In an effort to expand outreach to rural and small-town communities across the United States, Andover’s Admissions Office has launched the STARS (Small Town and Rural Students) Boarding School Initiative in partnership with Choate Rosemary Hall, Deerfield Academy, The Hotchkiss School, and St. Paul’s School. The initiative is an offshoot of the STARS College Network.
In the 2026 State of the Academy, 6.0 percent of respondents identified as currently living in a rural community, compared with 30.7 percent urban and 63.3 percent suburban. The STARS Boarding School Initiative aims to increase awareness of and access to college-preparatory boarding school education for students from small-town and rural communities across the U.S., according to an email to The Phillipian from the Admissions Office attributed to Assistant Director of Admissions Chris Powers, Associate Dean and Director of Admissions Jill Thompson, Assistant Head of School for Admission and Financial Aid Jim Ventre ’79, and Associate Director of Admissions Sarah Carroll.
The Admissions Office formally launched the initiative last summer after reviewing prior rural recruitment efforts and consulting with external partners.
“The planning for [the STARS Boarding School Initiative] was driven by a desire to formalize and expand upon previous outreach efforts. The admissions office analyzed the history of rural recruitment to determine which approaches yield success and which did not. The team explored ongoing rural efforts at the university level as well as the strategies used by peer institutions. Coupled with insights from rural educators, community-based organizations and leads from past and current Andover families, and in partnership with four peer boarding schools (Choate, Deerfield, Hotchkiss, and St. Paul’s), we formally launched this initiative last summer,” said the Admissions Office.
Next year will mark Andover’s second admissions cycle with the rural recruitment initiative. The Admissions Office described the initiative’s current partnerships and outreach efforts.
“[Head of School] Raynard Kington initiated a deeper commitment to our rural outreach, and he continues to support our efforts. In addition to our partnership with STARS, we have also begun to grow other partnerships with the following organizations: National Rural Educators, Camp Susan Curtis, Future Farmers of America, Quiz Bowl and the Andover Class of 1965. We have also been participating in STARS webinars, and attending rural events, such as the Machias Blueberry festival, in Washington County, Maine. We have also engaged in targeted recruitment travel for this effort, like the Ten Schools Admission Organization Mountain Towns trip this spring,” said the Admissions Office.
Looking ahead, the Admissions Office hopes the initiative will expand Andover’s rural enrollment while ensuring that the school is the right fit for prospective students.
“Our hope is that we will continue to grow our population of rural students at Andover, but we want to make sure—as we always do—that we are bringing students to Andover who will be able to thrive in our academic program and take full advantage of the Andover experience. That takes careful and thoughtful recruitment and candidate cultivation as we want to be certain the match is exactly right for students coming to us from rural communities!” said the Admissions Office.
