Background
Holy Innocents Episcopal School (HIES) stands as the largest parish day school in the United States, with students ranging from Pk3 to 12th grade. Through a holistic admissions process, HIES has been able to create a diverse and inclusive learning environment by assessing applicants' alignment with the school's core values including respect for self and others, and a sense of service to the global community.
Challenge
Taking K-12 admissions online
“Prior to Kira, we conducted everything in person," explained Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright, the Director of Enrollment Management at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. "However, that process created a barrier for families who are juggling work, school, extracurriculars, etc. In order to reach those families, we needed a way to interview applicants that didn't force them to rearrange their schedule in order to accommodate ours."
With applicants as young as 9 years old, HIES needed a platform that was secure and simple enough for children to navigate on their own.
“With Kira, we’ve not only replicated our process, we’ve enhanced it. The overall experience is more engaging for our applicants, and Kira has helped us ask more focused and nuanced questions that, while still geared towards our mission statement, enable us to dig a little bit deeper with the students.”
- Dr Beth-Sarah Wright, Director of Enrollment ManagementSolution
Asking the right questions in the right format
Today, HIES no longer needs to ask families to fit an on-campus interview into their busy weekend schedules. Using a combination of timed-video and timed-written questions in Kira’s Asynchronous Assessment, HIES smoothly transitioned the assessments for their lower, middle and upper school applicants online.
“We ask applicants some get-to-know-you questions, followed by some open-ended questions which help us assess their soft skills,” shared HIES's Enrollment Data Manager, Katie Patrick. “Depending on the grade level, these could be skill-testing math questions or reading passages to assess comprehension and fluency.”
With their new process, applicants can complete their assessment wherever and whenever is most convenient for them and their families.
Results
Creating an innovative process for a new generation
“The feedback we got from the applicants and their families was overwhelmingly positive," HIES shared. "With any new technology, there’s always some nervousness around an unfamiliar process, but once they got into the platform and understood how easy it is to use, families have really appreciated the flexibility that Kira offers.”
The Kira assessment has also given HIES the opportunity to showcase their school culture and what makes it unique. Through videos integrated into the Kira experience, HIES features clips from various teachers, club leaders, and current students which help create the sense of welcoming applicants into the school’s community.
