It's All "Technology" to Parents: Helping Admission Teams Connect the Dots

By Amy Mortimer

If you have taken or given a tour at a private school in the last several years, you have heard the questions. How does your school handle screens? Do students use laptops in class? What about robotics? What are you doing about AI? We don't want phones during the school day. Or, just as often, we do want them, but what does that actually look like?

Over more than 25 years in admission, and now as an educational consultant who is in schools all the time, I have watched these questions multiply, fueled by both fear of and excitement about AI in PK-12 schools.

This confusion is neither new nor unique to private schools, but arguably private schools have some advantages here. They are known to be more agile in designing their own curricula, can build or retool academic spaces more quickly, and can respond quickly to what they see in their classrooms. Most continue to work hard to adopt and refine technology policies and programs that reflect their mission and culture.

In my experience, the gap is rarely in what schools are actually doing. It shows up in how confidently the people on the front lines, the admission and marketing teams, are able to explain it.

The problem: to parents, it's all one thing

And explaining it is no small task. For prospective families, "technology" covers many different things: discrete programs like robotics teams and computer science classes, tools that enhance English, math, history, and world languages, and questions of appropriate use, from screen time in kindergarten to cell phone policies and digital citizenship.

Faculty and school leaders see these as separate conversations. Most adults who work in schools can easily explain why a programming class has value while phones during the school day may not, or why students need to build computer skills in Lower School to support strong engineering and robotics programs in Middle School.

Parents, however, can struggle to see the scaffolding a successful program requires. To them, it all gets lumped together under one anxious heading.

That lumping produces a confusing set of judgments. Little time in front of screens is great, but no robotics team is not. Research skills built on a computer are great, but using AI for that research may or may not be. These reactions tell us that parents are sorting a very complicated landscape without a map, and that the map is ours to offer.

Add AI, and now parents are genuinely worried. Will their children be prepared for college and the "real world" in this new age? AI has turned what was already a confusing conversation into an emotional one.

Admission teams are fielding these fears in real time: on group tours, during open house panels, and in one-on-one parent interviews, all while reading how a particular family feels about technology and authentically sharing the school's position.

The solution: articulate the why, not just the what

Admission and marketing teams don't set curriculum or usage policies. But they are responsible for articulating them, and that means explaining not only what the policy is but why the school holds it. Even more importantly, tying each policy to the school's mission, culture, and curriculum.

Sometimes that means being direct about expectations.

For example: If your school does not allow phones from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., it helps to say so plainly and then give the reason: "We believe a critical part of our school experience is students engaging with their peers during the day. Lunch is about more than food. It's a time for students to be outside, share a meal with their advisor and advisory, or meet with visiting college representatives."

An answer like that explains why the policy is a priority, speaks to the school's culture, and offers concrete examples of what students do instead. It sounds simple, but the harder part comes next, with the inevitable follow-up questions.

"How do I reach my child during the day? What if there is an emergency at school?" This is where having the details ready pays off. “There is a phone available in the office, and the school has a notification plan that will provide families with details and instructions.”

It also means being honest about what the school is still figuring out. No school has AI fully solved. A team that can say "here is what we believe, here is what we're testing, and here is how we're thinking about what comes next" shows that the school is leading on the question rather than reacting to it.

How to get there

Meet with your technology and academic teams. If you can, sit down regularly with technology educators and division leaders. These conversations are where admission staff pick up the reasoning, the research and data, and the examples that let them speak about technology with confidence.

Ask clarifying questions. When a parent says "we're a no-screen family," that's the start of the conversation, not the end. No passive screen time? No devices in the early grades? Concern about social media? Parents often haven't sorted this out themselves, and a few good questions help both of you get to what really matters.

Collect good examples. A good example can do the work of a long, jargon-filled conversation, and it is what families will remember.

When I last gave admission tours, I loved catching our Lower School technology educator teaching coding through a game of red light, green light. As the kids dashed across the field, giggling in the early fall sun and yelling out commands and sequence words, I would turn to the group and say, "Welcome to Lower School technology class." It did something no brochure could: it showed those families how our school connected technology to the broader academic expectations and the culture of our Lower School. Every school has moments like this. They're worth hunting for.

Draw the through lines. Admission guides can help connect the dots for a parent: There are no screens in kindergarten, coding begins in third grade (sometimes without a device at all), and that foundation leads directly to the award-winning Middle School robotics team. When parents see the intention behind each choice, the policies stop looking like contradictions and start looking like a plan.

The outcome: a real point of differentiation

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to technology in schools, and AI has only heightened the tension. That is exactly the opportunity. Families are confused, and some schools are still communicating in fragments. The team that can clearly explain the intentionality behind its school's technology program, and where the landscape may be leading next, will win the day.

This isn't about taking a side in the screen-time debate or the AI debate. It's about articulation. Parents want to know their children will be both safe and well prepared for the world they will inherit. The schools that can show that, clearly and confidently, will stand out.

As an educational consultant with School First, Amy Mortimer coaches admission directors and their teams and conducts admission audits that review school communications, the family customer experience, and every step of the admission process from first inquiry through enrollment. She also works directly with families as they pursue independent education for their students. She is a frequent presenter for professional associations on enrollment trends, and speaks to faculty and staff about the role of enrollment in a school's health and to parents about navigating the admission process.

School First Consultant Bio

Amy Mortimer

Educational Consultant

Previously, Amy spent more than twenty years at a coed independent school serving students in PK–12th grade, most recently as Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid, and before that as Director of Admission. She has experience in independent school recruitment and retention and has worked alongside thousands of families across every division, including early childcare, as they navigated the admission and financial aid process.

Over the course of her career, she has trained and led admission committees, coordinated assessments for grades PK–12, and designed tours and events that welcome families into the school community. She has deep experience creating volunteer programs and has formed partnerships with other organizations to connect with new families. She has co-led major branding, website, and marketing efforts that helped each school tell its story with clarity and heart.

As Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid, Amy was part of setting yearly admission, financial aid, and enrollment goals. She also managed a financial aid budget in partnership with the Head of School and CFO and oversaw the school's retention program for 850 students, from the childcare program through 12th grade. She presented regularly to the Board of Trustees on enrollment and financial aid, and she brings a trustee's perspective to that work as well, having served on the board of a local non-profit.