As school leaders, you know that re-enrolling current students is crucial for any school’s success. You’ve likely already experienced some retention benefits, like building a tight-knit community and maximizing your return on investment. So understanding the reasons why families choose to leave is fundamental to preventing these situations and boosting your re-enrollment metrics.
At Schola, we offer several tools to help increase your retention rates by assisting you in strategizing and applying the most effective re-engagement strategies based on your school’s needs and goals. But first, let’s identify three top reasons why parents might choose to leave your school:
Insufficient connection between teachers and students
Educators are the backbone of any school, and when they lack time, effort, or skills to build meaningful connections with students, it can be detrimental to the school’s community and its re-enrollment rates. That is why all of your team must view retention as a whole school initiative so they can feel inspired to get involved. Remember, a little effort goes a long way! Encourage your staff to learn the names of students they interact with and provide them with proper resources and workshops to develop better relationships with their students and peers.
Lack of communication
Communication is a powerful tool! Families trust you with their child, so they want to know about important updates, students’ accomplishments and get to know the staff. The more they know, the more connected they will feel to your school community. At Schola, we can help you build meaningful communication by leveraging your social media presence, sending the right emails and text messages, and maximizing your Schola profile. Using these channels to communicate and gather feedback can give you a better insight into your families and how to serve their needs better.
Poor engagement
Get families re-engaged with your school by reminding them how important and valuable they are to your community. Try getting to know them virtually or in-person by hosting family events that align with your school’s focus and mission. Encouraging the entire family to get involved in sporting events and extracurricular programs provided at your school will increase their commitment to your institution. Finally, have an open-door policy; as your school’s leader, you can help ease many of their concerns and help build a community that will last.
School retention is not one-size-fits-all, so identifying your community’s needs is imperative for creating a successful strategy. Join our weekly Schola webinars to get the right tools and discuss with marketing experts and other school leaders from all over the US how to boost your enrollment and retention rates. Our team at Schola is ready to help you improve your communication with parents and build and execute your best retention strategy yet.
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