About Me
Tom Schenck
My admissions career started as part of the enrollment team at the Cardigan Mountain School, a small boys junior boarding school in New Hampshire.
After the learning ropes, six years later I took over a Director of Admissions position at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs.
Starting in July, the school needed 97 students by the fall. My first son was just born, but I still had to spent 80 hours a week, I endured sleepless nights and pursued relentless follow ups to finally enroll 103 students by September.
But after that fall I was physically and emotionally exhausted, I felt like a lousy husband and father and my life was just not fun. I had tried all the traditional approaches but they really were not sustainable.
Consequently, I was determined to create a system to avoid the professional and personal stress I felt. I realized that working crazy hours would only burn me out again.
I know that as the leader of your institution you have probably tried hiring more staff, giving admissions a bigger budget, and even getting more involved in admissions yourself. But ultimately it didn’t work because you were just doing more of the same and expecting different results.
I realized the culture of independent institutions is to move slowly and stick with tradition with the misguided hope that the old ways will work out… but as you are currently aware and experiencing low numbers at your own school new skills must be employed.
I know that I had to create new approaches.. 30 years ago the concept of marketing was new and scary to schools, now you all have Marketing Directors. While I too, was reluctant to challenge tradition, I realized that in this post-Covid market even if marketing brought you the family leads… it was sales fundamentals that would ultimately gain new referral sources and quicker the enrollments. Once I made the decision to change my approach and create the ENROL System my world changed forever.
Over the course of my career, I have used the strategies offered in my ENROL System to enjoy success throughout my life. Beyond running the Janus School in Mount Joy, PA I surpassed all admissions goals as a Director of Admission at both the Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs and Mr. Gunn’s School in Washington Connecticut. Additionally, I surpassed all fundraising goals at Wasatch Academy including three capital campaigns in five years and I appeared on the cover of CASE magazine. Furthermore, I had been the Director of Placement at the Cardigan Mountain School
I have spoken at national conferences as both a workshop presenter and keynote presenter, been a best selling author and talk show host for entrepreneurs. Furthermore, I publish ROR Magazine, the world's only lifestyle publication for educators. Additionally, for 10 years I was ranked in the top 1% in national advertising sales. lastly, I was the first actor to portray SpiderMan for Marvel comics in NYC... so essentially I have been crushing villains all my life! Now as an entrepreneur, I have dedicated my life skills to empowering the dedicated leaders of education..
What My Clients Are Saying About Me
Robin Jarchow
Head Of School
Tom's dynamic personality and creative approach helped change our team's mindset from passive to proactive... They became empowered and added over 2,000 more referral sources, and dramatically increased our applications in 3 months!
Todd Eckenfelder
Director of Residential Admissions George Stevens Academy
Tom. So much of the inspiration behind this creative output, what we are doing now, and what processes we will use moving forward have been heavily influenced by your guidance and inspiration, and most importantly, your encouragement
Alan Haas
President, EDUCATIONAL FUTURES
Tom, It is good to know that you remain committed to 'vanquishing evil' and promoting opportunities for youth around the world to become all that they are to become. Yours is a life well spent. Well done!"
Peter Thorp
Headmaster Emeritus
Tom Schenck is a leader in the field of independent school admissions-a brilliant combination of decades of experience with tried and true approaches with imaginative outside-the-box strategic thinking that's so important in these unprecedented and challenging times.
Clara Duff
Fundraiser
Tom's careful, attentive, and supportive guidance, along with his ever-upbeat presence, were invaluable to me in my daunting task of doubling our institution's Annual Fund. From dealing with boards to dealing with donors, from the basics of board reports to holistic mantras of encouragement and healthy attitudes, I was empowered with every consultation. Tom's personal experience in the trenches of leadership, institutional operations, and marketing, along with his personal positive energy, make him a gem of an ally.
Anthony McHale
Educator
I have known Tom for forty years and in that time I have developed the highest regard for him as a trusted and valued colleague and a dear friend. He is a man of exceptional kindness, grace, generosity, and achievement. Over the course of his life and career, he has developed the valuable skills of adapting to adversity and problem solving with exemplary self-discipline, open-mindedness, cooperation, and patience. And perhaps Tom's greatest gift is the fact that he never fails to find the inherent good and potential in people and organizations....
Michael Robinson
Head Of School Stuart Hall School
Regarding the materials you've created, I think you're a master teacher. There is an obvious pedagogical organization that would make any admission officer feel incredibly encouraged and excited by the opportunity to grow. I could hear a rookie or experienced pro looking at this and saying to themselves, "this will take me to the next level; it's the secret sauce that makes some people great!
Joseph Loftin
Headmaster Emeritus,
Wasatch Academy
Throughout my three plus decade tenure as the Head of School of Wasatch Academy I have had the privilege to associate with Tom Schenck as a friend, colleague, employee, and consultant.
Regardless of circumstances Tom maintains a high level of enthusiasm towards life. This attitude nurtures his extraordinary capacity for empathy and forward-thinking when addressing institutional challenges and matters of concern impacting individuals and organizations.
Wasatch Academy has benefitted from his leadership as the Head of Advancement during his five years of service in this role and his wisdom and knowledge as a consultant over the last five years.
Tom's vast experience at Independent Schools as a teacher, coach, admission director, head of advancement, and Head of School gives him a depth of insight regarding school operations and governance invaluable to administrators and trustees.