Students leading students

The admission season is in full swing, and students becoming even more involved in the process. Ninth graders are hosting prospective students for visit days and new this year, Upper School students are leading tours for prospective families.  

“It gives the families an opportunity to see a student’s perspective. Every tour is different based on the who is giving the tour,” said Devin DeShields, Assistant Director of Admission.

This year, Admission Office was looking at the way they do tours as well as how peer schools structure their process and decided to switch things up. “We wanted to give the students more autonomy and let them talk about what they take from the curriculum and community,” DeShields said.

Any Upper School student is eligible sign up to give a tour on their free block and students receive community service hours for their contribution. Visit day hosting is available to any 9th grader. Freshmen fill out a survey describing their interests and are matched with visiting prospective students for a shadow day to get to know the school.

The desire is there. Students are asking for more ways to be involved. “They want to do more. They ask when they can lead more tours or host more students. They all like the idea of being able to do that for prospective students since they all took tours when they were applying,” said DeShields.

So far, the feedback from families has been positive. Families can ask their student host or tour guide, ‘what clubs are you involved in?’ or ‘what classes are your favorites?’ and get an authentic answer from their guide.

Campus tours and visit days will continue through December. If your student is interested in getting involved, reach out to Devin, ddeshields@overlake.org