Prince the Peacock was beautiful, with blue and green feathers that were a sight to behold. 

We met him over the weekend at the Warm Springs Inn (which we highly recommend, by the way) in Wenatchee, WA.

Despite all of his investments in marketing himself, Prince remained frustrated and unable to accomplish his goals. (perhaps a little like your school)

Who should be recruited to serve as a Parent Ambassador? That is a frequently asked question as enrollment directors are implementing or improving their efforts to involve parents in the student recruiting process. 

Here are three criteria to help you build a productive team of parent ambassadors. Brennan Stark from PeerPal joined me and Tammy for a conversation about how to choose parent ambassadors that will most effectively contribute to your success. 

You are in control of your own destiny as a school leader. You can intentionally choose the people who are on your team, the type of culture in which you work together, and how you will deliver on your mission.

Strategy is a choice and the decisions you make in December can make the new year remarkably more joyful!

Testing is a big deal these days. Testing for a contagious disease. Testing for student progress. How about a school ambassador test?

Your school needs board members, employees, families, and donors to test positive for willingly and energetically sharing your story with others. 

What do you know about your target market of families? Everyone has a confirmation bias that clouds objectivity and the ability to genuinely listen. Cognitive bias isn't new, but it can be a huge barrier to your ability to innovate and grow enrollment in this emerging economy. 

(See Special Offer Enrollment Growth Plan PowerPack 2020 to advance your target market genius and admissions results)

Every school that is required to recruit students for enrollment is asking the same question right now:

"How will this disruption to our society and economy impact our enrollment?"

And the truth is, no one knows for sure!

But an Enrollment Growth Plan is a big advantage that will deepen your understanding of the families in your target market and help you adjust to the current realities with discipline and data.

Congratulations! You have the unique privilege of leading your school(s) through an unprecedented time in the history of the world.

Each day brings new data and information that heightens the level of concern. Meanwhile, you have to maintain engagement with your board, faculty, parents, students, donors, and community in order to sustain some level of mindshare and momentum. 

This week Tammy and I had the privilege of leading workshops in Nice, France, for admissions professionals from international schools across Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.

We learned about the challenges that are limiting their growth and shared strategies for building stronger engagement with faculty and families.

You may be interested in learning what they identified as their challenges to grow this year. 

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.

Certain decisions made during the summer can destroy a school's culture and potential for growth. Of course they are made with the best of intentions, but the damage can last for years.

How can you protect yourself from these disastrous risks? Let's explore a few of these decisions and some steps you can take to wisely grow over the summer.