The percentage of students who enroll, continue, and successfully complete their academic courses at the same institution is referred to as student retention.
Your school’s mission depends on retaining your current students. Every school employee benefits from increasing student retention, and therefore, every faculty and staff should strive to achieve this goal. Understanding the causes of student dropouts and implementing practical strategies to increase re-enrollment will help your school create a solid and long-lasting future.
There are several reasons why students leave school:
1. Safety – Although your school may already prioritize safety, it’s crucial to let families and students know that they are also protected. Regularly review your current policies and provide enrolled families with an opportunity to talk with staff members about school safety.
2. Cost – Families often withdraw their children from schools because they cannot afford the tuition fees. The reasons for this could be that they no longer consider your school to be worthwhile, or their family’s financial situation has significantly changed. However, a few well-placed inquiries and discussions could yield crucial details that will aid in your retention efforts.
3. Student Satisfaction – Successful retention involves not only parents but also students, particularly in later grades. When making decisions about whether to re-enroll their children in school, families increasingly value the input of the students who expect to have a say in their educational future as they get older. If a student is dissatisfied with your institution, take the time to learn why and address the issue before it affects retention.
Also Read: 5 Mental Health Tips For School Leaders
7 opportunities for re-enrolling and retaining students who left your school are as follows:
While bringing in new families is crucial for the survival and expansion of your school, retaining current students and re-enrolling those who have left is equally important for its overall health and well-being.
1. Hold a Renewal Rally
Invite parents to a meeting to discuss the “state of the school.” Provide details about the school’s recent achievements, and choose and encourage students to share personal anecdotes about the positive impact the school has had on their lives. Make the event enjoyable and creative. Offer parents the chance to enroll while the event is ongoing, and provide incentives to encourage them to do so. Create a sense of urgency by offering deep discounts for early re-enrollment or discounts on deposits or fees for parents who re-enroll by a specific deadline.
2. Establish a Formal Retention Committee
Establish a formal retention committee to get advice from a cross-functional team of school employees and teachers, develop a strategic retention plan, and maintain accountability for that plan. Consider who you would like to invite to the committee, decide on meeting times, assign tasks, and provide regular updates on progress.
3. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Develop a rigorous re-enrollment communication strategy with your team. Communicate constantly through multiple channels. For example, create a video that explains the re-enrollment procedure and post it on your website. You might also send out relevant information via email or social media.
4. Describe the Purpose of Your School
What sets your school apart? Don’t presume that your parents are aware of this knowledge. Instead, tell them. Remind them by sharing tales of how your school community has influenced the lives of families and students. Share these experiences in person as testimonies at school events or online through written or video content.
5. Create a Sense of Community and Belonging
Many students may feel lost in huge educational settings, rather than finding their way. Therefore, as part of your strategy to raise, retain, and re-enroll students, it is crucial to concentrate on individualized learning, creating a feeling of community on campus, and fostering a sense of belonging for all students, especially those who are at risk of dropping out. Creating a sense of community both within and outside of the classroom benefits students in developing healthy study habits that enhance their academic success and indirectly support the re-enrollment and retention of students.
6. Get Feedback Frequently
Measure student happiness and program effectiveness. Regularly gathering direct input is one of the best methods to prevent students from quitting school (and stop problems before they start). Surveys and polls about student engagement can help you learn more about your students’ needs and difficulties, as well as what makes them happy and engaged. These essential insights give you the ability to move quickly, deal with problems as they arise, and maximize ongoing programming efforts.
7. One-on-One Interaction
Though it might not be possible to have formal one-on-one sessions with every new and returning family every year, you should still consider scheduling them occasionally as part of your process to give parents a similar ongoing personal experience to that of the original application process. Maintaining families’ trust in the school’s overarching vision and fostering their sense of being heard and respected can be done by providing a comparable amount of one-on-one access. Also, you can make use of your other administrators.
Putting a few well-focused retention strategies into place can have a significant impact at your school. The best outcomes will be achieved if everyone at your school is on board. You may achieve your enrollment targets year after year, raise student lifetime value, and forge a closer-knit community at your school by concentrating on retention activities.
Social