Trinity-Pawling has a way of pulling people back. Just as Headmaster-elect Bill Taylor will return to campus after broadening his experience for the past 13 years, JP Burlington ’95 is coming back to serve as Director of Admission. In his four years at T-P, Burlington immersed himself in all aspects of campus life: he sang as a Trinitone; played varsity soccer, squash and baseball; and served as a sacristan, dorm proctor and Head Prefect come senior year. As a freshman, he started giving campus tours for the admission office, an activity that literally set the course of his life. He continued to work in admissions when he was a student at Wheaton College and never stopped.
What appeals to him about admissions? “I have the opportunity to introduce prospective students and families to a School and community I believe in,” he says.
Burlington has gained extensive experience in admissions over the past twenty years. He did an internship at T-P in January 1997 and then returned as a full time admission associate from 2002 to 2004. He worked admissions at Westover School for five years and Brooks School for another three. Burlington has covered the boarding school admissions gamut: all-girls, co-ed, and all-boys!
“The admission team and I are driven by one question,” says Burlington. “What can we as a School do to make the T-P experience as meaningful as possible? Trinity-Pawling offers a life-shaping opportunity, and it’s our job to spread the word and bring in the right families.”
After all these years, Burlington still gets a chill when he drives up Route 22. “But now, I pull through those gates knowing that I am charged with keeping the School full. And I thought I had pressure and responsibility when I was Head Prefect!,” he laughs. “But it’s exhilarating to come back to a place I love in a leadership role.”
Burlington will move into an apartment in Starr Hall this summer with his wife, Megan, and their two toddlers, Joseph and Meredith. “It’s great to be coming back home.”