2 min read August 2022 — In an interview with Invest:, Tyler Hodges, president and head of school at The Bolles School, discussed the institution’s service leadership program and its partnership with the Mayo Clinic. He added that, “We, along with most independent schools, have seen a lot of growth and interest in the school. We will open this year at our largest enrollment since the early 2000s, prior to the Great Recession.”
How is The Bolles School positioned for the next few years?
We, along with most independent schools, have seen a lot of growth and interest in the school. We will open this year at our largest enrollment since the early 2000s, prior to the Great Recession. This has brought on some challenges. We dream of having waitlists but then it is hard to navigate. Strategically, we have many capital projects going on right now. The big one is the Center for Innovation, which is a three-story, 47,000-square-foot science, math, robotics and technology building on the river. It will take about 16 months or so to complete. College placement continues to be amazing, which is exciting because the college market is getting more competitive. We are finding that our placement rates are great and every student ends up where they need to be with many different options. This is a testament to our process here, as well as our counseling team. We have also reconnected with many of our alumni outside of Jacksonville. It is easy to get distracted but it is also fun when you see that you have transformative people all over the country.
What preparations have you made to accommodate the heightened enrollment?
We haven’t had to add a tremendous number of positions because our goal isn’t to grow Bolles outside of its sweet spot, as we see it. When you reach a certain size, you become more transactional rather than relational. We don’t want this to be the case. We have done a lot of enhancement in our boarding program, which is a defining aspect of Bolles in our area.
We want to make it a family atmosphere because a boarding school can feel like a grind for some people – like you are in a hotel away from home. We don’t want that here. We want our faculty to be like second parents to these students. They can come here to train for a sport or have an arts experience or just be better prepared academically. We want greater student autonomy and choice, so we have expanded our electives for them to find areas where they thrive. We want to give them multiple avenues for success. We started a global learning certificate program, so they can go through certain travel and foreign language requirements to get a special accommodation on their diploma. This is getting kids out into the community and abroad.
What is your role in pursuing education for underserved students?
We have tremendous financial aid services, which is important, as it gets more competitive to get into Bolles. People are worried they will get priced out of our market but we want to make sure that doesn’t happen. We are an anchor institution in Jacksonville and we want to serve the community. It is better for us if we are not just a group of the exact same people doing the exact same things. We put a real priority on emotional intelligence and social skills and that is at the root of everything we do.
How have you been dealing with the teacher shortage?
Public schools are struggling with this but we are blessed because we have a good reputation and we are a desirable place to work. My human resources team and financial team have worked hard to push salaries as benefits to make them competitive. We have worked hard to offer tuition assistance and health benefits that keep great people at our school. We do national searches at Bolles but we are still getting many applications for each position.
How will you foster partnerships with the school?
We have a big opportunity to strengthen our relationship with the Mayo Clinic. We are blessed to have them here in Jacksonville and there is a lot of cross-over in alumni and parents. We are also expanding our outdoor initiatives to get kids out of their comfort zone. We are planning programs in the Everglades and in North Carolina where they can enjoy the outdoors and do service work as well. We are also focusing on mental health because everyone was impacted by COVID and there is a little bit of a mental health crisis. Students weren’t interacting with their peers during COVID, so we are doing everything we can to alleviate that negative stress, which will bring on what I call “positive stress.” We are focusing on important social events and counseling, as well as recreational time to help foster this mindset. We want to emphasize healthy living to our students.
How do you integrate philanthropic service and what impact does that have on students?
Service should anchor everything we do. We call it service leadership, which is recognizing you are part of a larger community and planet. We are sending people out to do volunteer work and our entire freshman class does a service project. The students really make a mark. It is a good reminder that the world isn’t all about you, which is an important message. We have a big focus at Bolles on kindness and citizenship, which we believe help form amazing people that understand the complexity of the world. We need people who are going to be reflective to take on the big challenges.
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