical arts applicants guided