Whitney Shashou

Board Member

Whitney graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a B.A. in Urban Studies with a concentration in Urban Education. She received her Master’s in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education and is a Professional Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) as well as the Small Boarding School Association (SBSA). She also has past experience as a formal classroom teacher, curriculum developer, middle school program director and high school placement director at a non-profit in New York.

As the founder and president of Admit NY, Whitney uses her expertise to facilitate the school admissions process, helping each child identify and gain admission to his or her best-fit school. Whitney founded Admit NY to be a reliable resource for families, providing full-time professional support, streamlining the application process and alleviating the stress many parents and children experience as they navigate school admissions. Whitney offers her families deep insight into the school landscape and the admissions cycle itself, and with this competitive advantage, her students have had incredible success with acceptances to their top choice institutions.

Whitney started her career in education by working as a part-time public school teacher in West Philadelphia while also overseeing an academic program that provided small group and individualized reading and literacy instruction for low-performing elementary school students. In 2011, she developed and taught the curriculum for the 8th-grade writing course at Breakthrough New York, a college-access non-profit based in New York City. She subsequently taught English at an underserved high school in Cape Town, South Africa and volunteered as an elementary school teacher at an orphanage in Khayelitsha, considered one of the largest and fastest growing townships in South Africa. In 2012, Whitney joined Teach for America as a 4th grade classroom teacher and a 4th grade writing curriculum developer at Achievement First in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Following these experiences, Whitney returned to Breakthrough New York, where she first became the Middle School Program Director and then, the High School Placement Director. She managed program curriculum development, teacher training development and execution, student data analysis, student recruitment and admissions, seasonal staff recruitment and hiring, and high school placement. In this capacity, she was responsible for planning, leading and overseeing high school placement for 65 + students and she increased independent school acceptances by 54%, ensuring that 100% of 8th grade students matriculated to college-prep high schools across the country. Whitney served as the primary contact for over 100 independent day and boarding schools, deepening those relationships while learning the ins-and-outs of each school’s community, academic program, and unique admissions policies.