Admissions by Jarret Izzo ‘03, Director of Admissions & Family Engagement We prepared for 2025-2026 to be Park’s highest enrollment year since before the pandemic, with confidence that the word is out: Park is growing, to the point of waiting lists for many grades. Our school hosts shadow visits for candidates seeking admission, inviting them to experience a day at Park alongside a current student. While we display our joyful culture and academic rigor, the immersive experience allows the candidate to show us their own sense of culture and rigor. Candidates arrive first thing in the morning to the Helen Long Building, where they are welcomed by our admissions staff and their student ambassador. That moment is an early indicator of the candidate’s character - do they appear to be kind and curious? We count on our ambassadors and faculty to note such observations throughout the day. Candidates encounter academics that are likely more rigorous than those they’ve studied at other schools. In a single morning, a student may encounter presentations on the economy of the historical Great Zimbabwe, an in-depth discussion of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, and the transforming of a biology lab into a full-scale model of a cell. Understandably, many candidates are taken aback. “You mean this is every day?” they ask upon returning to my office from lunch. “Do I really get this much time outside? Is everyone this welcoming? Is the pizza always this good?” What makes a candidate truly stand out is when, during their shadow day, they are more than merely observers. I smile when I read reports from faculty of prospective students who jump right in, contributing meaningfully to class discussion despite the unfamiliar environment. For us, the key to Park’s unique academic rigor is more than trivial knowledge, or the sharp elbows of competitiveness. We seek a rigorous curiosity, a willingness to try, and a sense of community. These traits know no bounds of race, socioeconomic status, or geography. We find families who value our commitment to culture and rigor, and in turn, we value their contributions to it. We remain true to our purpose of finding children who will find themselves at Park. LEGACY STUDENTS 7 “At the Park School we have known for a long time that education is not just a matter of learning the three R’s as well as possible; that people must not only be literate in the usual narrow sense of the word, but socially literate as well.” - Helen Long, longtime Park teacher and Head of Lower and Middle School
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