Knightly News

Sports practice. Dentist appointments. Completing that art project. Sometimes it seems there just aren’t enough hours in the day for students and families. The Episcopal College Counseling team has developed a college test preparation/admissions process that may help by eliminating the need for one more after school commitment.

Less Stress

Beginning this school year, tenth and eleventh graders will participate in a comprehensive test prep program during the regular school day. “This program doesn’t take away from evenings or weekends,” says College Counseling Director Justin Fenske. “It’s meant to make it easy.” Students will work on college test prep during a study hall period once every seven days for a full semester. Ultimately, the sophomores and juniors will benefit from a year of combined test prep experience between the two grade levels.

Fenske and his team have partnered with Masteryprep to make the program a reality. MasteryPrep is a college readiness company that specializes in helping schools improve their students’ standardized test scores. The company was founded by Baton Rouge native Craig Gehring, and every year MasteryPrep teachers help more than 175,000 students improve their testing performance.

A MasteryPrep teacher will meet with tenth and eleventh graders on the Episcopal campus, meaning no extra drop off or pick up for families. Fenske says the sessions are geared to the participants. “The sessions will be smaller than average so that the teacher can work one-on-one with the students,” he says. “This allows everyone to get the level of attention that they need.”

Dedicated time during the school day and smaller class sizes can go a long way to reduce college test prep stress. In addition, Fenske says there is also a benefit to beginning the program in the tenth grade year. “We want to help students prepare early so there is no last-minute scramble,” he says. The College Counseling team advises students to have a test score that they feel good about by the end of their junior year. With comprehensive test preparation beginning in sophomore year, this goal will be more easily achieved.

More Learning

During these dedicated test prep sessions, students will review test content and learn pacing and time management, essential test-taking techniques, tips for the most important question types and effective guessing strategies. In addition to the regular test prep meetings, students have the opportunity to participate in virtual test prep boot camps, similar to the boot camps that have been offered in the past. These experiences are often fast paced and provide students with a glimpse of the reality of test taking day. After the students have completed the initial year of preparation, they will have access to additional online resources to help them continue studying and preparing. “This is a comprehensive, prolonged approach to the college admission testing experience,” says Fenske. He says accessing this type of program elsewhere would be costly, but the Episcopal student fee is minimal and built into the student enrollment contract.

Fenske points out that success on college admission tests is related to a student’s overall academic experience. With Episcopal’s rigorous academic curriculum, students are already going into the test prep phase with a solid foundation. Another portion of this formula for success is a personalized learning experience offered by teachers who truly want to see students achieve, whether through office hours discussions or classroom concept review. Having access to three full-time College Counselors who can advise students on everything from choosing a class to choosing a major is also a tremendous benefit. Perhaps that benefit has never been more important than now when the college admissions journey is constantly evolving.

Episcopal is known for helping students achieve their goals of earning admission to the right college. Each year, 100% of the school’s graduates are accepted into universities, many of them highly selective institutions. This new test prep initiative will help everyone from National Merit Semifinalists to thespians and athletes find that right match while also better managing the demands and stresses of daily life.

Meet the College Counseling Team

Justin Fenske
Director of College Counseling
Email Justin

Dr. Alan Newton
College Counselor
Email Dr. Newton

Julia Spaht
Assistant Director of College Counselor
Email Julia

Welcome to Episcopal!

Please join us in welcoming Julia Spaht to the College Counseling team as the Assistant Director of College Counseling. Spaht previously worked as the Episcopal Writing Center Director and an Upper School English and Art History teacher. Most recently, she was the Admissions and Enrollment Director at St. James Episcopal Day School, where she helped boost enrollment by 10%. As an independent college counselor and essay coach, Spaht worked with students from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances as they pursued their long-term education goals. Spaht grew up in Atlanta, Georgia where she attended the Westminster Schools. During her undergraduate studies at Washington and Lee University, she studied in Italy and interned at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Spaht later earned a master’s degree in English education from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Arts in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English.