How much time are you dedicating weekly toward your student retention efforts? Student retention is just as important as recruitment, so it’s essential for all school leaders to work on it throughout the year, and summer is no exception! Retention is one of the key data points for all schools in the US. Your retention rate can be used for monitoring purposes and serve as a bellwether to signal things may not be going well even though your enrollment numbers remain constant.
At Schola, we believe that retention starts with the right school fit. That’s why we provide online tools to help school leaders identify, connect, enroll and nurture families that best fit each school’s unique offer. If you want to boost your retention rates for the upcoming school year, you are in the right place!
Check Out These 5 Tips To Increase Retention Rate👀📈
Keep Parents Informed
Find creative and effective ways to communicate plans for the next school year to your current families. Let them know what’s happening, be transparent about any obstacles the school might be facing, and make yourself accessible for them to ask questions or resolve doubts. Finally, instill confidence by affirming that you have a plan or solutions for any concerns they may have regarding their child’s education.
Thank & Value Current Families
Take some time to contact all your current families (it can be through an email blast, social media posting, or text message) and tell them how much you miss them and how excited your whole team is to welcome them back next semester.
Calculate Your Retention Rate
Find what your retention rate is and alert your team. This can be calculated by subtracting the number of students who have withdrawn from your total number of students, and dividing that number by the total number enrolled. This helps determine the total leads needed to achieve your goals and provides good input for setting a marketing budget for the next school year. You can also take this data to consult families and figure out issues that you might not be aware of and may be impacting your retention rate.
Keep Building Your Community During Summer
Keep families active and engaged throughout the summer to build loyalty and a feeling of belonging. This can be done through community events, communication, and summer programs. Embrace and promote them in order to make families feel like they are part of your school community even before arriving on that first day of the next school year.
Get Feedback & Use It
Survey families, students, and monitor their engagement – and then use that feedback to make changes! Serving your students is of the utmost importance, so listening to their feedback is a great launching off point to ensure you are meeting their needs. You can show families that they are being heard and valued by implementing their suggestions and tackling their specific needs.
If you need assistance with your current retention rates, Schola is here to help you every step of the way. We can help you attract the right families, get them to commit to your school, and finally nurture them in their language so they show up on the first day of class. To improve your student retention this summer, we’re here to help you effectively communicate with families, encouraging them to stay engaged and build loyalty to your school. Connect with us today and discover all you can achieve with our Student Recruitment Hub to help you and your team work smarter and not harder!
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