Private School Onboarding: 5 Assumptions That Threaten Enrollment

The primary focus of a private or independent school admissions team is to drive enrollment, but it shouldn’t stop there. Everyone in the school should to be committed to keeping families and students engaged so they want to return year after year. One thing that makes a huge difference in enrollment and retention—yet is often overlooked or under resourced—is the strategy and process of onboarding.

Your school’s onboarding process is critical to student retention and your strategy should involve not only admissions staff, but also your entire leadership team. From the Head of School being visible and accessible to the marketing staff developing email content to the admins managing your parent portal, each member of your team has an essential role in onboarding.

Rick Newberry, President of Enrollment Catalyst, has worked with more than 500 private and independent schools in crafting their marketing and enrollment strategies. In a recent Blackbaud webinar, he shared the assumptions he’s seen school leaders make about onboarding families which can threaten enrollment. Here are the top five.

1. You assume they are going to show up.

The contract may be signed, the student enrolled, and even a deposit made, but that doesn’t mean they are going to show up on day one, nor that they will continue to attend throughout the school year. There are a lot of variables that may change between contract and attendance, so your job is not done when a family enrolls.

Your enrollment is at risk if:

• The school fails to nurture the family relationship
• The child has a poor initial experience
• The onboarding process is disorganized

Remember: retaining a student costs less than recruiting a new one. In the 2022 Independent School Cost-Per-Enrollment Study, median cost-per-enrollment of one new student was $3,677. Those expenses—including admission staffing, admissions marketing and communications, promotional and software costs, travel, and more—are only rising.

2. You assume they understand your school’s culture.

You know your school. You know what your acronyms are. You know the purpose and nature of your groups and events. A new family doesn’t know. They haven’t experienced any of it before, so you can’t assume that they know the cadence of your school year, what exactly a catchily-named group is, or what an event is all about.

For instance, new families might not be familiar with the annual Fall Festival, which is a significant event for your community. Why should they attend, let alone volunteer? Similarly, they might not understand the various groups and activities available for their children or how to get involved. Did your enrollment process include delving into each child’s skills and interests? How are you helping them find those groups beyond listing them in a packet or in your portal?

If you have customizable digital checklists in your enrollment management system, be sure to include school groups and activities so families can indicate interest. Then schedule tasks for your staff to follow up and ensure students get connected with others who share those interests.

3. You assume families and students will meet new people on their own.

They’re joining a new community, and some parents and students are shy. They may be more introverted. They may not like crowds. Yet you know it’s important that they meet and feel connected to your faculty, staff, and other school families.

It’s crucial to create a culture of belonging where new people feel accepted and valued. Help build their sense of community by encouraging key family members to participate in group activities, offering them support, and gradually exposing them to new ways to make connections. Providing opportunities for one-on-one interactions can make a significant difference. Many schools create a buddy system for students. Consider doing the same for the adults involved.

4. You still rely on a giant welcome packet.

Packing everything into one envelope and sending that to families is not necessarily the best way to share vital information. Do you really think they’re going to read it all? Are you sure it reached the right people in that household?

What if, instead, you had school leaders, advisors, and student ambassadors reach out to families proactively? How can you engage more members of your community to keep the welcome going in the summer months and throughout the school year?

5. You assume they aren’t questioning their enrollment decision.

They are. Families will spend a lot of money to attend your school and there are other factors at play. You’ve guided them through the entire admissions funnel. They made a big decision, and they’re enrolled. They’ve signed the contract.

Yet in the Enrollment Management Association’s (EMA) 2024 The Ride to Independent Schools Report, more than 1 in 3 families already enrolled in an independent school were actively considering a new school outside of the independent school space. EMA calls it an “industry-wide leaky bucket.”

What are some of these families’ biggest concerns and questions? Try and understand their mindset. They’ve seen your materials, read online reviews, and peered into your social media channels. They’ve visited your campus. But they don’t really know what your school is like because they haven’t experienced it.

It can be hard to transfer into a new school. They likely considered their options for over a year before contacting you. Maybe they were looking at 3 or 4 alternatives before choosing your school. They will continually evaluate whether it was the right decision for them as a family. It’s your job to show them it was and still is.

Moving forward

The onboarding process at private and independent schools is a fundamental component of student retention. It requires the involvement of the entire school community—from the Head of School and admissions to marketing and front office staff—to ensure that new families feel welcomed and supported. By addressing common assumptions and providing clear communication, schools can create a positive experience for new families, ultimately leading to higher retention rates. Investing in a comprehensive onboarding strategy is essential for long-term success.

Dig deeper into onboarding—including successful strategies already implemented at some schools—in our on-demand webinar: Beyond Enrollment: Onboarding K–12 Families for Retention Success.