Enrollment leadership and management provides the primary source of revenue for most schools, and yet it's too often the most misunderstood role.

Admissions is influenced by a multitude of key factors, yet so often board members and administrators oversimplify the issues when facing enrollment challenges. Blaming the enrollment office seldom produces real gains because most of the contributing causes can be found elsewhere in the school. 

Using the School Growth system for growing schools, Daniel Breen has successfully led Sacred Heart Cathedral School (Knoxville, TN) through a season of transformation. Under his guidance they achieved 94% re-enrollment, exceeded their new enrollment goal with a waiting pool, surpassed their fundraising targets, and student academic results were the highest in years.

On a recent flight I sat next to a woman who had a very intriguing story. She was once a teacher, and apparently a pretty good one. But she opted to change careers in her early-40’s because she couldn’t take it anymore. Instead she became a flight attendant.

What was the problem? Was teaching really that bad?!

As long as enrollment is the primary source of revenue for the school, the school board will be very interested in how to improve and grow it. When the board and the administration work as a cohesive team, growth is more likely to happen. So, how can board members appropriately contribute to the enrollment goals?

The people responsible for the facilities at a school sometimes lack a voice in helping overcome the barriers to excellence, so we took the time to interview a gentleman with many years of experience supporting the needs of educators. Having worked in both public and private education, he shared some valuable wisdom in the question and answer format below.

Today we're guiding school business officers through a self-assessment of organizational health. Using the School Growth Optimize Performance Model, this workshop at the PAISBOA annual meeting in Philadelphia will provide insight on the factors that may be limiting effectiveness and quality.

Leading a school is extraordinarily stressful without a cohesive team that has clarity, communicates expertly, and consistently executes day-to-day.

Motivated by the joys of working with such a productive team, schools have asked us to help them gain advantage through a leadership retreat--one that is designed to increase leadership capacity, organizational health, and continuous improvement.

Do you have a strategic plan or school improvement plan? Have you prioritized the ONE THING that has the biggest impact on student growth and overall school growth?

Research indicates that within the next few years 68% of sitting heads will either retire or move to another school.  This high level of change may be attributed to baby boomers delaying retirement as a result of the financial recession of 2008, and it is also triggered by school board quality issues.

Does your school have a well-defined leadership succession plan?

Since founding School Growth LLC in 2008, we've worked with thousands of private, public, and charter schools, around the world. We’ve seen great ones, some awful ones, and a majority in between. With this uniquely broad range of experience, I can confidently tell you that American schools are better than the publicly stated opinions of most politicians and business leaders.