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Does your university-bound teen need an educational consultant?

Does your university-bound teen need an educational consultant?
Signs on a quiet University of Calgary campus are seen on Thursday, January 28, 2021. Most students are still learning remotely on Canadian campuses. Gavin Young/Postmedia
Signs on a quiet University of Calgary campus are seen on Thursday, January 28, 2021. Most students are still learning remotely on Canadian campuses. Gavin Young/Postmedia Gavin Young/Postmedia

Fall isn’t just back-to-school season, it’s also apply-to-school season. Post-secondary institutions across Canada open up their admissions each October and November, resulting in mass student and parental panic with this daunting application process. The stakes are high as admittance into a desired university or college isn’t as easy as it once was.

“More students are attempting to access the same number of seats,” states Michael Kufeldt, a former Calgary high school guidance councillor. “Universities have expanded, but not all that much. It’s now more competitive and your overall average has crept up,” he says.

Kufeldt recently started his own business: Kufeldt Educational Planning, and works as an educational consultant. If you’re not familiar with the term, you’re not alone. It’s a relatively new profession that assists students and their parents in selecting and applying to post-secondary institutions in Canada and around the world.

Michael Kufeldt. Courtesy, Susan Dabbs
Michael Kufeldt. Courtesy, Susan Dabbs jpg

The post-secondary application process is complex and less transparent than when GenXers went through the system. Educational consultants guide families through these murky waters, plus scholarship applications, in a way that saves time and frustration.

“We’re unique in that we want to make sure parents are a big part of the partnership. We often hear that they feel out of the loop and we get everyone on the same page. If parents are footing the bill, they want to be comfortable with their kids operating the system and their next steps,” explains Kufeldt.

Consultants can also help guide families to consider schools they may not have even heard of before. Being a new process to most parents, they tend to rely heavily on misunderstood rankings, such as those provided by the annual Maclean’s University Rankings, says Kate Van Pernis, a Calgary-based consultant at KVP Educational Consulting.

“People think because the University of Toronto is ranked number one, it’s automatically the best place to go. But if you’re an undergraduate and want accessible professors and a classic undergrad experience, a ‘top-ranked’ school might be a terrible place. The factors the rankings use often include research dollars and faculty citations without adjusting for school size. Some universities attract faculty for research, then they’re forced to teach Stats 101, where their excitement can be palpably low. Undergraduate-focused schools can attract professors who want to teach in addition to their research.”

You may be wondering; can’t a high school guidance counsellor offer this same service for free? They do! The role of a school guidance counsellor is multi-faceted, ranging from offering personal counselling on academics, family and relationship issues, and crisis intervention, plus post-secondary selection and career planning. Additionally, counsellors help students with course scheduling and scholarship applications.

It’s not unusual for one high school counsellor to serve 400 to 700 students, meeting up to 40 students a day. With limited time and resources, students may find it challenging to get the necessary support.

KVPs Kate Van Pernis. Courtesy, Jake Van Pernis
KVPs Kate Van Pernis. Courtesy, Jake Van Pernis jpg

“Access is not what it used to be. School counsellors have to service more students and the access point becomes choked. It’s an issue school boards fight against and try to protect, but budget cuts have an effect on the deployment of staff in a school,” states Kufeldt.

This is why the prospect of hiring a university consultant is appealing to many families, especially if students feel they can’t access their high school counsellor in a timely fashion. Consultants meet with families after school and work hours and typically respond to queries within 24 hours.

“There’s nothing magical or mysterious about what we do. It’s like hiring a professional to do your taxes. It’s a big process that can be stressful to navigate on your own. Some parents see it as sanity-saving when someone else has those conversations with their child. It saves arguments for non-post-secondary issues,” admits Van Pernis.

The world of educational consultants, however, is unregulated. Families should pay close attention to the background experience of any consultant they engage with. Anyone who guarantees admission to a certain institution should be questioned. Legitimate educational consultants do not receive kickbacks from schools. Their only interest is the best outcome for families. Also, be aware there are now education agents who are loosely affiliated with certain universities and earn commissions if kids enrol there.

Rates for an educational consultant range between $150 and $250 an hour, depending on the service being provided. Typically, only one to two meetings are required, which seems good value when you consider university non-refundable application fees run from $95 to $200 per institution.

What both consultants and school counsellors can’t do is increase a student’s grades through study skills or changing teachers. It’s up to students to look at their grades honestly and objectively.

Aileen Taylor. Courtesy, Jillian Watts
Aileen Taylor. Courtesy, Jillian Watts jpg

Regardless of whether families opt for public or private support for the application process, it’s important to start the conversation early to gauge where kids see themselves going and what their passions and motivators are, advises Aileen Taylor, consultant for School Guidance Counselling, Calgary Catholic School District.

“It’s best to have these conversations in Grades 10 and 11 so students have the right courses in Grade 12 to meet the admittance requirements. Have students make an appointment with their counsellor to discuss different programs or have them show you how to find information online if you’re having difficulty. The earlier the better.”

Tips for choosing a post-secondary school

  • Attend post-secondary fairs when official recruiters visit high schools each fall.
  • Take advantage of admission webinars offered by colleges and universities.
  • Consider attending a student open house on campus.
  • Talk to students who’ve taken the same programs your student is interested in.
  • Check out the post-secondary institution’s Students’ Union and Admissions Department social media accounts to get a feel for the atmosphere.

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Free workshop on distance education state authorization being offered virtually

Free workshop on distance education state authorization being offered virtually

University PARK, Pa. — Penn State is yet again co-internet hosting a free of charge digital workshop in November on the subject of condition authorization that addresses concerns for Pennsylvania institutions that participate in Point out Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, or SARA.

The PA-SARA Workshop will be held from 1 to 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 17. Penn State Outreach and Online Education’s Office environment of Compliance and Contracts and the Pennsylvania Section of Instruction are the co-hosts for the seventh straight year.

Each individual 12 months the workshop provides together higher training experts from across Pennsylvania who perform in the discipline of point out authorization for distance instruction to listen to information and updates from nationwide and point out leaders and to community and check with thoughts. 

Registration is presently open up till Nov. 11. 

“Despite ongoing challenges because of to COVID-19, we ended up equipped to again generate an party that will be offered on the internet and no cost of charge to individuals so that this important party can go on to be provided,” said Teri Spence, director of the Outreach and On the web Education Business office of Compliance and Contracts.

This year’s speakers incorporate the adhering to:

  • Gina Wetten, bigger schooling associate, and Lynette Kuhn, chief for the Division of Better Education and learning, Accessibility, and Equity, equally with the Pennsylvania Office of Education and learning.
  • Marianne Boeke, senior director for study and condition support and interim president for NC-SARA.
  • Jeannie Yockey-Fantastic, general counsel for NC-SARA.
  • Jana Walser-Smith, director of interstate compliance and member outreach of the Point out Authorization Network.
  • Elisa Jaden, director for the Southern Regional Schooling Boar location to NC-SARA.

“We are enthusiastic to be equipped to the moment once again present the workshop absolutely free of cost and almost to accommodate a lot more participation throughout the commonwealth,” claimed Shawna Pryle, compliance professional in the Business of Compliance and Contracts.

The Condition Authorization Reciprocity Agreements deliver a voluntary, regional solution to state oversight of postsecondary distance education and learning. States that be a part of SARA agree to adhere to uniform processes for approving their qualified institutions’ participation and for working with other states’ establishments. Additional than 2,200 colleges and universities nationwide participate in SARA.

Stop by the workshop’s site to sign-up and find extra information.

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Home-schooling group nears approval for Shelton location

Home-schooling group nears approval for Shelton location

SHELTON — Dozens of region little ones that are presently currently being home schooled may perhaps shortly have a long term facility to simply call house, at least during college several hours. 

The Scheduling and Zoning Fee, at its conference Wednesday, questioned for drafting of a favorable resolution for development of a Prepared Growth District at 60 Todd Road. The commission strategies to vote on the resolution upcoming 7 days. 

The move, if approved, would permit From Seeds to Sprouts, a non-public schooling affiliation that in accordance to its website provides a “curriculum … centered on a common Christian worldview” to these who are “disillusioned” with faculties but absence the implies to property school their small children, to open up in the existing building on web-site.

This constructing experienced been aspect of a larger PDD ask for from J&L Organization, LLC, that incorporated 86 apartments on a presently vacant part of the residence stated as 74 Todd Road. 

From Seeds to Sprouts previous year had spots in Southbury and Seymour. The group declared its strategies to go its Seymour locale to Todd Street in Shelton, but the complexity of the options — with the condominium element — delayed any remaining motion. 

From Seeds to Sprouts would be in the existing two-tale making that experienced long been house to Wonder Decades Mastering Center daycare facility. 

“We want a option for these kids,” stated lawyer Benjamin Proto Jr., who signifies the developer. “The most essential detail is to get these small children in the building. We can deal with the improvement (of the rest of the home) down the highway.” 

Proto urged the commission for acceptance as soon as achievable “so these kids can have a normalized discovering condition.”

With that in intellect, J&L Enterprise, LLC, determined to pull the condominium part and resubmit a PDD ask for for the existing making so the fee could act immediately and get the affiliation into procedure as soon as possible. 

A number of mothers and fathers – and two children – spoke at Wednesday’s public hearing, contacting on the fee to approve the program.

“We actually want to be in our setting up,” mentioned 6-12 months-aged Sebastian, looking through a letter he wrote to the commission with mom by his facet. 

Director Shawnee Scanife joined the dad and mom and children in asking for a speedy resolution to the matter. At this place, she reported she has been forced to obtain other accommodations that have not been conducive to instruction. 

The youngsters are home schooled, with some paying out element of the working day on internet site, others the overall faculty working day. Hrs of procedure are from 8 a.m. to about 3 p.m., with aftercare solutions working to 5:30 p.m. 

From Seeds to Sprouts is open to associates only and serves kids in grades Pre-K-4, with an aftercare application. Scanife explained 85 little ones would be served on web page, with six staffers. 

A private education affiliation does not run below the jurisdiction of any federal government company. This is a private member association, according to the web page, for “the function of education that establishes its individual functioning pointers and is not less than the jurisdiction of the condition, neighborhood, and federal government’s guidelines and laws.”

The firm does not receive general public funding.

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Construction contract awarded for Pacific View Elementary School renovation

Construction contract awarded for Pacific View Elementary School renovation

Encinitas has chosen a contractor for the multimillion-greenback transformation of the previous Pacific View Elementary College into a town cultural arts center, and design perform is expected to commence this winter season.

The previous university house occupies a downtown metropolis block together Third Street involving E and F streets.

“I really feel very pleased of remaining the mayor at the time we basically split ground on it,” Mayor Catherine Blakespear claimed Thursday as she talked about the Pacific Look at renovation programs.

Blakespear said she can recall speaking at Metropolis Council conferences in favor of turning the aged university home into a town arts heart ahead of she was elected in 2014, and she is not the only elected formal whose ties go way back again. Councilmember Tony Kranz was concerned in negotiating the land order agreement with the college district, Councilmember Kellie Hinze’s mom employed to train at the former elementary university, and Councilmember Pleasure Lyndes drew the primary landscape strategies for the volunteer team — Encinitas Arts, Tradition and Ecology Alliance — which hoped to take care of the home just after the metropolis bought it.

“So, 4 of the five of us have been deeply associated on the group level for mainly the complete time,” Blakespear said Thursday.

Citing declining enrollment, the Encinitas Union School District shut Pacific View Elementary University in 2003. The put sat vacant for many years although the district explored different sales proposals, including to a housing developer, right before at some point advertising it to the town for $10 million in 2014. To begin with, metropolis officers vowed that the put would be independently managed and funded, but a variety of permitting and insurance policy concerns designed challenges. Ultimately, the arts alliance team asked the city to get around and town officials started discovering their renovation alternatives past year.

On Wednesday, the council unanimously voted to award the renovation deal to Conan Building Inc. Underneath the terms of the agreement, Conan is to get $4.56 million and there’s also a 20 {e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} contingency fund set aside for any agreement amendments. The council also has hired Kleinfelder Development Expert services at a expense of $800,000, in addition a 15 percent contingency, to take care of and examine the development task.

Construction routines are envisioned to commence later on this wintertime and conclude by July 2024, a town employees report states.

Plans phone for introducing a new roof, flooring, countertops and lighting fixtures, as nicely as overhauling the composition to make it more earthquake-proof, renovating its growing older electrical process, incorporating a fireplace sprinkler program, and changing the walkways and doorways to make them compliant with the Us residents with Disabilities Act.

Wednesday’s Town Council vote was a bittersweet second for some arts coalition users who attended the assembly. Quite a few of them instructed the council they were glad the town was last but not least taking action to get the setting up open to the public, but they have been unhappy that the development action would eradicate some of their volunteer renovation do the job, like repainting equally inside and out.

Encinitas Buddies of the Arts board member Kathleen Lees stated her corporation expects to keep on to assist out with fundraising. The metropolis will need to have cash for landscaping and building furniture, which is not incorporated in the city’s new construction deal, she claimed. The friends arts team also is likely to advise the town on paint shade choices.

A single merchandise that stays undecided is what makes use of will occur in the foreseeable future arts facility. When the coalition group was proposing to manage the area, there had been a wide selection of proposals, like every little thing from storm water assortment education classes to children’s dance classes. When the metropolis took in excess of, the ideas were being downsized to concentrate on arts-only programing.

Blakespear claimed the city will be executing neighborhood outreach in the coming months to discover out what arts programming inhabitants want at the web site.

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A.K.Educational Consultants organises Pre-Departure Briefing for MBBS in Russia

A.K.Educational Consultants organises Pre-Departure Briefing for MBBS in Russia

India, 26 th Oct 2022: Carrying forward their legacy of around 21 yrs as the foremost educational consultancy in India, A.K.Instructional Consultants, recognised to give learners with a easy passage to pioneering clinical institutions in Russia for their MBBS research, successfully conducted a Pre-Departure briefing on 22nd October in Pune.

At the occasion helmed by the founder Dr.Amit Kamle and his wife Pornima Amit Kamle, the candidates were provided a presentation introducing them to the world of possibilities at premium Russian Clinical Universities with environment-course infrastructure. The function began with Pornima Amit Kamle’s welcome note to candidates and their guardians, adopted by Lamp Lightening Ceremony. The occasion honored meritorious candidates, like the NEET topper of the cohort, Sandhya Mehkare who secured 407 marks and was felicitated by the founder himself. Together with the academic benefits and prospects that appear with a healthcare diploma from Russia, the founder’s tackle to the college student also involved a in-depth temporary on the documentation system, airport formalities, lodging, vacation, and other preparations in which the consultancy has assisted.

Dr. Amit Kamle, celebrating the achievement of still one more batch claimed, “We believe that the new generations of health professionals have to have comprehensive publicity to the throughout the world tactics in the healthcare sciences. This will help them provide again to the state world requirements followed in the profession and add to the in general progression of the Indian healthcare sector. We handhold candidates through the daunting admission procedure. Candidates from a variety of backgrounds search for our assistance to fulfill their goals of getting health professionals.”   

Testifying the merit of A.K. Academic Consultants in the career of his youngsters, Mr. Shankar Rode mentioned, “The rely on and faith that I have in Dr. Amit Kamle and his staff just can’t be expressed

in words. In 2008 my daughter was enrolled in Kazan State Health-related University and she cleared her FMGE examination and is now working in Pune. This yr my son, Vedant is enrolling at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal College. As a father or mother, there couldn’t be a prouder moment.”

About the event, the main applicant of the group, Sandhya Mehkare from Pune reported, “The entire session was professionally carried out. Dr. Amit Kamle’s briefing was so in-depth and direct that all my uncertainties have been answered. The one-to-a person interaction with him was entertaining and enlightening. The complete  A.K.Instructional Consultants workforce is pretty cooperative.”

Atharva Jambhavdekar, a prospect from Mumbai mentioned, “The Pre Departure Meet structured by A.K.Educational Consultants was of excellent support. I could interact with my colleagues who are traveling with me.” Even further, Mr. Shashikant Jadhav, father of Shraddha Jadhav of Mumbai extra, “I increase my heartiest and warmest greetings to the full A.K.Instructional Consultants for their aid and extended help. I came across numerous organizations but A.K.Instructional Consultants I really feel at home.”

For more info, please pay a visit to – https://www.akecindia.com/

“This is a organization push release that is not aspect of editorial material. No journalist of The Hindu was included in the publication of this release.”

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When Covid hit, Vermont’s public school enrollment dropped and homeschooling spiked. Then the trend reversed.

When Covid hit, Vermont’s public school enrollment dropped and homeschooling spiked. Then the trend reversed.

Observe: This story is extra than a week outdated. Given how rapidly the Covid-19 pandemic is evolving, we advise that you study our most up-to-date protection here.

Students head toward Edmunds Middle Faculty in Burlington on the initially day of classes in August. File photograph by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Concerning the fall of 2019 and 2020, amid a pandemic year that noticed the introduction of digital instruction, K-12 enrollment in Vermont’s general public schools dropped by thousands. 

At the identical time, the selection of Vermont youngsters staying homeschooled spiked to a high not found in virtually 40 decades.

But amongst 2020 and 2021, the reverse occurred: The number of homeschooled youngsters reduced, while community universities saw a new inflow of learners. 

State enrollment facts from the Covid-19 pandemic university yr, last current over the summer, reveals a surge in fascination in homeschooling — adopted by an apparent reversal, as college students returned to public university buildings.  

Enrollment in Vermont general public educational institutions and home study have exhibited continual but reverse tendencies around the many years. Because 2004, the year with the earliest commonly available data, Vermont’s community faculty enrollment has lowered by about 10,000 college students. 

The variety of Vermont children enrolled in homeschool, meanwhile, has ticked up above the a long time, to approximately 2,600 by the slide of 2019 from 92 in 1981. 

But the Covid-19 pandemic experienced an influence on equally kinds of schooling.

Involving drop 2019 and fall 2020, Vermont community faculty enrollment dropped by approximately 2,900 college students — meaning the state dropped about 3.5{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} of its public faculty pupils. (That decline improves to approximately 5{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} if pre-K enrollment is factored in.)

At the exact time, the range of homeschooled college students far more than doubled, expanding from about 2,600 to 5,500. 

That determine arrives from Company of Education and learning facts structured by Retta Dunlap, who operates the homeschool advocacy team Vermont Residence Education Community.

Dad and mom experienced multiple reasons for switching to homeschool in 2020, Dunlap reported.

Homeschooling parents are “not any one particular label,” she mentioned. “I suggest, they are across the board. You are unable to simply call them all Christians. You can’t simply call them all atheists or Democrats or Republicans. They are just all about.” 

For several, she reported, the shift was prompted by worries about faculty mask mandates and the likelihood of Covid-19 vaccine mandates. (Vermont has not needed the Covid-19 vaccine to go to university.) 

Some were frustrated with the digital mastering that colleges had carried out in the spring of 2020, Dunlap reported. Distant instruction also gave moms and dads a likelihood to see what their children’s classrooms and curricula seemed like — and some did not like what they saw. 

“Covid place a major window on to the general public college technique, and what they do in a classroom,” she reported. “And a picture’s well worth 1,000 terms. Which is not heading to be so (easy) to shake from parents’ minds.”

Some mothers and fathers who manufactured the switch to homeschooling during the pandemic strategy to adhere with it, in accordance to Dunlap. But, according to the Agency of Education and learning, a lot of household analyze college students returned to community faculty in the drop of 2021 — the 1st yr given that the pandemic when faculties planned to be in session complete time. 

Among Oct 2020 and Oct 2021, enrollment in the state’s general public schools enhanced by in excess of 1,100.  

Meanwhile, the amount of Vermont pupils enrolled in household examine dropped by about 1,500. The motive for the discrepancy in between the two figures is unclear. 

“In (the slide of 2021), we observed many individuals swap from homestudy to in-individual mastering,” claimed Suzanne Sprague, a spokesperson for the Vermont Agency of Instruction.

Vermont’s college enrollment knowledge is collected in Oct, soon after pupils have settled into their faculties, and normally becomes publicly readily available the subsequent yr. Data for the slide of 2022 will come to be available early future calendar year, a point out spokesperson explained.

The state transformed its data collection procedures in the 2018-19 school yr, Sprague reported, which “had impacts” on that year’s facts.

The state has also found an influx of citizens through the pandemic. Involving 2020 and 2021, the condition welcomed around 4,800 new individuals, the broad vast majority of whom arrived from other components of the country. 

It’s not distinct if that migration experienced an influence on the bump in enrollment in the slide of 2021 — or if it alerts a change in the lengthy decrease in the state’s college-aged population. 

“There’s so several factors at enjoy, right?” explained Ted Fisher, an Company of Education spokesperson. “The all round narrative about declining enrollment has been that just younger Vermonters are a lot less very likely to want to stay in Vermont than they were in former generations.”

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