Conseil du 2nd St College

Interim College Counseling Director

We are pleased to announce that a member of our faculty, Ms. Julia Toews, has agreed to step into the role of Interim Director of College Counseling. Ms. Toews, who joined Latin in 2021, brings deep experience to this role, with more than 25 years overall in teaching and education, including 17 years working for the national network of BASIS schools in instruction, college counseling (she was the founding college counselor for the BASIS network), school leadership and curriculum development at the network level. 

Ms. Toews joined Latin several years ago, drawn to our mission and the opportunity to return to the classroom. She has taught English in both 8th grade and the Upper School. She has also been a member of the College Counseling team, supporting a caseload of Seniors through the college application process for the first two years of her tenure with us. She continues to support students through this process. For example, she worked with our rising seniors in the college application bootcamp this summer. 

Latin is fortunate to have a member of our faculty who brings deep academic expertise, significant leadership experience, and direct knowledge of the Latin approach to postsecondary counseling. We are enormously grateful that Ms. Toews agreed to step into the interim role to ensure continuity for our students through this critical process until a permanent Director of College Counseling is identified.

New Counselor

We are please to announce that we have a new counselor who will begin on September 3, 2025. The new Counselor has been serving in a senior College Counseling position at another school in DC and is deeply knowledgeable about the unique challenges faced by DC residents in this process. Her former advisees have found post-secondary homes at a wide variety of institutions, including public and private universities and colleges, HBCUS, technical institutes, two-year colleges, and trade schools.

More information about her and her background to follow!

We will have two full-time College Counselors (including the Director of College Counseling and another counselor). Students will be assigned to either Ms. Toews or the new Counselor joining us on September 3. Counselor assignments are based on students’ interests and needs.

Not much! We will continue to offer high-touch, individualized counseling tailored to your child’s goals and needs. This includes:

• One-on-one quarterly meetings
• Weekly communication regarding upcoming deadlines, scholarship opportunities, and college visits
• Essay-writing help
• The management of teacher recommendations
• Continued guidance on college selection
• Parent informational nights on the college application process and financial aid
• Updates and management of relevant documents (transcripts, recommendations, school reports)
• A full schedule of visits from college and university admissions representatives.

Teacher recommendations will be handled as they have always been in the past: students initiate requests with teachers and we manage the process and timeline for those letters.

We are in communication with the outgoing college counselors, all of whom have committed to writing letters for their caseloads. We will be able to review those letters before sending them to colleges, and – just in case – assembling a team of people at Latin who know and love your children to write back-up letters. This team includes Dr. Diana Smith, Mr. Jimmy Kelly, Ms. Meg Kovach, and Ms. Tiffany Austin, as well as Ms. Julia Toews.

Ms. Hope Bennett, who has been a member of the 2nd Street faculty for about 10 years in various roles, is responsible for overseeing the essay writing process. She will also directly support some students in with their essays. Ms. Bennett is available to seniors every Tuesdays 8:25 -3 :15 and Wednesdays 12:00 – 2:45, as well as virtually by appointment. (Seniors have her contact information and schedule, as well.)

Because we want all students to have support and Ms. Bennett will not be able to partner with every single senior in this process, there is a team of faculty members who are partnering with students on their essays. Ms. Bennett is responsible for overseeing this and tracking essay progress and specific deadlines. This includes main personal statements, supplemental essays, and short answer questions. Other faculty members who have committed to working with seniors include Ms. Diana Smith, Ms. Emma Treadway, Ms. Rachel Breitman, Mr. Nathan Day, and Ms. Julia Toews.