Meet Sander van Otterloo, New Director of Secondary School Counseling

By Lee Carey

Capitalizing on his dedication to Shore, his many years of eloquent recommendation craftsmanship, and indelible memories of his personal experiences as an applicant and secondary school student, Sander van Otterloo '91 personifies an earnest drive to know and to champion adolescents as they come to know themselves through the process of secondary school application.

What follows are excerpts from an interview with Sander on the subject of stepping up this past year to lead the process and practice the art of counseling students and families.

“Having exclusively been in the classroom, it has been enormously rewarding to wrap my head around this new frontier in my own career. I came into the role knowing I could draw on experience from the strength and reputation of the school as well as from Ben Kennedy and Larry Griffin as specific partners. I do orchestrate the big picture, but as a trio, we communicate often and always. We strategize and decide which of us is best aligned to go to bat for a particular student.”

“On the one hand, I can say I know Shore students fairly well. I know them from my classes and teams, from the Hosmer Point trip and just from the daily hallways. Then in the counseling role, I have the chance to take these students, and in seeing and learning their personal nuances, create deeper connections. They talk candidly about their hopes and desires as they try to talk about the person they hope to become. I see the alignments between how they feel and what we can see in their future.”

“Shore students look at and are going to a wide variety of fabulous schools. Every school has a distinct personality and it has been important for me to get to know all of the schools to which kids apply. The best source of information is often the student tour guide. They are living the experience, and I like to see a school from that personal perspective. I love hearing reports on how successful and happy and productive Shore graduates are in their current placements. It was particularly rewarding at Brooks to be toured by graduate Anna Trustey. To see and hear about the school though her eyes was a distinct pleasure.”

“All schools covet Shore graduates. They enter with superb study skills in place. They know how to write well and in different contexts. They tend to have a general love of learning. Schools know the grades at Shore Country Day School correlate with the grades they will attain at the most competitive secondary schools. Finally I would say they tend to be well-rounded. When I say well rounded, that could refer just to their academic preparation, but really it reflects on their overall school participation and the likelihood of their participating in a lot of different activities while being strong community members, too.”

“As a ninth grader myself, I went through the full applicant experience at many schools where our students today apply. Many aspects and mechanics of the process are the same. Footprints of schools are similar, but every one of them has also continued to evolve. Being a local boy and understanding the geography gives me a leg up on understanding the feasibility of logistics. At the end of my own process, I did not choose my most prestigious option. Instead I chose the one in which I could envision my happiness and in which I could excel. I was looking for a balance of academic vigor, a robust social experience, and a place where I could still be a kid. I had so much space in which to grow, and today I am still strongly connected to my choice of school and my friends. It is the kind of outcome I would wish for every student.”