The college counseling office kicked off the college process for the class of 2021 at Junior Parents’ Day on January 18. Beginning at 8:30 a.m. with registration and continental breakfast in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts, the program provided opportunities for parents to learn about applying to college from a Blair perspective. To watch the program in full, click "play" below.

Head of School Chris Fortunato opened the program with welcoming remarks. He was joined onstage by Blair’s veteran Dean of College Counseling Lew Stival, who has successfully overseen the college process for hundreds of students during his Blair tenure. Blair was also pleased to welcome Don Bishop, Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Enrollment at the University of Notre Dame, as this year’s guest speaker. Mr. Bishop is the senior university administrator responsible for undergraduate admissions, financial aid, student accounts, and pre-college and early outreach programs. 

During the morning, attendees heard from a panel of current Blair seniors and had the opportunity to ask them questions about their experiences with college applications. Mr. Stival and Associate Deans of College Counseling Joe Mantegna and Shana Russell concluded the event by welcoming parents of their counselees to breakout groups, where they took a more in-depth look at the Blair college process.

“We believe Junior Parents’ Day is our parents’ opportunity to get to know their child’s counselor and to learn more about our office philosophy,” Mr. Stival said. “Through this program, we hope to arm them with enough information to get started with their child’s college process.”