Achieving Economic Diversity at SSFS

by Neby Aklog '08; originally published in The Gnus, the SSFS US newspaper

From solely looking at the tuition ($20,100 for a 2004-2005 high school day student), our school appears to be a community for the well-off. The students are thought to be cut from the fabric of the upper-middle class.

This is true to a certain extent; however, 19 percent of our school's student body receive some form of financial aid, according to Mary Fran Jenkins of the finance department. Statistically, in comparison to many of the private schools around the area, Sandy Spring is much more economically diverse.

For example, The Barrie School offers financial aid to only 12-15 percent of its students, according to barrie.org.

The admissions and finance departments play an immense role in the process of making our school economically diverse. These two departments are separate in that student information is not shared between the groups.

"Admissions chooses students without knowledge of their financial information," said Jenkins.

In order to promote economic diversity in our school, the admissions division works with organizations such as the Black Student Fund, A Better Chance (ABC), the Latino Student Fund, and many others, according to Director of Admissions Mecha Inman.

These groups exist specifically to help private schools increase economic diversity. Although our school is truly making a concerted effort to incorporate different economic backgrounds, more can always be done, according to Inman.

"We are a young school, compared to those that have been around for a hundred years and have huge endowments. We do the best we can with what we have," said Inman.

Attracting Teachers of Color: An Interview with Stephan Reeves

"Private schools have made some progress in diversifying their faculty and staff. What do you see as the obstacles to further progress? Are schools truly serious about diversification or are they merely paying lip service to the issue?"

To read full story click here: http://privateschool.about.com/cs/administrators/a/diversity_3.htm