New Family Mentors

We could all use a little help now and then. That’s why we give the opportunity for veteran SAS families to offer a hand to our new families as they navigate their first full year in the life of our school. Our program begins in late summer, when we match our returning-family volunteers with a new St. Andrew’s family. As a volunteer for this program, your potential support and engagement with your matched family could include texting or emailing reminders, checking in on move-in day and at other family events, answering questions, referring your family to appropriate school representatives, or simply giving a few words of encouragement. The admissions and advancement teams will partner with you on this journey by offering topics or ideas for you to share with your matched family throughout the year.

International Student Host Family

Each year we have a few international students who do not have any relatives living in the United States. The host family acts as a “back-up family” if the student cannot get home for a vacation period or if they need to arrive stateside a few days before St. Andrew’s dorms are open. This is a great opportunity to introduce another culture into your home!

Saints Fund Volunteers

A hallmark of St. Andrew’s is that Saints support Saints. While we see this notion put into daily practice on campus, the most critical example isn’t always visible: philanthropy. Our school inspires a culture of giving, and encourages all families to make an annual gift to the Saints Fund—the fund that makes our school possible—of any size, in honor of their child’s experience. We could use your help in this important work. A Saints Fund volunteer is someone who will reach out to fellow families on our annual Day of Giving and encourage participation. Volunteers also work with the Saints Fund team and the Saints Fund parent chairs to share messaging about the Saints Fund and the importance of sustaining our school.

Regional Reception Hosts

Throughout the school year, we have opportunities for you to open your home to some wonderful prospective Saints:

• In the fall, we schedule a handful of admission receptions in homes around the country with a member of the admission team to introduce prospective families to St. Andrew’s. 
• In the spring, we may have a cluster of accepted students located in a particular area in which we try to organize small gatherings at the home of a current family.

The dean of admission and financial aid, head of school, or a member of the advancement team will be on-hand to co-host these events. The ideal candidate will have space in their home for 20 to 30 people. Access to local feeder schools, youth groups, or interested neighbors with children make for a great reception! 

School Fair Representatives

As much as the admission office would like to accept every boarding-school fair invite that comes their way, it doesn’t always work due to staff and calendar constraints. In those cases, we seek local parent representatives—who are wonderfully effective advocates for St. Andrew’s—to attend fairs in their areas.

Spring Admission Callers

After a long admission season, the final—and sometimes most important—outreach is the call or email of congratulations from a current family. Spring admission callers spend time between March 10 and April 10 reaching out to families of accepted students to welcome, congratulate, and answer any final questions. As prospective families weigh their final enrollment decisions, current-family voices are a powerful resource.

Student Life Programming

We’ve found our families to be a fantastic resource when it comes to student life. Often, families have great ideas and access to programs, people, or events that would enrich student life by offering exciting opportunities for faculty and students to adventure beyond St. Andrew’s. Past examples have included book talks with notable authors in a family’s home, overnight camping on a family farm, a visit to the Pentagon, tickets to local sports events, and more. If you are able to connect our students to a great student life opportunity, please let us know.