School Partnerships:
University Preparation Beyond Admission

School Sessions at a Glance

These school-based sessions prepare graduating students and their families for the academic, social, and personal transition into higher education. They combine candid insight from higher education with evidence-informed guidance and personal reflection. The atmosphere is informed, but conversational, ensuring students remain at the center of their own transition. Each session builds a shared vocabulary to encourage conversations at home and school.

Leader

Caroline Connolly PhD

Audience

Graduating students & parents

Format

Interactive presentation, discussion

Duration

Typically 90 minutes each

Setting

Hosted in your school or remotely

Events can be adapted to reflect the interests, needs, and destinations of a particular graduating class, including international cohorts. In addition, student and parent sessions can be held independently, if preferred (a student session during the school day, with a related parent session in the evening).

Invite Dr. Connolly to Your School

The Education Workspace in Schools:
A Resource for your Whole Community

Your students work hard to earn their places in university. You support them with a rigorous curriculum, valuable experiences, and discussions about the future. Your goal is for your graduating class to finish strong. For your students and their families, school graduation is not the end goal. It marks the beginning of the next chapter.

Higher education asks students to adjust to more than a new academic environment. It brings unfamiliar expectations, reduced external structure, and considerably more responsibility for themselves and their futures. It also brings opportunities for exploration, independence, and personal growth. Are your students equipped to make the most of this?

Insight to thrive during this transition and beyond

School Partnerships helps students and families develop a thoughtful and practical understanding of the transition ahead. Each session combines practical examples, research-informed guidance, and structured opportunities for reflection. Students and parents are invited to consider their expectations independently and together, creating space for constructive conversations. Participants leave with practical insights and questions they can continue exploring as they prepare for university.

Dr. Caroline Connolly draws on more than two decades in higher education to distill what is needed to thrive in this environment. Her expertise in psychology, particularly positive psychology, paired with extensive experience advising undergraduates, provides an informed perspective on the academic, personal, and social realities of university life. Students are encouraged to reflect upon their individual strengths to carve a path that is uniquely their own, making the most of their experiences in higher education.

Complementing the guidance your school already provides

We recognize the substantial work undertaken by schools to support students' academic development, university aspirations, and personal well-being. Our sessions are designed to complement this. Working collaboratively with school leadership and university guidance teams, we aim to provide an additional perspective grounded in direct experience of undergraduate education. We welcome discussion with schools about the specific needs of their graduating students.

Educational, not promotional

School sessions are dedicated to the educational needs of students and families. They do not include advertising, sales presentations, or solicitation.

Explore a School Partnership

Sample Session Topics

University Transition

From understanding syllabi to navigating unfamiliar systems and identifying support resources, we discuss practical steps students can take to start strong. Universities provide a wealth of resources for students, but they need to understand how to utilize them.

Leadership & Mentorship

Higher education offers opportunities to develop a distinctive voice, build supportive relationships, and contribute to the wider community. We consider how students can recognize and pursue these opportunities with intention.

The Hidden Curriculum

University expectations that are not always provided explicitly. We consider how students can navigate academic culture, communicate with professors, understand institutional expectations, and advocate for themselves effectively.

Build Personal Strengths

University offers opportunities for significant personal growth. Drawing on positive psychology and developmental research, we consider how students can better understand their strengths, values, and motivations as they enter a new environment.

Personal Independence

Greater freedom brings greater responsibility. We explore how students can develop sustainable habits, recalibrate when challenges arise, manage competing priorities, and align their daily choices with their personal goals and values in this novel environment.

Well-being, Belonging, & Community

We explore the role of relationships, coping strategies, help-seeking, and community in university transitions. Students consider how belonging can be cultivated through meaningful connections and active engagement.

Caroline Connolly PhD

Dr. Caroline Connolly has over 20 years of experience in higher education, including 14 years at the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Psychology.

Dr. Connolly has advised thousands of undergraduates, and worked closely with students navigating academic challenges, institutional expectations, and opportunities for personal and intellectual development. Her experience informs a practical understanding of the gaps that can exist between academic achievement and the broader skills required to thrive in higher education.

Grounded in psychology, particularly positive psychology, her approach emphasizes self-reflection, personal agency, resourcefulness, and well-being. Through The Education Workspace, she brings an insider's understanding of university life to students and families seeking a successful transition to higher education.

Student Feedback about The Education Workspace

  • "I have a clearer head about my college transition and know more about how I can allow myself to grow and change as a person. This was a little ambiguous to think about at first because I had no idea how this was going to happen or in what way, but I realised that doing things such as accepting new opportunities or trying to advocate for myself more, are already super important and helpful steps. This helped because it made me realise there is no such thing as knowing what is going to happen in the future but there are ways to manage it in a way that fulfils my values and goals."

  • " I learnt about how to communicate certain things about myself, such as my strengths and values, which in turn made me learn more about what I want to get out of my college experience. I learnt how to connect my more abstract ideas, such as long term goals, to practical behaviour that I can implement in daily life to help achieve these goals."

  • "It made me think of it a bit more as a process rather than one destination and that things I do every day or each week will turn into more rewarding and self fulfilling experiences. It also made me realise that I really need to appreciate and make sure I use all the resources available to me and this will come as we have talked about by putting myself out there and self advocating for myself."

  • "I was a bit anxious about just the huge step up from my life now, not just necessarily academically, but in terms of responsibilities and being on your own. Now, I am much more accepting of this and think of it as necessary to develop and step out of my comfort zone."

  • "This workshop is extremely rewarding because it allows you to reflect and think about yourself and what you want to experience through higher education. It also allows you to think about your own priorities and values and how to make sure you continue them into higher education to make the transition feel manageable but also personal and in line with who you are."