Boosting School Enrollment Through Social Media

Adapted from a presentation by Inga Cotton, Founder & Executive Director of San Antonio Charter Moms, at the Texas Charter Schools Conference on Wednesday, October 30, 2019.

Families rely on digital information to make assistance them brand decisions almost where to send their children to school. How can your schoolhouse employ online platforms like social media and mobile apps to nowadays information that accurately reflects school civilization and motivates families to enroll? Parent activist Inga Cotton, founder and executive director of San Antonio Charter Moms, offers communication about all-time practices and tools for finer communicating about your school on social media and boosting enrollment.

These are the elements of using social media and mobile apps for boosting pupil enrollment:

• Social media platforms that families are using
• Communicating school culture
• Enrollment information and calls to action
• The funnel: enrollment to advocacy

Families on Social Media

Social media is the digital distillation of word of mouth, a powerful driver of parenting and childrearing decisions.

• Facebook: Widely used by parents and caregivers, including older Millennials and Generation Ten. Images and videos, including live videos, often get more than traction than text. Posts on public pages may need a paid boost to reach a wide audience.
• Facebook Groups: Posts in groups are seen by many members, but groups need careful moderation to stay civil and positive. Groups can build a sense of community.
• Instagram: A highly visual platform that reaches a younger audience. Establishes the look and identity of a school.
• Instagram Stories: Brief, short-lived videos that spread ideas and promote engagement.
• Snapchat: Brief, visual, localized platform popular with younger families and teen students.
• Twitter: Less for families and more for reaching media, elected officials, and other leaders.
• YouTube: A place where families go to larn, where a longer video can inform almost schoolhouse culture and mission.

San Antonio Charter Moms founder Inga Cotton speaking at the 2022 Texas Charter Schools Conference.

Communicating School Civilization

When families brainstorm a school search, they take many unanswered questions, including basic facts about the differences between charter schools and other types of schools. They are still learning well-nigh unlike types of schools and the meaning of terms such equally STEM, project-based learning, liberal arts, dual linguistic communication, and Montessori. Presenting your school's culture on social media is a way to help families understand what to expect when they enroll their children at your school.

• Branding: Frequently present identifiers such as the schoolhouse'southward proper name, colors, mascot, motto, signage, and campus. If your students article of clothing uniforms, prove them.
• People: Show faces of students, teachers, school leaders, parents, grandparents, and community supporters. Families volition notice things they can identify with—"These are people like me!"
• Mission: Talk virtually your learning model and show it in activity. Examples: Stem activities like Hour of Lawmaking and solar car races. Learning in nature similar urban farming or tending a chicken coop. Achievements like victories in science fairs and spelling bees. Workplace learning. Travel, such as higher visits. Celebrations similar college signing day or book social club parties. Inclusive events like Special Olympics. Arts activities like plays and art exhibits.

Enrollment Information on Social Media

Families are overwhelmed with data and need help to make certain the of import things—like applying to a charter school during open enrollment—get done. Email communication is essential, simply sometimes messages go overlooked.

• Beat the drum almost enrollment timelines. Your followers are non going to see every social media postal service, so be redundant.
• Families still take basic questions well-nigh charter schools, such as whether they charge tuition, whether students have to take a test to become in, and if they accept special education students. Our site, sachartermoms.com, has explainers to help.
• Families are as well still learning why it'southward important to apply during open enrollment, what it ways to become through a lottery, and how waiting lists piece of work. We can help.
• Share your events. Use all your channels to invite families to come to your schoolhouse for open houses, information sessions, schoolhouse tours, and more.
• Ask parents and caregivers to take activity now: register for an event, make full out an online awarding, tell a friend.
• Teamwork: Set up articulation information sessions with other charter schools in your office of town. Employ resources like libraries, customs centers, and computer labs.
• Partner with organizations in your area that communicate with families about education. We offer a free mobile app, San Antonio Charter Schools, available at sachartermoms.com/app, that includes information most enrollment dates and lets families opt in to notifications that buzz their phone about deadlines.
• Spruce up your schoolhouse website. Expect at a school profile in the app and brand sure all that information is easy to find on your website. For instance, is it like shooting fish in a barrel for families to find out what grade levels yous serve?
• Defend your digital reputation. Await at school ratings and sites where users post reviews. Yous can't take downward the bad stuff, but you can balance the information by encouraging your about engaged families to speak up.

Funnel: Enrollment to Advocacy

On the journeying to becoming parent advocates, families are moving through a funnel. They kickoff out with big dreams of a bright future for their children. Then, they larn about what education options are bachelor to them in their community and how to navigate the enrollment process. Once they have their children enrolled in schools that are a good fit, where they are happy and learning, so parents and caregivers are ready to speak up for their schools, their teachers, and for high quality pedagogy. The digital communication tools that we discussed today can likewise be applied to advocacy work. That was the topic of our talk before this week, on Monday, October 28 at 4:00 PM, on Charter Moms Advancement: Community Edifice Through Social Media. If you missed that presentation, nosotros encourage you to wait up those materials in this earlier mail service and attain out to us with questions.

Read More

• "Lease School Advancement: Community Building Through Social Media," Inga Cotton wool, San Antonio Charter Moms, October 29, 2019
• "[Hall Monitor] On Mobile Apps and Disinterestedness," San Antonio Charter Moms, April 27, 2019
• "Charters 101: Being a Charter Schoolhouse Parent Advocate – Founders Schertz Edition," Inga Cotton, San Antonio Charter Moms, March 5, 2018
• "Notes from the Texas School Choice Calendar week Rally in Austin on January xxx, 2015," Inga Cotton wool, San Antonio Charter Moms, February two, 2015

barronwithatte.blogspot.com

Source: https://sachartermoms.com/boosting-school-enrollment-social-media/

Share this post