Brendon Welker, MALS

Brendon brings over 20 years of experience working with students and families in schools as an admission director, educator, coach, dorm parent and educational counselor. His extensive admission expertise extends from the school process to college planning. Brendon enjoys working with a wide range of students, including international students, athletes, and those who enjoy the arts.

During his 20-year tenure at Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut, Brendon was known throughout the national and international secondary school admission community as a distinguished leader in the field of admission best practices. He has shared his deep knowledge of the admission process as a featured speaker at national professional conferences, including the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the Secondary School Admission Test Board/Enrollment Management Association, and the Independent Educational Consultants Association. Brendon’s work with international students as an admission director and an educational planner has been aided by extensive work with students from abroad and his fluency in Spanish. He regularly visits schools and students in South America and Europe, among other venues. Likewise, his work in facilitating students’ college planning process has been augmented by his experience as a coach and collegiate athlete and his strong interest in the arts and community service.

At the forefront of Brendon’s admission experience and expertise is his passion for working directly with adolescents and young adults. Brendon remains a consummate boarding school educator in his approach to educational planning as he strives to know, mentor, and advocate for the whole student. His student-centered work derives from his experience as an advisor, classroom teacher, ice hockey coach, and dorm parent in the boarding school environment. In addition to teaching Jazz and Leadership courses at Avon Old Farms, Brendon enjoyed spearheading student-led community service projects. He also influenced the development of school programming designed to best serve students and support the mission of independent and boarding school education as a member of strategic planning initiatives.

After graduating from Avon Old Farms, Brendon attended The College of the Holy Cross, where he also played Men’s Varsity Hockey. He put his undergraduate political science major to good use following graduation from Holy Cross working as a legislative aide to the senate minority leader in the Massachusetts State Legislature. Discovering his long-term professional commitment to be education, he completed his master’s degree in liberal studies with a concentration in social sciences at Wesleyan University.

Brendon and his family continue to be immersed in school life. He is dad to two girls, one of whom is a student at a New England boarding school. Along with his wife, who is a boarding school senior administrator, Brendon lives outside of Hartford, Connecticut. He also truly enjoys using technology to create an easy and authentic experience in working remotely with students and families from all over the country and the world. Brendon is an avid sports fan, loves to play squash and golf, and enjoys spending time with his family in Vermont, their home away from home. He has served as the Vice Chair of the IECA Schools Committee and is honored to volunteer his time and expertise to Capitol Squash in Hartford, CT and BUILD Boston.