Our girls are challenged to embrace intellectual curiosity and discover a passion and joy in seeking knowledge. We offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, an academically challenging and balanced program recognized across the country and around the world. Additionally, we provide a rich and culturally diverse student experience. One-third of our faculty is international and our students represent 18 U.S. states and 25 countries. Faculty and students share their cultures, traditions, and varying perspectives with one another both inside and outside the classroom.

Does the admission staff have school responsibilities outside of the office? How do you help prioritize or integrate their admission work into their other responsibilities?

The work we do in the admission office has expanded from recruiting, admitting, and yielding students to an overall enrollment management focus. We focus on orientation and new student welcome programming. Our office supports the re-enrollment effort, meets with current parents and alumnae while traveling, and works with the alumnae office during reunion weekend. We also participate in form dean meetings to better understand how the students we recruited are doing in our community.

How has St. Timothy’s collaborated with the Association of Maryland Independent Schools (AIMS) and how has that affiliation benefitted the school and its admission practices?

In addition to being one of our major accreditors, AIMS has been invaluable in providing us professional development opportunities as well as opportunities to meet as an AIMS group to learn from one another. Having been an EMA member school for years and benefitting from the Student Prospect Lists as well as the SAO, I was thrilled to learn that AIMS has entered a collaboration with EMA. The “Admission and Retention is Everyone’s Role” joint event in April hosted by AIMS and EMA painted a clear picture of the current market and aided us in our strategic planning for the upcoming admission cycle. This forward-thinking and collaborative spirit is what make AIMS and EMA such relevant and helpful organizations.

How does your office address periodic board reporting responsibilities?

While I am in charge of reporting to the board of trustees and organizing what is presented, I also rely on the statistical gathering that Jennifer does, as well as the data that Kathy maintains regarding visitors, inquiries, etc. I then work with our head of school, Randy Stevens, to finalize the details.

How has your professional background benefitted your leadership role?

At the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, the admission office was a very busy, high energy place, with people of different backgrounds from around the world. We also worked quite closely with a number of different departments. The ability to pivot, shift, and navigate quickly through changing priorities was a must as was, at times, being creative. I have applied those problem-solving skills to my work here. The importance of examining and evaluating what is successful and what is working, in my opinion, is a necessity in an admission environment. The ever-changing marketplace of admission and recruitment requires you to be nimble and adjust accordingly. I also believe that no job is too big or too small!

What skills are necessary to optimize success in your role? How would you describe your style in managing staff and workflow in your office?

I greatly enjoy working in a team. I find that working as a group towards solutions is the best way to get a job done, and I look to each member of my team for their expertise and knowledge to help solve a problem or find a creative solution. As an admission office, we have also benefited greatly from working together for a long time. The institutional knowledge we have gleaned over the years has also been an immeasurable benefit. I truly consider myself fortunate to work with a wonderful group of professionals.

The St. Timothy’s School Team: (l to r) Kathy Stoltzfus, Cameron Steese, Jennifer Shelley, and Georgie Chiamulera.