By Veronique Mintz
After widespread steady decline in admissions over the past decade in NYC, LREI bounces back during the pandemic as they have a unique approach to school finances and marketing.
SoHo’s progressive education institution is marketed as a “mid-sized” school, with classes ranging from roughly 10-16 students. Tuition is significantly lower at LREI, being $59,000 for the 2022-23 admissions cycle, compared to the median tuition at NYC prep schools being well over $60,000. Something unique about LREI is that tuition remains the same for all grades K-12.
Part of LREI’s mission to stay accessible to various socioeconomic families, is to keep costs down. They primarily fulfill this by maintaining a thinly staffed administration that is equipped to undertake many different tasks. LREI’s CFO, Josh Marks says his day-to-day responsibilities consist of a little bit of everything. “A lot of my day is spent in Excel spreadsheets. [Sometimes] trying to figure out why we haven’t gotten a replacement part for the ice machine downstairs for the cafeteria, to the water fountain replacement, to what tuition will potentially be next year, and projections for the budget, to hiring, to compliance with city and state law and federal law.” LREI is intentional with their hiring.
Additionally, they have a robust offering of financial aid, and unlike most schools, continued giving the same amount of aid or more to families in need throughout the pandemic. “Even though our admissions pool gets bigger, it’s roughly the same percentage of students applying for financial aid, same percentage of students applying from feeder schools” (F. Aikens, personal communication, October 25, 2022). This steadiness in percentages of students applying helped to keep financial aid the same, as well as the predictability of those applying from feeder schools.
Even though percentages stay roughly the same, the number of students that enroll varies each year, mostly on the lower end of capacity. However, the pandemic catapulted admissions, making this current 9th grade class one of the largest in history. Marks states, “Admissions each year is somewhat of an art form.” “Lunch is ‘a little’ crowded these days. We did not project that and the school probably will be forced to make some adjustments as we go into the 2023-24, current admissions cycle to make sure that we’re balancing the physical space in the high school against the demand we’ll have.” The school added a third section to each core class in the 9th grade to satisfy the demand. LREI wanted to stay true to their smaller class sizes, providing a more personalized education. Felicia Aikens, co-director of admissions at LREI and Harvard alum says “It [admissions] was probably about 15-18% higher than what we had in previous years.” Aikens joined LREI during the pandemic, in July of 2020, observing first-hand Covid’s impact on incoming students, as well as the continued impact.
The administration analyzed this impact and shifted their approach to marketing in the last few years, by emphasizing in admissions panels and events, the focus on mental health. They hired a new counselor this year to meet this demand. Marks and Aikens have similar views on mental well-being among the student body. Marks stated, “The biggest question that parents have is not so much academics but well-being.” Parents witnessed their children through online learning and the toll it took on their mental health, therefore they are trying to fill a mental health gap in education. Felicia mentions the school’s effort to be “upfront and open about our counseling services. We mention every tour that we have upper school counselors […] if the student’s ever going through a crisis or something hard in school, we have resources available for them. And in addition, we want to keep our academics as challenging as they are and true to our progressive mission.” Aikens seems to take a middle ground approach, not putting either academics or mental health before the other. Marks differs in that he feels as of now, the school values mental wellbeing as a top priority, considering the world’s ongoing public health crisis.
Another marketing change on the admissions office end is the rhetoric. “The older position of the school has always been, ‘we have to explain what a progressive pedagogy is,’ which sounds somewhat defensive. We’ve gotten a little bit better. Instead of trying to defend a pedagogy, we are being very upfront and saying ‘this is what we do, and we do it well, and here’s how it’s different from what you may have experienced or are used to in terms of your educational experience’” (J. Marks, personal communication, October 25, 2022) LREI can be a great fit for those who accept this progressive pedagogy or are curious about learning more about it, but is definitely not the right fit for all types of students.
Seven Johnston, a freshman says, “I live in New Jersey so obviously making the decision to go to school in New York was a big change. But I decided to go here because of the large selection of classes that become available to students in their junior and senior year. I think it’s cool that I get so much free will in the way I participate in academics.” It’s apparent from this freshman that choosing LREI was a passionate decision, considering he commutes from another state every day, mainly due to more freedom in the academic department. Another freshman, Lucy Fung, states, “I came to LREI because the community seemed really great to me. When I was visiting, everyone I met was really nice and helpful. I also saw a lot of classes that seemed interesting on the website.” She conveys the warm, welcoming nature of the school that Aikens references as well.
LREI strives to further their progressive mission. In doing so, there is mention of switching parents’ mindsets; instead of focusing so heavily on the final product, rather focusing on your child’s educational journey. “Prior to the pandemic, the question always was sort of based on outcomes. Whereas we are now seeing more questions of not so much outcomes, but care. How’s the school going to care for my student through graduation?” (J. Marks, personal communication, October 25, 2022). Independent school parents are notoriously known for their focus on college and the future. Marks emphasizes his message of mental wellbeing and trusting the process as he states, “I’ll be super happy, like I’ll know that human civilization has evolved, at least in New York when on a lower school tour, a kindergarten prospective parent asks a question, not what’s your college list, but, “Do your seniors graduate happy? Do you graduate well-rounded, happy, well-balanced, fulfilled human beings? Not like, “Do you send kids to the Ivys?” (J. Marks, personal communication, October 25, 2022).