RI Architectural Photographer Captures Top Private School Campus for Virtual Campus Tour

by Christian Scully

How do top private schools attract prospective students? There are many options for students seeking an education alternative to public school. With so many private schools, both boarding and day, how do schools set themselves apart? Generally speaking, they all offer small class sizes, individualized education plans, top notch faculty and a plethora of after school enrichment programs. It's the specific differences in the academic programs, the athletics, the arts and the campus life that will be the deciding factor for eager students. 

What is the aspect of a school that connects the academics, the athletics, the arts and campus life?

The school campus. 

​The private school campus is always evolving. Updated science wings, new technologies in the library, fresh equipment in the gym. Schools pride themselves in their campus, and the master plan is always point of conversation, especially when seeking financial donations. Yet the only place private schools currently show off their campus is during the part of the year when the admissions department provides school tours. What about the rest of the year? What about all the prospective students that haven't heard of your school? What about the young robotics wiz who doesn't know about your brand new robotics lab? What about the kid who can't put a book down and loves english, but doesn't know you have an incredible library?

​Yes, there are virtual tour companies out there that private high schools and colleges hire to add a fancy campus tour viewer to their website. Ignoring the fact that we can all agree most of these viewers are cumbersome, don't function from device to device, lack ease of use and look out of date very quickly, I am disappointed that the photography aspect is almost always overlooked. The private school will purchase the campus tour viewer, but fill it with photography that does not showcase the campus. What is the point??

We recently photographed the campus of St. Sebastian's School in Needham, MA. The school was working on a new website launch and was lacking quality images that highlighted the great campus the students enjoy. Now with the new website launched, prospective students and families will enjoy a glimpse of the campus in the first stages of searching for the right school. 

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