Principles of Good Practice

In addition to the conditions that all ISAAGNY schools agree to as members, all member schools are asked to abide by these Principles of Good Practice. These principles are intended to provide common ground for the interaction of students and schools, parents and schools and schools with schools, understanding and appreciation of the interests and obligations of each will help ensure orderly and professional admission procedures.

• A school will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its admission policies.
• The school seeks to ensure the appropriate match between a prospective student/family and the mission of the institution.
• The school respects and affirms the dignity and worth of each individual in the admissions process.
• The school operates under a clear set of practices for gathering, disseminating and maintaining prospective student information and respects the need for confidentiality.
• The director of admissions and, by extension, the head of each school bear the ultimate responsibility for communicating these principles of good practice to all professional staff and volunteers (including parents, alumi/ae, coaches and faculty members). Representatives of the school will not initiate the transfer or recruitment of students from other schools.
• A school will make clear all dates concerning the admission procedure and ensure adherence to the ISAAGNY notification and reply dates. The candidate and parents will be informed of these and complete costs for the coming year. Wait list parents must be given the same (or later at the school’s discretion) reply date as those initially accepted.
• The school recognizes the right of currently enrolled students to consider other educational options and provides appropriate support in that process. A school will not offer a place to a student without first receiving an official transcript (or its equivalent) from the student’s present school.
• When each admission season begins, the school should make clear in its materials and communications with applicants whether that school will accept applications and grant interviews based on a numerical (total applications) limit or chronological (fixed date) deadline. A school should only accept application fees for application that will be fully processed.
• Schools should not require families to list on the application the other schools to which they are applying and should not ask for that information in the interview process nor of the sending school.
• Families of siblings and legacies should be given an equal opportunity to apply to any school they want. Admissions personnel should not ask families or directors of sending schools if they have requested early notification at another school. However, a family may want to communicate this information to schools.
• A school should not knowingly offer a contract to a student from the waiting list without determining that the family has no contractual obligation to another school for the year in question to protect a school from financial loss.
• Schools should mail or e-mail decisions only on the decision date to all applicants who applied. Schools should not solicit or recruit individual candidates during the decision making process.