By Rebecca Miller ’13, Contributor

Country Day welcomed 133 new students to campus at the start of the school year, including 40 new students in the Middle School and 30 new students in the Upper School—sixteen of whom are in this year’s freshman class.  Total enrollment by Sept. 1 was 819, a number administrators expect to rise as high as 833 by the end of the year, as new students join the school mid-year.

According to Director of Admissions Aaron Kellenberger, the school “did not expect to be… this large.”  Admissions officers were particularly pleased by the large enrollment because last year’s graduating class was larger than this year’s, and the admissions staff did not expect to be able to exceed last year’s total enrollment of 815 as soon as they have.

Country Day enrollment is beginning to see the effects of several new initiatives begun by the Admissions Office. Country Day is “doing more parent and faculty outreach after admission,” said Mr. Kellenberger.  One of the programs is the Welcome Bag Initiative—after a student has been admitted, a current parent or faculty member will bring the student a bag with a Country Day t-shirt, magnet, and other items.

Country Day has also begun to attract more students through scholarships.  Mr. Kellenberger said there is a “trend of Middle and Upper School students [who are] a good academic fit [for CCDS] who are looking for more of a challenge.”  He cited large budget cuts in public schools, which often result in losing services such as Gifted and Talented or Arts Programs that many potential Country Day students would want.

Mr. Kellenberger said that the admissions office has also been working hard to retain current families.  According to him, it is “much easier to keep an old family than to go out and find a new one.”  This has also been shown in a larger number of former Country Day students returning after switching schools.  Ms. Elizabeth Habig, Associate Director of Admissions, who works primarily with the Upper School, said that Country Day “had more returning students than in many years.”  The Upper School had four students return after an absence, up from only one last year.

The Upper School also had several new foreign students enter this year; two who had previous connections to the school, and others who heard through word-of-mouth.  Ms. Habig said that Country Day has not put its name out, but that “very strong college placement has driven word-of-mouth” to bring more foreign students to the school.