HALLADAY EDUCATION GROUP

HALLADAY EDUCATION GROUP
4316 Arthur Drive, Delta, BC, Canada V4K 2W8
P: 604.868.0002 | E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com


Friday, March 20, 2009

Is Your School Using Social Media?

Hello,


My flu is getting a little better, but the best medicine is my Vancouver Canucks Hockey team winning last night. By beating the St. Louis Blues, the Canucks are now in 4th place.


As you know, one of the strategies HEG utilizes to stay connected with our current and future clients is to send out weekly eNewsletters to share tips, news, and advice on starting and leading private and public schools more effectively. From the strong retention rates, we must be doing a good job.


HEG utilizes as many technology-based strategies as possible to stay connected with our Inner Circle Members and access to new members. We do this through “Social Media 2.0” technology.


You can find HEG on the following Social Media Sites: LinkedIn, Twitter, Face Book, Plaxo, Blob, PPC’s on Yahoo and Google, Article Submissions, Reciprocal Links, and more.


If your school uses only traditional advertising and has limited online presence, it's missing out. The Internet provides powerful networking opportunities that allow schools to effectively target their audience by logging on to social sites like LinkedIn, Digg and more. Take advantage of these tools by asserting your school’s presence online and reaching more potential customers, business partners and employees.


What does your school do?


To your success,


Doug Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

Get our updates @ www.twitter.com/halladay


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In This Issue

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1. In The News


2. Popular Services


3. Is Your School Using Social Media?


4. Online Store Products


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1. In The News

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The National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences has released the report "Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results from the 2007-08 Private School Universe Survey." This report presents data on private schools in the United States for grades kindergarten through twelve by selected characteristics such as school size, school level, religious orientation, geographic region, urbanicity type, and program emphasis. To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please click here.


A NEW HIGH SCHOOL WITH A COLLEGE MIXED IN

New York Times - United States

Officials say the economic crisis may cause students to bypass more expensive private schools. Justin Simmons, a 2007 graduate of Brooklyn Technical High...


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2. Popular Services

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(A) STARTING A SCHOOL


Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a second chance to make a first impression. This is why you need a firm that has experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally. Please click here for more information.


(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING


We can lead the development of a comprehensive Strategic Plan for your private or public school, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration to improve your school. Please click here for more information.


(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS


Do you want your school to have better leadership? Our full-day governance workshop in combination with our interactive online surveys will fine-tune your board’s performance and refocus their priorities. Please click here for more information.


(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS


A School assessment and review is critical to knowing if your school is heading in the right direction. You need to keep track of how your school is performing and how to stay competitive. As a board member are you confident that your Head of School and staff are making the right decisions? Is your school "firing on all its cylinders?" Are you sure that your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with HEG's In-Depth School Performance Review. Please click here for more information.


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3. Is Your School Using Social Media?

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If your school has limited online presence, it's missing out. The Internet provides powerful networking opportunities that allow school’s to effectively target their audience by logging on to social sites like LinkedIn, Digg and more to stay connected with your past, current, and future community.


Take advantage of these tools by asserting your school’s presence online and reaching more potential customers, business partners and employees. Here is a list of potential social sites your school should have a presence on:


Social-Media/Social-Bookmarking Sites

  • Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. Submit items often so that you'll gain a more loyal following and increase your presence on the site.
  • Digg: Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more.
  • Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
  • StumbleUpon: You'll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and "channel surf[ing] the Web. You'll "connect with friends and share your discoveries," as well as "meet people that have similar interests."
  • Technorati: If you want to increase your blog's readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.
  • Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone.
  • Squidoo: According to Squidoo, "everyone's an expert on something. Share your knowledge!" Share your industry's secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members.
  • Furl: Make Furl "your personal Web file" by bookmarking great sites and sharing them with other users by recommending links, commenting on articles and utilizing other fantastic features.
  • Tubearoo: This video network works like other social-bookmarking sites, except that it focuses on uploaded videos. Businesses can create and upload tutorials, commentaries and interviews with industry insiders to promote their own services.
  • WikiHow: Create a how-to guide or tutorial on wikiHow to share your company's services with the public for free.
  • YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company's latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day.
  • Ma.gnolia: Share your favorite sites with friends, colleagues and clients by organizing your bookmarks with Ma.gnolia. Clients will appreciate both your Internet-savviness and your ability to stay current and organized.

Professional-Networking Sites


Sign up with these online networking communities as a company or as an individual to take advantage of recruiting opportunities, cross-promotional events and more.

  • LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
  • Ecademy: Ecademy prides itself on "connecting business people" through its online network, blog and message-board chats, as well as its premier BlackStar membership program, which awards exclusive benefits.
  • Ryze: Ryze lets members organize contacts and friends; upcoming events; and even job, real-estate and roommate classifieds.
  • YorZ: This networking site doubles as a job site. Members can post openings for free to attract quality candidates.
  • Xing: An account with networking site Xing can "open doors to thousands of companies." Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to "find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels."
  • Facebook: Facebook is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pics. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this social-networking site.
  • Care2: Care2 isn't just a networking community for professionals: It's touted as "the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference." If your business is making efforts to go green, let others know by becoming a presence on this site.
  • Gather: This networking community is made up of members who think. Browse categories concerning books, health, money, news and more to ignite discussions on politics, business and entertainment. This will help your company tap into its target audience and find out what they want.
  • MEETin.org: Once you've acquired a group of contacts in your city by networking on MEETin.org, organize an event so that you can meet face-to-face.
  • Tribe: Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Chicago have unique online communities on tribe. Users can search for favorite restaurants, events, clubs and more.
  • Ziggs: Ziggs is "organizing and connecting people in a professional way." Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company's presence online and further your own personal career.
  • Plaxo: Join Plaxo to organize your contacts and stay updated with feeds from Digg, Amazon.com, del.icio.us and more.
  • NetParty: If you want to attract young professionals in cities like Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Orlando Fla., create an account with the networking site NetParty. You'll be able to connect with qualified, up-and-coming professionals online, then meet them at a real-life happy-hour event where you can pass out business cards, pitch new job openings and more.
  • Networking For Professionals: Networking For Professionals is another online community that combines the Internet with special events in the real world. Post photos, videos, résumés and clips on your online profile while you meet new business contacts.

How is your school dealing with today’s social marketing opportunities and growing enrollment, retention, fund raising, and public relations? Do you have a plan in place to implement this? Hey, are you even using pay per click on Google or Yahoo?


To find out more about our firm’s services and how we can help improve your school’s social media presence, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs or click on the following link for more information:


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4. Products At Our Online Store

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Here are two sets of popular Tool Kits to help you start and/or lead your school more effectively.


>> (A). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)


Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan effectively with our step-by-step instructions that contains our Workbook and Manual. Click here to get more details.


>> (B). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)


Are you still struggling with starting your School? We share with you how to start a school from the ground up. Click here to get more the details.


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To your success,


Douglas Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.


P: 604.868.0002 / F: 868.472.8737 / Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com


P.S. Do not forget to check out our secure Online Store for ways to invest in improving or starting your own school or non-profit.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Improve Your School's Performance With Our In-Depth Review

Hello:

A school evaluation is critical to knowing if your school is headed in the right direction.

You need to keep track of how your school is performing and how to stay competitive. As a board member are you confident that you’re making the right decisions? Is your school firing on all its cylinders? Are you sure that your school is doing the best it can? Is your board driven by crisis and your calendar, rather than the priorities of your missions?

You need to get the whole picture with HEG's In-Depth School Performance Review.

HEG’s School Performance Review is the keystone to building a solid foundation. We review your school's operations and leadership utilizing our in-depth background of leading and managing private schools around the world and comparison to industry benchmarks of successful schools. Our approach identifies what is working and areas in your operations and management that need immediate improvement. We follow our on-site visit with an action plan that identifies a range of solutions and strategies to improve your school’s performance now. You get immediate results that will help your bottom line.

PROCESS:

To establish a complete picture of your school performance against established benchmarks and to determine areas of priority that your school needs to focus on, we provide a two-pronged approach to assess your school’s current situation and gather measurable data:
  1. On-site focus groups, and;
  2. Multiple surveys of your school’s community (e.g., parents, staff, board).
Our thoughtful review process will provide clear feedback vital to successfully analyzing and developing a clear set of strategies to guide your board and administration with the ongoing development of your school. Our assessment process will help to revitalize your school, save you money, and focus your board on areas needing organizational improvement.

Institutional Assessment:

We will appraise your school's operations applying our in-depth background of starting, leading, and managing private schools. After our on-site session we will follow up with a summary report that identifies a range of recommendations and action plan strategies to improve your school.
Our focused assessment process will comprise a two-day onsite session. We will then develop a summary report that prioritizes the critical issues you need to improve upon, as well as the "indicators of success" you need to move towards to improve your new school. Our process focuses on a “SWOT” analysis approach identifying your:
  • Strengths;
  • Weaknesses;
  • Opportunities;
  • Threats or Trends.
SUMMATIVE REPORT & ACTION PLAN

We then develop a final report that summarizes areas that need to be addressed for short- and long-term success, as well as areas to celebrate. This includes an action plan to mobilize your board. A final written and digital report is submitted to focus your path of organizational improvement. Based on the report HEG can prioritize with your board areas that you may wish to have HEG return to support. We will review your:
  • School’s vision - mission - core values -educational philosophy;
  • Strategic planning;
  • Board Governance;
  • Bylaws and constitution;
  • Administrative leadership;
  • Head of School evaluation and support;
  • Physical plant and grounds;
  • Financial planning;
  • Development and fundraising;
  • Curriculum and programming;
  • Crisis management;
  • Staff evaluation systems, contracts, compensation, and professional development;
  • Tuition, bursaries, and financial aid;
  • Infrastructure, handbooks, traditions, and reporting systems;
  • Marketing and communications;
  • Admissions, recruiting, and retention systems;
  • School Climate.
EVALUATION PROCESS:

We will break our evaluation process into four parts:
  1. Determine Scope and Direction: Meeting with the board’s executive committee to determine realistic goals, critical issues, timelines, situational scan, and deliverables;
  2. Research Analysis (Internal/External Situation):
  3. Collect/Review School Documents prior to the onsite visit to determine school’s present situation (e.g., staff contracts, compensation, bylaws/constitution, handbooks, timetable, staffing chart, admissions material).
  4. Statistically-Driven Online Surveys prior to the onsite visit with staff/faculty, board, and parents, to gather data on school performance.
  5. Focus Group Sessions (Two-Days Onsite) with key constituents of your community to determine the strengths of your school, weaknesses, and opportunities and trends to take advantage of, including: Board Executive Committee, board members, administration, parents, students, staff, former parents. I will also tour the school and hold several classroom observation sessions.
  6. Summative Report: Develop a customized strategic report that will identify areas needing immediate focus and the ‘roll-out’ of a set of multiple recommendations, strategies and action plan to enhance your school’s development. This will include strategies, timelines, and designated staff.
  7. Implementation and Monitoring (TBD): Once we identify and agree upon the areas that your school and board need to prioritize, we can also be actively involved with supporting your institution with the implementation of your plan as needed throughout the process. This will be included in a subsequent agreement
NEXT STEP:

A School assessment and review is critical to knowing if your school is headed in the right direction. You need to keep track of how your school is performing and how to stay competitive.

Get the whole picture with HEG's In-Depth School Performance Review.

If you’d like to take the initiative, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com or call us at +1.604.868.0002 to set up a time to talk about your needs.

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President
Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

Get our updates @ www.twitter.com/halladay