4 Summer Retention Strategies for Your Private School ☀️

✨ Hi there,

You're probably wondering, why are we talking about retention? It's summer! 🤔 Turns out, summer is an opportune time for retention efforts because parents are more receptive to what you have to say 👂 So let's dive into 4 summer retention strategies you need to implement this summer! ⛱☀️

1.) Communicate with parents throughout the entire summer 💬 I see too many schools stop their communication once school ends and begin again just a couple of weeks before school begins. The goal here is to acclimate our parents to how we communicate and to what's going on in the school - so starting up just a couple of weeks before school starts won't convey everything you need to share in a timely enough manner.

2.)  Host events that bring together current and new families 🫂🎊 As a new family, you don't just want to meet other new families, you want to meet other people in your grades too! So be sure to coordinate events and initiatives that will bring your new and current families together! This will build your community and strengthen ties to your school. 

3.) Send a personalized welcome handwritten letter from teachers to students during with summer 📝 This simple act of kindness goes a long way and builds those warm and fuzzy feelings going into the new year. There are different ways you could about this, one way is handing off ready to send postcards to your teachers to write their messages and with that, it's good to go!

4.) Host the classroom orientation and meet and greet before the school year starts 🏫 Ask families to have at least one parent attend and as a group, go over all the logistics - carpool, who's your teacher, where's the classroom, etc. Afterward, parents can mingle and so can the students! Hosting during the summer eases stress for parents and staff, making the experience so much more enjoyable for everyone.

✨ I'd love to know, what are your retention efforts and strategies for the summer? Email me at [email protected] 📧

Aubrey