Why Admissions Consulting?

Gaby has over a decade of experience working in independent school admissions at Archer, Crossroads, Marymount and Westside Neighborhood School (WNS). As a native of Los Angeles, an independent school graduate, and an independent school parent, Gaby understands admissions from every perspective. Gaby began her career in admissions at The Archer School for Girls. During her six years at Archer, she served as Assistant Director of Admissions and 6th grade advisor. She then worked at Marymount High School as the Associate Director of Admission. She also worked as the Assistant Director of Admissions at the Westside Neighborhood School (WNS), a PS through 8th grade private school in Playa Vista. Finally, for two years, Gaby supported the Crossroads School admissions office as an interviewer before moving into her role as an independent educational consultant.

Gaby understands the many educational models given her wide array of experience working in K-12, PS-8, 6-12, and 9-12 schools and in both co-ed and single sex school environments. As a way of giving back to her community, Gaby volunteers annually with the Gabriella Foundation Charter School preparing students for independent school admissions interviews.

Sandy is the founder of a top city-wide admissions consulting company for preschool through high school. Her goal is to help families make informed and thoughtful choices about the schools that will best suit their child. Her mission is to take the mystery and anxiety out of the school finding process for parents and provide them with comprehensive information on all of their educational choices. Sandy is not only knowledgeable about private and parochial schools, including boarding schools, but she is also an expert in explaining and navigating the myriad public school options as well. She has been interviewed for Spectrum News, Beyond the Brochure, the Los Angeles Times, the Hollywood Reporter, and is the admissions expert on the website Kids in the House.

Sandy is a professional member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA). For the past 15 years, Sandy’s company has helped thousands of families with the planning and admissions process for preschool, elementary school, middle, and high school for their children.

With over 25 years in education and a decade of experience as the Associate Director of Admissions at two independent schools in Los Angeles, Priya understands the private school admissions landscape from an insider’s perspective. As an Educational Consultant , she focuses on pre-school through 12th grade and helps her clients through every aspect of the application process, from managing timelines and strengthening applications to understanding the cultures of the various schools.

First and foremost, however, Priya’s mission is to help children and families find the right schools for them. It’s about identifying where a child will have confidence, fit in, and thrive, and where families can feel like part of a greater community. Her services include general overview information, child assessments, best-fit school identification, interview preparation, essay editing, process organization, and more.

Lisa has been a professional in education in Los Angeles since 1991. She was the Director of Admissions K-12 at Wildwood School and DK-6 at Echo Horizon School. She was the Director of Development at PS #1, Director of Marketing and Assistant Director of Admission at Westside Neighborhood School, and she worked with teachers doing Professional Development at the Archer School for Girls. She taught elementary school for 10 years.

Lisa’s experience has given her an understanding of the importance of fit. She has a very personalized approach. Lisa listens and takes time to understand a family’s needs so that she can help find a school where their child will thrive. She helps families with the entire admission process from identifying schools that are the perfect fit to application guidance and review, to interview prep, to validating impressions from school visits, and all the steps along the way that contribute to helping students become the strongest applicants possible. Lisa has helped families with the admission process (Preschool through 12th grade) for over 2 decades.

Elaine has dedicated her life to education. She has spent the last twenty years teaching in public and private schools in Los Angeles, advising families, and most recently, serving as the Associate Director of Admissions at Carlthorp School. She not only understands the unique admissions landscape from an educational point of view, but also from the lens of a parent, having just gone through the admissions process with her own children. Elaine has learned valuable insights from both sides and is ready to share her extensive knowledge and assist parents who are trying to navigate through the world of private, public, and charter schools in Los Angeles.

Depending on your needs as you go through the admissions process, Elaine offers hourly “a la carte” services personalized to meet your specific requests in areas including (but not limited to): narrowing a list of best fit schools, application review, interview preparation, assessment feedback, and organization of schools’ timelines and deadlines. She also weighs the pros and cons for those families who are deciding between public and private schools, and guides them through the options of lotterying into charter, magnet, and dual language immersion schools outside their zoned district. In addition to her hourly services, Elaine also offers full service packages to families who find peace of mind in having a consultant guide them through the whole admissions season, from application to placement.

In the highly competitive world of independent school admissions, having an expert on your team is advantageous. Twenty years of experience as an independent school administrator has provided Gabby with the skills and insight needed to help families achieve the educational goals the family aspires to. Gabby served as Director of Admissions at Milken Community High School, Brentwood School, and most recently as the Director of Student Placement at The Center for Early Education.

Having honed her skills, advising thousands of families in the Los Angeles area while working within independent schools, Gabby is now prepared to offer her assistance in a decidedly personalized format. A comprehensive process will provide information about the wide range of schools in the area to help identify schools that match the needs of the applicant. Once schools are identified, Gabby will help students organize and review applications, perfect their interview skills, and assemble an educational profile that will present each student in the best possible light.

Having served as a career admissions professional for nearly the past 25 years, Stephen has held a variety of roles in a number of different college admissions offices, including at his alma mater, Drew University (NJ), Occidental College (CA), and New York University (NY). Ultimately, Stephen realized that independent schools can provide transformational experiences for all family members connected to a particular institution. Thus, he was compelled to begin working at various Junior Kindergarten – Grade 12 independent schools, and he could not have been happier with that decision to leave the higher education admissions landscape. After serving as the Director of Admissions at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks (CA), The Pennington School (NJ), and Fort Worth Country Day (TX), Stephen spent the last 2 years working as the Director of Admissions at Carlthorp School in Santa Monica (CA). Stephen chaired the Los Angeles Independent School Consortium from 2016-2018, served on the Steering Committee from 2015-2020, and over the years has been highly influenced by the writings of Angela Duckworth and Daniel Pink.

In his consulting practice, Stephen works with families who are looking for private school educational options for all students entering Preschool – Grade 12, and is also able to assist families in searching for college/university programs for graduating high school students. He offers both hourly and comprehensive packages to suit any family’s particular set of needs throughout the academic year. By the conclusion of each admissions cycle, Stephen strives to make all families feel seen, known, valued, and heard through his highly-personalized and nuanced methods. In his free time, Stephen enjoys traveling to the beach, desert, or local mountain communities in southern California, and eating as much Peruvian food as possible.