Calm the chaos and boost student enrollment
Written by Lauren Empson
Through her work with district superintendents and PIOs throughout the pandemic, Forthright senior advisor Lauren knows the challenges districts are facing. Today, she’s sharing a few key tips for how to reach parents amidst the chaos, with the end goal of increasing your enrollment numbers.
A new analysis by NPR’s Anya Kamenetz, Cory Turner and Mansee Khurana shows that most public school districts across the country are experiencing a second straight year of enrollment declines.
In the 2019-20 school year, public school enrollment dropped 3 percent, largely attributed to the pandemic. With the vaccine rollout and return to in-person learning during the 2020-21 school year, district leaders were hopeful that students would return. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Trends in Enrollment
There are several trends we’re seeing when it comes to enrollment declines:
Larger public school districts, especially, are experiencing enrollment declines
Our youngest learners, especially, still are not enrolled in public school
Private, charter and homeschool enrollment is increasing
And while district leaders are working hard to manage the “chaos” brought by Omicron, parents again are questioning whether to send their children to school, making enrollment a consistent, serious concern for public school leaders everywhere.
"I think families have a desire to gain more control of their lives," says Ed Graff, the superintendent of the Minneapolis public schools, where enrollment has also continued to decline. "The public education landscape has changed significantly, and families are making calculated decisions to pursue other learning options that are best for their children and for themselves."
As you look to increase your enrollment numbers, here are a few tips on how you can authentically communicate with your parents and help calm the chaos.
Tip #1: Research your audience
Parents and caregivers in your district have an array of unique needs, concerns and lived experiences, all of which influence their decision to enroll their child in school. Recognizing this, it is imperative that you gain an understanding of their:
Values: what they value about public school and current priorities for their children (e.g., safety, academic achievement, social benefits, etc.). Prioritization and emphasis on these values can change over time, so it’s important to maintain a current awareness.
Pain points: what the current barriers are that might stop a parent from sending their child to public school (e.g., safety concerns, prior lack of internet access or accomodations, out of school options available, etc.). These pain points can differ from parent to parent.
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For example, from a recent NPR story:
“Sarah McVay pulled her children from the Seattle Public Schools this fall. ‘We stuck it out the pandemic year — bad choice — and my 3rd grader essentially sat bored, learning very little all year,’ she says. ‘The number of tech issues was infuriating ... it was constant.’
McVay says a staffing change announced at the end of the last school year for seniority reasons, which would have left her son with a long-term substitute, was the last straw.”
In Sarah’s case, we hear that she values a quality education experience for her children, but staffing and tech issues were specific pain points.
Tip #2: Tap into your audiences’ values to help them overcome their pain points
Communicate with parents and caregivers in a way that shows them you’re not only helping solve their immediate challenges, but doing it in a way that aligns to their family values.
For example:
Parents, especially parents of incoming kindergartners, might be concerned about their children’s safety as they might not yet be vaccinated. Ensure that your communications to these parents emphasize the health and safety measures that your district is implementing and how you’re changing your approach over time as you receive new information.
Tip #3: Meet your parents where they are
Parents receive information from a variety of sources. The more you understand your audience, the better you’ll be able to get them the information they need. Explore whether parents look for information from:
Family and friends or other parents
Teachers
Social media
Web searches
Email
Printed materials (15 percent of U.S. households with school-aged children do not have a high-speed internet connection at home)
Every parent right now is struggling. They are feeling the weight of the world as they try to navigate a sea of information and misinformation. Acknowledging those concerns and being able to help alleviate some of the many pain points is a critical, welcomed role for schools and districts.
P.S. - For more information on how to reach parents and boost your enrollment numbers, download our free student enrollment guide.
