AI in K-12 Admissions: 6 Takeaways From Wardlaw+Hartridge

In our first K-12 webinar, Gerard and Rudy walked through how Wardlaw+Hartridge, a pre-K through grade 12 independent school, brought AI into admissions and communications. Both are alumni, and between them they've spent nearly half a century working at the school (Gerard for 31 years and Rudy for 18). The full session is above. Here are six things to take back to your team.

1. Fast answers only work when they're personal

Angela opened with the half of the story that gets less attention than AI search: what families experience once they land on your website. They need to find answers quickly, or they'll leave for a school that makes it easier. The answer also has to feel personal. A generic "thanks for your inquiry, someone will be in touch" email no longer meets the bar, because families expect a reply that reflects what they've already told you. Nobody wants to reintroduce themselves at every step.

Wardlaw+Hartridge felt that pressure. In a typical year, the school handles 478 family inquiries, 37 admission events and about 400 tours, and families used to wait one to two days for a reply. Gerard and Rudy wanted technology that could shorten that wait and give their small team more time for real conversations. If fall is your busiest stretch, our guide to answering every family during the fall inquiry surge covers the same problem.

2. Build your knowledge base from what you already have

Wardlaw+Hartridge didn't write anything new for AI. The team started with the materials that already explained the school: curriculum guides, handbooks, calendars, schedules and brochures for two new signature programs, a music conservatory and an entrepreneurship and technology program. Rudy's communications office made sure each source was clear, current and on brand before it went in.

The work continues after launch. An AI assistant is only as good as the information behind it, so every policy, program or date change needs an update. Rudy had one waiting right after the session: the new 2026-27 handbook, whose biggest change is a new AI policy. Gerard's advice is to start with the questions your office answers most often and make sure the source material behind them is solid.

3. Answer families when they're ready to ask

Parents research schools after work, after bedtime and sometimes in the middle of the night. Gerard joked that his wife does her best school research in the wee hours. With an AI assistant on the website, a parent asking about tuition or tours at 9:40 p.m. gets an answer while their interest is fresh. The next morning, the admissions team can read the conversation and pick up exactly where it left off.

Rudy shared a favorite example from the conversation history: a detailed, paragraph-long answer to a financial aid question, complete with facts and figures. He said he couldn't have written a better reply himself. A family wondering whether they could afford the school got that answer right away instead of waiting until Monday for a call back.

The same idea helps families who stall. Gerard uses Halda's application accelerator to email families whose applications have been sitting in draft and point them to the AI assistant for any last questions. After he sends it, he usually sees two or three applications come in the next day.

4. Review what families ask as one team

Families experience your school as one place, so the story they read online needs to match what they hear on a tour. At Wardlaw+Hartridge, Rudy meets regularly with Gerard and his admissions team to review what families are asking, what the numbers say and where the process can improve. Admissions leads tours, interviews, application support and family follow-up. Communications owns website content and keeps information consistent across the knowledge base, email and social media. That clear ownership keeps the two offices from doing the same work twice.

The questions themselves point to what comes next. Halda shows the team which topics families raise most often, and financial aid sat near the top of the list. They responded by adding more financial aid detail to the knowledge base. If families keep asking about transportation, curriculum or a specific program, Gerard treats that as a sign to address it earlier in the process. Our K-12 admissions page checklist covers what parents look for first.

The CRM connection matters too. Wardlaw+Hartridge uses Finalsite Enrollment, and inquiries from Halda flow straight into it, so no family sits in a disconnected system. Gerard suggested asking any vendor exactly how that connection works before you sign.

5. Automate the routine and protect the personal

Both presenters returned to this point more than any other. AI can handle routine questions, after-hours access, drafting and consistency checks. People stay responsible for the school's voice, the accuracy of the information and the relationship with each family. Tours, interviews, financial aid conversations and other sensitive topics need someone who's listening.

Wardlaw+Hartridge defines that handoff on purpose. The team checks conversations regularly, and if a sensitive one comes up, someone calls the family right away. Families interested in athletics get connected with the athletic director, and families interested in music hear from the performing arts chair. In the team's words, a convenient first interaction can open the door to a very personal school experience.

6. Report what your board already asks about

The Wardlaw+Hartridge board wants to know how enrollment compares with prior years: inquiries, applications, completed applications, acceptances and yield. Leadership also asks how to attract more full-pay families. Rudy's advice is to start with those measures and show where AI contributes, rather than reporting engagement numbers on their own. A social post with lots of likes didn't necessarily move enrollment, and the same goes for a busy chat window.

In the session, the school shared these results from its work with Halda:

• 10% more family inquiries
• 5% more completed applications
• 30% higher enrollment yield
• About 10 hours of staff time saved each week (an estimate)
• An 88x ratio of net tuition revenue from families who engaged with Halda to Halda's annual cost, including families who researched the school before they ever identified themselves

Gerard noted that many factors shape enrollment outcomes, so the team reads these figures alongside the rest of its admissions and communications work. Rudy's take on the 88x figure was simple: show that to a board, and the conversation is over.

Five things to try this month

Gerard and Rudy closed with five steps any school can take, whether you're ready to adopt AI or just starting to explore it:

1. Test the experience. Submit an inquiry through your own website after hours. Check whether the response is timely, clear and useful, and whether it invites a real next step.
2. List your top questions. Compare what admissions hears most often with what your website says, then note the missing or confusing answers.
3. Gather your source material. Make sure handbooks, curriculum guides, tuition pages, calendars and program information are current and consistent.
4. Agree on shared measures. Bring admissions and communications together to pick two or three metrics, such as inquiry response time, completed applications or event registrations.
5. Define the human handoff. Decide which conversations should always go to a person, based on your school's values and the experience you want families to have.

You don't need to start with a major technology decision. As Gerard put it, begin with one repetitive task, one clear family need and one measurable outcome.

Watch the full webinar recording above to hear Gerard and Rudy walk through their knowledge base, the questions families ask most and the results they share with their board. Want to see what this could look like at your school? Book a demo and we'll show you how Halda for K-12 helps small admissions teams answer every family quickly and personally.