For the 2025-2026 academic year, 84 new students enrolled, bringing our total enrollment to 395 students at the start of the year. Since opening day, one student has joined the school, and four more are enrolled to begin in January.
Our retention rate of 89.6% is the highest in seven years. Attrition numbers continue to decline, and inquiries for the 2025-2026 school year are strong. 71 families have visited EMS for our two open houses, and 42 families have toured the campus with an admissions team member. Our Seedlings class for toddlers is currently at capacity and has a waitlist for the current fall and upcoming spring semester.
Morrow House enjoyed hosting 13 guests for our November “Bring a Friend Day,” and our upcoming Design Thinking Workshops on Dec. 13 offer students in Little School and Morrow House another opportunity to bring a friend for an exciting Saturday of science fun.
Where Our Families Reside
Our families currently reside in 62 different towns in New Jersey and New York. The top 10 towns and cities are Tenafly, Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee, Edgewater, Englewood, Weehawken, Cresskill, Palisades Park, Cliffside Park, and Closter.
Attracting New Families
To attract applicants, several initiatives are offered throughout the year, including virtual parent and alumni panel discussions for prospective families, talks given by EMS experts, parent conversations on campus positioning EMS educators as experts in 2s through eighth-grade education, and continuation of our Seedlings program, a weekly hour of immersive, enriching learning experience for toddlers and their grown-ups. The admissions team has traveled to Hoboken and Manhattan to connect with potential feeder schools and has attended in-person and virtual recruitment fairs. Each spring, the admissions team hosts a professional development workshop for early childhood educators from our local nursery schools to sustain our relationships with feeder schools.
Showcasing Our School Community
Admissions open houses are hosted in conjunction with Parent Association-sponsored events such as our Fall Festival, Book Fair & Storytelling Festival, Culture Fair, and International Food Festival. This collaboration enables prospective families to get to know the EMS community in an authentic way, ensuring that mission-appropriate families are motivated to apply for admission. At open houses, which provide an interactive space for children, EMS teachers and eighth-grade ambassadors model the excellent teaching and engagement that characterize the EMS experience.
Dynamic Learning in Action
The admissions team hosts child-centered workshops for prospective and current students featuring signature EMS programs, such as gardening activities, design-thinking projects, and science experiments. During these events, current EMS students engage with prospective students as our expert faculty members showcase aspects of our intentional curriculum from early childhood through middle school. Across the divisions, our applicant screening process invites students to join our classrooms, immersing them in our dynamic learning environment and a warm, welcoming community.
Informational Touchpoints
The admissions team maintains a personalized approach with all families who inquire, and campus tours on school days serve as initial touchpoints that encourage applications. Each tour is tailored to the interests shared by the prospective family. The admissions team works in partnership with the leadership team to offer a range of programs and speakers for current and prospective parents, including FYI (First Year Information) events for new families. This summer and fall, the team partnered with school leaders to offer presentations on the subjects of most interest to prospective families: “The Admissions Equation: How Grit, Happiness, and a Growth Mindset Impact Your Child’s Success,” “Nurturing Independence: Unexpected Situations Where Helping Hinders Learning”, “An Academic Edge: Striking the Right Chord,” and “A Parent’s Toolbox for Digital Safety.”
Word of Mouth
This year, 49% of our applicants reported that they first learned about EMS from a member of the EMS community. Non-specific word-of-mouth accounts for another 24% of our applicant pool. The admissions team is most grateful to our current families, alumni families, and faculty members, as they speak highly about EMS in their local communities and encourage friends, neighbors, and colleagues to visit our campus. Notably, classmates of EMS graduates have referred families to us because students from EMS consistently stand out as leaders and scholars in high school.
Applicants to the 2025–2026 school year heard about EMS through:
- EMS community: 49%
- Word of mouth: 24%
- Web search: 17%
- Current school: 3%
- Consultant: 2%
- Social Media: 2%
- Summer Programs: 1%
- From another prospective family: 1%
- Unknown: 1%
Retention
The vibrancy and connectedness of The Elisabeth Morrow School community, educational excellence, and a strong sense of community remain essential factors in families’ choosing to re-enroll each year.
Close communication between the admissions team, the faculty, all members of the leadership team, and the Parents Association is a priority as we plan for the upcoming school year and support students’ journeys through each division.
Today’s families rely upon extended hours at school to make their daily schedules work. The admissions team is grateful to our Auxiliary Programs team for the wide range of after-school activities offered each day, and to the transportation team for their tireless work in refining current routes and exploring new opportunities.
2025–2026 State of the School Reports: Chilton House (age 2–K), Little School (grades 1–4), Morrow House (grades 5–8), Advancement, Auxiliary Programs, Communications and Marketing, Community Life, Enrollment, Facilities and Operations, and Finances.
