Meet Kimberly Pope, Director of Admission and Enrollment Management

For Kimberly Pope, Director of Admission and Enrollment Management, life is a grand adventure. An East Coast transplant, Kimberly says she “always felt like my soul lived in California.” It is at Wildwood School, and Southern California, where Kimberly truly feels at home.

“There’s no other way to describe my first visit to Wildwood as anything other than magical,” Kimberly says. “The students just seemed so excited about learning, in an authentic and genuine way.”

Prior to Wildwood, Kimberly served as Director of the Davis Scholars program at Westminster School, a private, co-educational boarding school in Simsbury, Conn. Through that role, she had the opportunity to travel to 25-plus countries as part of the program’s mission of diversifying independent secondary schools. 

While she misses the travel, Kimberly is proud that the international spirit and values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging cultivated by the program are so firmly entrenched in Wildwood’s culture.

Since joining Wildwood in 2018, those feelings have only grown stronger as she’s witnessed the progression of students through the elementary, middle, and upper schools. 

“There’s a definite throughline that comes with project-based learning, and it starts with knowing that as a student, you have the power to apply your learning in ways that make a difference,” Kimberly says. “Those seeds, and the sense of confidence, are planted at elementary and grow as the opportunities expand through the middle and upper school years.”

For example, Kimberly mentions a 5th grade student who recently discussed her love of video games at an All School Meeting, and how it immediately brought to mind an 11th grade student who is using his video game skills to create programs that simulate cancer growth, a project inspired by his recent internship.  

“The best part of my job is being able to engage with families, sharing stories about what makes our school unique, and in turn, hearing their stories about their own children and families,” Kimberly says.

It’s this two-way conversation, Kimberly emphasizes, that’s at the heart of the admission process. 

“We’re just as excited to meet and learn about you as you are to meet and learn about us,” Kimberly says. “From your first attendance at a ‘First Look’ session to a tour and application, we love building relationships and truly getting to know you and your child.”