How to Create an Engaging Charter School Open House Deck (Template Included)
You did an incredible job spreading the word about your charter school’s open house. The seats (or ZOOM squares) are filled with parents eager to learn more about your program. As you recite your mission statement, you feel confident that you will win them over. But by the time you click to slide three in your deck, you’re already losing them. Bored stares and folks checking their phones waiting for the tour to begin. We’ve all been there.
Here’s how to develop a deck that will keep parents engaged!
How do I know which recruitment tactics will work best for my school?
Open enrollment for next year sneaks up on us quickly. Rather than taking time to reflect and grow, many teams fall back on what they did last year, regardless of the results.
But for those looking to improve, you are eager to discover which recruitment tactics may work best for your organization. Here are three questions to help guide your work.
5 Steps to Produce a Great Facebook Ad for Your School
You’ve heard that Facebook and Instagram Advertising is a great way to reach families online, but producing your first ad feels daunting. Do you boost an existing post? Do you run an ad with text and a single image? Do you need a professionally produced video to get results? Many factors are involved in creating a great ad, but here’s a simple five-step process to get your feet off the ground.
3 Things to Never Forget When In-Person Recruiting
It’s the summer recruitment season, a time when many staff members abandon their offices to get out in the community and make personal connections with families. Maybe your school is hosting a BBQ, guiding yoga in the park, or hitting the pavement door to door. Whatever the event, you need to maximize the time your staff is dedicating to the cause. Having the right materials on hand bolsters credibility, guides conversations, and most importantly gives your staff the ability to follow up with families. Here are three things you want on hand when recruiting in person.
What Should We Do If Student Applications Are Down?
Many school enrollment teams are getting a sinking feeling in their stomachs as they head into the summer months. Why? Applications are down. It’s been the most chaotic school year in memory, and the added uncertainty has affected staff’s typical recruitment plans and families’ motivations to enroll. But if your school has realistic enrollment targets for the coming year, don’t give up hope. You have time to make up ground. Here are three ways you can strengthen enrollment headed into this fall.
3 Website Fixes in 3 Minutes
Ugly websites are costing organizations applicants. The biggest problem I see is that most schools don’t use their website as a tool for student recruitment. A website should be the most inexpensive member of your recruitment team! Nearly all prospective parents are visiting your homepage to apply. and if your current site doesn’t connect with these families, they will look elsewhere.
Are You Re-Enrollment Ready?
As a school administrator, you have responsibilities that always take less time in theory than they do in practice. Re-enrollment is near the top of that list. Communication or enrollment software issues can quickly derail your efforts and add hours of work to your plate. Here are three steps to help launch your re-enrollment campaign.
5 Ideas to Generate Parent Leads
In what ways does your school capture the interest of prospective families? Have you purposefully designed entry points for families to get to know your school? Do you have automated ways of capturing the email addresses and phone numbers of those interested?
3 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating The Perfect Call to Action
Every piece of marketing collateral you produce should have a strong call to action (CTA). When creating collateral, many people gloss over the call to action or tack it on as an afterthought. The right call to action at the right time is crucial to converting your audience into leads. Here are three pitfalls I see with CTAs and how to avoid them.
The Recruitment Step Most Schools Want to Skip
Most recruitment and enrollment staff understand how crucial their efforts are to maintain a healthy organization. They eagerly throw their energy into creating recruitment collateral, running ads, and connecting with the community every opportunity they get. The problem is they typically bypass the most foundational step in creating an effective recruitment campaign: clarifying their message.
What Recruitment & Enrollment Topics Can I Research for You?
I know that you are overworked. Although you are facing real challenges, you rarely have time to research and develop solutions. You fall back on old strategies and tools. Here’s your chance to leverage my time to research answers to your questions!
What's the Best Way to Spread Awareness About Our School?
What’s the best way to spread awareness about your school? Your current families are the greatest advocates of your school. Let’s encourage them to spread the word!
Do Facebook Ads Actually Work for Schools?
Schools are always looking for strategies to connect with more families and increase student applications. With the pandemic still hampering the safety of in-person events and canvassing, recruitment teams are attempting digital solutions to plug the gaps. Are Facebook Ads worth the investment?
How Do I Increase Student Application Conversions?
Every recruitment and enrollment team wants to maximize the number of applicants who become students at their school. Through empathizing with our applicant’s journey, we can increase conversions and boost enrollment.
How do I know how many applications I will need to meet the enrollment target? (free template included)
For many school administrators dealing with recruitment and enrollment, it can be difficult to know how many applications you will need in order to fully enroll your school. This resource will guide you in creating accurate application targets along with a free application tracker spreadsheet for download!
8 Questions That Will Help You Create Stellar Recruitment Collateral
We all want to write the perfect messages for our recruitment collateral, but it can be hard to know where to start. Here are 8 questions you can ask your current families that will help you gain great testimonials and insights.
This School Year Magnifies One Glaring Issue with School Websites
Unfortunately, most school websites frustrate both school administrators and families. There are a host of typical issues with messaging, layout, pictures, and mobile compatibility. But Coronavirus has pointed out an even more apparent issue school leaders are facing with sites:
Is It Stupid to Start a Business During a Pandemic?
January 2020, I filed my paperwork with the state of Tennessee to start my first business. I had no idea that a global pandemic would flip the world upside down before I had a chance to print business cards.