Let’s see a show of hands…how many of you would like to double the enrollment at your school?
That would be close to all of you.
You know that it can be done…in just one year.
And now I’ll bet you’re laughing – ESPECIALLY this year!!
Before going on, what if I told you that a faith-based school with over 250 students recently closed because of financial and enrollment difficulties? Would you say that’s also unlikely? Unlikely, yes. But it recently happened. It happened five years ago around this time as well.
So let’s go back to doubling your school’s enrollment. Remember that the best marketing strategy to benefit your school is Positive Word of Mouth Marketing. It’s also the least expensive.
So while you’re preparing to give students their summer math and reading assignments, here’s an assignment you NEED to give to your parents. Each one of them has to recruit one family for your school.
How do they do that? Ask them to identify ONE THING that they think makes your school a remarkable place to be. If they think it’s remarkable, and have friends whose children go to the local public school, their friends may think that quality is also remarkable. Who knows? That prospective parent may not have been happy with the public school’s transition to distance learning this Spring, the school may still not have a plan for reopening in a safe manner causing too many questions, may be moving to teach subjects that aren’t in line with their values, or even cutting programs which parents see as essential for achievement, and experts confirm foster usage of both halves of the brain.
The upside is that if EVERYONE completes the assignment successfully, tuition could be cut by up to 50%! If you have 12 children in every grade level (since classrooms may now become virtual spaces), and 12 more children come in to each grade level, you may not have to hire additional teachers.
OK, let’s be a little more realistic – say 20% of the parents successfully complete their assignment. If you have 150 students, you may get around 30 more students, which brings your school to 180 students. Do the same thing next year and you’re above 200. If that happens, you may even choose to give those evangelizing parents a $100 incentive on their child’s tuition.
Your school’s marketing efforts should be targeted to fill your Kindergarten classroom or classrooms. However, if you’re looking for a way to invite more students to the higher grade levels of your school, this is a time to not just hope for a return to normal, but to completely re-envision what it possible!
© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2010-2020 (Original Publication Date: 20100524)