Are You Building A Strong Relationship With Your Parent Community?

IN THIS ISSUE Where's HEG Working? In The News Solutions For Your School Are You Building A Strong Relationship With Your Parent Community? Toolkits BUY & SELL SCHOOLS      HEG provides consulting services in connection with the sale of Private K-12 Schools globally, and Language Schools & Career Colleges in Canada, including:   Career Colleges: 1). Solo Career Business College based in British Columbia with EBITDA of +$100,000. (School No. 1063) 2).Nursing College in California in final stages of receiving accreditation and seeking investors (School No. 1077) Language Schools: 1).  Group of successful Language Schools based in key urban centres Canada with EBITDA of approximately +$750,000. (School No. 1037) - Signed an LOI 2). Highly regarded Language School and Career College with a popular Work/Study Program in British Columbia. (School No. 1031) - Signed an LOI 3). Successful Language School and Training College in Western Canada with EBITDA of approximately +$80,000. (School No. 1097) - Signed an LOI 4).Solo centrally-based Canadian language school with EBITDA of +$100,000 that is the leader in its region. (School No. 1022) K-12 Private Schools: 1). Growing K-12 international school of 450 student in SE USA with EBITDA of $950,000. (School No. 1011) 2). Thriving K-12 private international school of 450 students in Vietnam with EBITDA of +$1.4 million, (School No. 1034) 4). Prestigious day/boarding high school in NE USA on 120 picturesque acres with enrollment capacity of 500 students and I-20 Visas to recruit international students (School No. 1055) - Signed an LOI 5). Special needs high school in Texas with revenues of $500,000. (School No. 1097) Contact HEG by email or phone if you would like to find out more about these schools or would HEG to provide consulting services in connection with the sale of your school.   ONLINE STORE Visit Our Store For Helpful Toolkits TESTIMONIAL "HEG  is a very professional team that brings a myriad of talents to private schools and are quite focused and results driven. They work efficiently and are task-driven. As a start-up school we have so many items in our punch-list to complete and Doug and the HEG team came in and helped us with almost every aspect of the operations in a very short time frame. They are flexible and a joy to work with. I would recommend them to any group that wants to start a world-class international school or improve the performance of your established private school." -- Dr. Jorge Nelson, Head of Chadwick International School

Message From HEG's President As I visit a number of private schools over the years, I note right away when a school has a strong connection with their parents. It's a sense of community and pride...engaging parents in their school's success. This engagement helps to fulfill the school's mission and becomes the  backbone of the volunteer force, and a real sense of ownership by the parents in the school's achievements. I've always been a strong believer in building a strong relationship with your parent community. Word-of-mouth marketing is still the number strategy for building enrollment. Moreover, a positive and trusting school culture is grounded on an openness to work and engage the parent community in the ongoing development of the school. As mentioned in earlier eNewsletters, effective schools encourage a high level of collaboration and communication with its stakeholders. Today, I'd like to share a few ideas about how to get your parents more involved in your school.          To your success,   Doug Halladay President Halladay Education Group   Where's HEG Working Right Now? Here's an update of what HEG's working on:    Market Study and Business Plan for a new Faith-Based Non-Profit Private K-12 School in BC  Market Study and Business Plan for a new Private K-12 Non-Profit International School in Oman Market Study and Business Plan for a new Private For-Profit High School in California  Strategic Plan/Action For a Private Non-Profit K-8 Adventist Preparatory School in Florida   Strategic Plan For An International Private For-Profit School in Latin America Market Study and Business Plan For A For Profit International IB School in Asia  Formation of a new Private K-12 Canadian For-Profit International K-12 School in Saudi Arabia    Providing consulting services to school owners in connection with the sale of their Canadian Career Colleges, Language Schools, and Private K-12 schools globally  If you're interested in our firm's consulting services, and would like to discuss your needs further, please contact Doug Halladay by email  or call directly at 1-604-868-0002.   In The News Private Schools 'Building Boom' Despite the recession many independent schools in the UK are spending millions on building projects, suggests a staff survey. Almost half (48.7%) of teachers surveyed by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said their school had building... GEMS To Open $172m School In Switzerland Dubai-based GEMS Education is set to open a SF162m ($172.2m) new school in Switzerland next year to cater to hundreds of students in Etoy, a community west of Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Offering instruction primarily in English, the 14,000 sq m Gems World Academy private school is aimed at the offspring of employees of multinational firms in the Lake Geneva region... Election Shows Voters Divided Over Education In one of the most closely watched contests, Idahoans overturned three major education initiatives pushed through the Republican legislature by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna. Two-thirds voted to block Mr. Luna's plans to mandate... Tulsa Leads In Private-School Enrollment More than one in five Tulsans enrolled in school attend private institutions, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau data. Statewide, only the city of Shawnee has a higher percentage of students enrolled in private schools at 22.3 percent... Solutions For Your School STARTING A SCHOOL Our experienced team can provide step-by-step 'turn-key' services to start your school in the USA, Canada, &  Internationally. Click here for more info.  STRATEGIC PLANNING  We're experienced developing Strategic Plans for schools globally. Our plan can focuses your school's mission, build consensus, donor confidence, & define priorities for your Board & Staff. No school should be without one. Click here for more info. BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS Great schools have great boards. Can you afford not to ? Our governance workshops & online board performance surveys fine-tunes your board's & focuses your priorities. Click here for more info. SCHOOL EVALUATION Are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Our In-Depth Performance Review assesses your school's performance against benchmarks & provides snap-shot right away. Click here for more info. BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS  HEG provides consulting services in connection with the sale of K-12 Schools, Language Schools, & Career Colleges in Canada, US, and Internationally. Click here for more info. Are You Building A Strong Relationship With Your Parent Community? I've always been a believer in building strong relationships with  parents. Word-of-mouth marketing is still the number strategy for building enrollment. Moreover, a positive and trusting school culture is grounded on an openness to work and engage your parents in ongoing development of their school. Here are a few suggestions: 1). Communication and Volunteering Most parents want to participate in their child's education. Your job is to figure out how to do that. Supply your key constituents with the information and experiences needed to validate their decision to enrol their child at your school...tapping into what matters most to them. Use targeted communication strategies to develop parents as engaged volunteers, marketers, and supporters of your school. Establish activities that bond parents to the school. However, be sensitive to the already consuming commitments that most dual-working parents have and the type of activities and times you hold them. A well thought out series of events and publications (e.g., eNewsletter, Facebook, Intraweb, Twitter) keep parents closely connected. This includes.  Start your year with a back-to-school event (picnic). Set up a new parent/ student luncheon. Link new parents with established parents. Organize and fund grade level meetings and get togethe's once a semester. Hold parent-teacher conferences at least once per term. Set-up a flexible schedules to accommodate working parents (or other forms of communication...email, voice mail). Email parent-oriented eNewsletters at least once a month that are well written and attractive. This is a critical retention tool that demonstrates to parents the value they receive for their tuition . Create a parent volunteer handbook highlighting both their unique areas of expertise to contribute as well as established events for volunteering. Email weekly updates to alert parents on events, calendar changes, and celebrations of school achievements. Create a year-long calendar of events, holidays, vacations, and professional days that is attractively printed so it can hang from the fridge door. Develop a magazine for your entire constituency to "brag" about school achievements (e.g., academics, sports, extra-curriculars, leadership, classroom experiences, alumni activities, parent events). Develop an annual report detailing fundraising results (donors and volunteers) and the year's accomplishments, which should be mailed to all constituents. 2). Parent Association: The PA serves as a critical supporter in your school's efforts to connect with parents. Its role is to be a friend-raiser, fund-raiser, and to involve/inform/support parents. It is not a political group! You've a board to represent the parents. Parents need major events during the school year to rally around (e.g., Gala dinner, golf tournament, bazaar, field days, sports days, walk-a-thons); with at least one event per semester;  some at the divisional level and some school-wide. However, any event that attracts the entire family is valuable. Fundraising events are also excellent bonding activities. Teamwork and sharing of common goals and results, and accomplishments provide parents with a sense of ownership in the development of their children's school. It's also important to find parent volunteers their own space to call their own. Your PA should focus on: Building a positive school spirit Supporting communication between parents and the school Recruiting and organizing volunteers for school events Raising funds in conjunction with school development policies Forming the backbone of your volunteer force Lightening the load for your staff Adding variety and expertise One of the worst things to happen though is that a parent offers to volunteer, but no one follows up. Your school needs to assign someone on your staff to oversee parent volunteer activities, where they can help to develop ownership and involvement and create a sense of community. This will boost your school's image by spreading a positive word-of-mouth to others. Next Step Doug, if you would like to find out more about how we can help your school improve parent community relations, please contact HEG directly by email at info@halladayeducationgroup.com or directly at 1-604-868-0002.  HEG Recommends Here are two of our most popular toolkits which will help you to either  start your own school or develop your own strategic plan.   STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT  Learn how to develop your own Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in a detailed Workbook & Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD's. It's all here to help you develop your own plan. Click here for more details. START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT Are you still struggling with starting a school? Experienced school leaders share how they started their school from the ground up. You'll also receive our bonus CD ($150 value) on developing your strategic plan. Click here for more details. To your success, Douglas Halladay President Halladay Education Group Inc.   P: 604.868.0002 E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com www.HalladayEducationGroup.com P.S. Don't forget to check out our Online Store and our popular Strategic Planning and Start-A-School Toolkits.They're affordable and practical.     You are receiving this because you signed up at HEG's website or you told us you wanted to subscribe. We will never distribute your address to anyone. Period. We promise.