The Savannah Country Day School Partners with Blackbaud for a Simplified Enrollment Process

Set within a landscape renowned for history and natural beauty, The Savannah Country Day School traces its roots to the early 1900s, yet shapes today’s youth into leaders for the modern age.

Country Day sets high expectations for its K–12 students, while providing a strong sense of place on a 65-acre wooded campus with outdoor learning experiences that include growing organic produce, tending the school’s apiary, and reciting soliloquies in the Shakespeare Garden. With its unique mix of progressive and traditional offerings, the school relies on a thoughtful admissions process that became even more effective as Country Day adopted Blackbaud Enrollment Management System™, including Committee Review.

“The Committee Review feature has saved hours of work, but it really goes beyond that. Now committee members can review files on their own time, whether that be on a free period sitting under a live oak tree on campus or after school hours,” said Josceline Reardon, Country Day business analyst.

Easy and Ecofriendly

In the past, Country Day’s admissions process was admittedly cumbersome, with an unwieldy paper trail.

“Our admissions staff would prepare and print spreadsheets to provide detailed candidate overviews to committee members,” Reardon explained. “The spreadsheets then accompanied the candidate’s manila applicant folders for review. Not only was this a manual process for our admissions staff; it also only allowed one committee member at a time to review a file, and that was on site in the Office of Admissions.”

Now, with Blackbaud Enrollment Management System™ and its Committee Review feature, committee members can easily look through documentation and share feedback via their individual devices—no matter their location— simplifying collaboration. “Internally, our admissions team values the centralized approach and the ability to easily communicate with families throughout the process,” Reardon said.

A reduction in paper copies is also more ecofriendly, and that’s important to Country Day, which was recognized as an inaugural Green Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2012 and continues a long-term commitment to sustainability.

Stakeholder Benefits

Country Day’s success in transitioning to cloud-based admissions helps illustrate even larger triumphs in implementing a “whole school” approach to education management solutions with Blackbaud.

Once students enroll, their information carries over seamlessly from the admissions process, another timesaver for staff. Likewise, new families already feel comfortable navigating the school’s website and internal portal with the convenience of online forms, report cards and a personalized calendar.

Administrators can communicate easily with all stakeholders in the school community, past and present, Reardon said, while faculty have added tools and time to focus on the school’s ultimate goal: To cultivate a lifelong passion of learning in each student.