In my last blog, I talked about how to grow your conversion rates and turn your school’s families into your biggest promoters. Today, I will tell you how to keep those students throughout their academic careers by delighting them.

Retention is the number one problem facing private schools today. The National Center of Education Statistics says the percentage of all elementary and secondary students enrolled in private schools decreased from 12 percent in 1995–96 to 10 percent in 2013–14, and is projected to continue to decrease to 9 percent from 2025–26. Keeping the students you have now is important to help your school thrive.

The retention process shouldn’t start during re-enrollment time. This is a constant process that should occur throughout the course of the school year with your families and your staff. Word of mouth drives most students to your school, your challenge is to make those conversations more powerful and enticing to new families.

Delight your faculty and staff

Hubspot says, “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” Your teachers and staff are on the front lines of your school’s retention strategy. They are the number one promoters of your school.

Your teachers are the faces that your students and families are seeing on a daily basis. You have the opportunity to get your staff properly trained to delight and engage with those families before they step into the classroom on the first day. Hubspot suggests hiring for character then training for skill. Training is a big plus for teachers: they love to grow and learn so they’re able to bring more innovative strategies and techniques to the classroom.

Utilize your staff in content on your website, emails, newsletters and social media throughout the year. Highlight projects their classes have been working on, awards teachers have won, and even fun times that they have during the year, like spirit week.

Make sure your staff is given opportunities to go above and beyond for students and families. Teachers appreciate the investment you’re giving their career and your families will notice the level of involvement in lesson plans. 

Communicate often with your families

One of the most powerful tools in retention is connecting and building relationships with your families. You need to update them often about changes that your school is going through; but it’s more important to know the best way to reach your parents. Is it through newsletters, texts, social media, or emails? Most schools will say emails, but SchoolInboundMarketing.com says email can be overwhelming, inconvenient, and no longer their main mode of communication.  

Use your content to grow your family’s knowledge of what is going on in the school, the community, and updates on staff and students who are excelling in their studies and in the community. You want to build a connection with the content; it’s not what you say, but how you make them feel that creates a lasting relationship. Always ask yourself, what is your audience getting out of this content? Open communication between teachers, students, and staff will foster a positive environment where families are excited and willing to come back every year.

Your school needs to diversify your communication channels, you can use a text messaging app that helps students, teachers, and parents communicate quickly and effectively, social media channels for last minute updates, or your own app that allows open communication between teachers, students, and parents.

Also, use these channels throughout the year to explain the value of your school, and you should never assume they already know it.

Remember that once students are enrolled in your school the process has only just begun. Once your families feel secure about your school, they will trust you with their child’s education  throughout their secondary education career,  and will become active promoters of your school.