A publication of the Magnet Schools Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center

Volume 1 • Issue 4 • may 2011

Recruiting Families for Magnet Schools Strategic student recruitment is a core element of a successful magnet program. Attracting the desired number and distribution of students to your magnet program is critical to its implementation, growth, and long-term sustainability and to student diversity.

Student recruitment is a process designed to encourage potential students to enroll in a particular magnet school or program. The main role of student recruitment is to identify students and inform them and their families about the magnet program and benefits of enrolling. Although student

recruitment is not an exact science, it is multifaceted and must appeal to both the rational and emotional decisionmaking of families.

The strategic process requires planning, communication, and evaluation in order to be effective. Magnet school recruitment must also consider a district’s school choice policies and practices, particularly those relevant to enrollment priorities, lotteries, and placement.

This issue of the Magnet Compass highlights useful recruitment strategies and effective marketing principles, lessons, and tips.

INSIDE THIS ISSUEStrategies for Successful Student Recruitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Marketing and Recruiting at the District Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Principles for Marketing . . . . . . . . 5

Branding Your Magnet Program . . . 6

Magnet Schools and Student Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

REGULAR FEATURES

The Needle Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Mapping the Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Magnet Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

What Families Want to Know About Magnet SchoolsBy being committed to families’ general well-being, magnet schools can recruit students more easily. Effective recruitment strategies must clearly speak to families’ interests and concerns by addressing how your school will educate and protect their children. Many families want to know how the:

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magnet curriculum will help educate and prepare students for the next stage in their education;

magnet school promotes achievement and school improvement;

magnet school successfully attracts, develops, and retains highly qualified staff;

students will be protected from violence and bullying;

magnet school integrates technology into learning;

students can access available transportation; and

magnet school partners with the community to enhance teaching and learning.

Promoting diversity, academic excellence, and equity through magnet schools

A Message From the Magnet Schools Assistance Program

Left to right: Anna Hinton, Director of Parental Options and Information; Rosie Kelley, MSAP Team Lead, Education Program Specialist; and Brittany Beth, MSAP Program Officer, Management and Program Analyst

Matching students to schools that are prepared to meet their individual needs is a high stakes process for all concerned. Despite the challenges, many districts and schools are breaking new ground by providing

families with an array of school choices, while contributing important lessons and hard won insights to a growing knowledge base around student recruitment. This issue of the Magnet Compass draws on that wealth of experience to address how districts that embrace choice collaborate with their magnet school constituents to meet the education needs of diverse communities through a comprehensive approach to student recruitment.

Districts and schools have distinct roles that are intended to complement one another as they strive to provide families with choices and help them become savvy consumers of information in the education arena. Districts are charged with developing an array of high-quality, adequately resourced education options to meet the diverse needs of their communities; selecting top-notch school leaders; and providing families fair access to their schools.

Schools are engaged in developing leadership teams; maintaining a visible presence in the community; acquiring in-depth knowledge of constituents’ diverse needs; and using comprehensive communication strategies. Both work to ensure that every family can access, understand, and interpret the requisite information to make informed decisions around school choice. Continuous improvement of fair and transparent recruitment and selection systems is essential to building trust and fully engaging families as education partners and advocates.

Districts and schools have distinct roles that are intended to complement one another as they strive to provide families with choices.

Many schools today are learning how to effectively market their schools throughout the year. Concepts such as branding, once foreign in education, are now readily understood as useful tools for helping families distinguish one unique program from another. Nevertheless, districts and magnet schools realize that when it comes to educating the community about a school, nothing speaks louder than a school’s hard won reputation for academic success.

This publication is produced by the Magnet Schools Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center (MSAP Center), a technical assistance resource for MSAP grantees and the general magnet schools community. The MSAP Center provides grantees and magnet schools with technical support by offering tools, information, and strategies to assist in planning, implementing, and sustaining programs. The ultimate goal of the MSAP Center is to help magnet schools provide communities with educational opportunities that promote diversity, academic excellence, and equity.

www .msapcenter .com

DIRECTOR

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Manya Walton

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Carole Vinograd BausellKatherine Moone

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Manuel Valencia

EDITORIAL SERVICES

Synergy Enterprises, Inc .

The views expressed in the newsletter do not necessarily reflect the position or policy

of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and no official endorsement by ED should be inferred.

This newsletter was produced in whole or in part with funds from the U.S. Department of Education under

contract number: ED-OII-10-C-0079.

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may 2011 • page 3

Strategies for Successful Student RecruitmentMagnet schools and their districts must work together to recruit and enroll students. Regardless of whether the district or school sets student enrollment and assignment parameters, magnet programs play a critical role in recruiting their own students. Since a magnet program’s success is related to effective recruitment, the following key strategies can help programs attract students.

Establish a teamMagnet schools should establish a team of individuals with varied expertise, experiences, and backgrounds to develop and implement a

recruitment plan. The team members should know the community and understand the magnet program’s mission, goals, and student assignment system.

Develop a strategic planMagnet schools must develop a strategic plan that aligns with student enrollment and assignment parameters. The plan’s goals, criteria, and actions

must fit together seamlessly and enable the school to implement targeted and efficient recruitment. The plan should specify the target recruitment neighborhoods and feeder schools, diverse communication strategies, benchmarks, and accountability measures.

Communicate with stakeholdersGood communication focuses on the characteristics and needs of stakeholders. To make informed choices, families require varying forms and

amounts of information and guidance. Magnet programs should use outreach and marketing techniques to assess communities’ information needs, tailor messages to the needs, and disseminate the messages through multiple channels—with the goal of reaching all students and families in ways that address their rational and emotional decisionmaking.

Marketing and Recruiting at the District Levelthe Magnet Compass will present a series of articles featuring exceptional, innovative researchers. This article features Lara Ohanian, Coordinator of Student Placement in Baltimore City Public Schools. Urban districts in Baltimore, Boston, and New York are using updated design concepts for placing students. Enrollment preferences are a way to proactively engineer the school population, which in turn can provide other kinds of benefits to magnet schools and families.

“Our participation rate in choice schools is close to 99 percent,” states Lara Ohanian, coordinator of Student Placement in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS). Working alongside Tom DeWire, author of One Implementer’s Reflections on School Choice Design: A Policy and Practical Look at School Choice in Urban Schools, Ohanian was instrumental in formulating the specific

content, analysis, and policies discussed in the paper. As a professional educator, Ohanian’s knowledge and experience spans philosophy and biology to district-level administration.

Lara Ohanian, Baltimore City Public Schools

may 2011 • page 4

“We work very, very hard at it,” explains Ohanian, commenting on the high-participation rate of BCPS students in the school choice process. BCPS uses marketing tools such as disseminating an 88-page high school choice guide, sponsoring middle and high school choice fairs, and hosting open houses at every school. In addition, having a choice liaison at every school is fundamental. The district office offers a series of trainings to educate the choice liaisons about what school choice is and what it encompasses—providing them with the tools they need to educate students and families in their individual schools. Ohanian notes, “So many of our students participate in the choice option mainly because we have a person at each school who walks them through the process. Choice liaisons come to the fair with the students, help the students schedule open houses, work with the parents and the kids, and hold parent information sessions.” While parent information sessions may be held at

individual sending schools (which generally house fifth- or eighth-graders), the district presents a PowerPoint training that walks parents through the choice process. District-level coordination is very important.

Ohanian stresses that constant communication is the key to BCPS’s success: “You need to meet people where they are. Work directly with the schools. Use multiple avenues of communication.” Good communication with the school choice liaison is clearly significant, but Ohanian stresses that communication with families is equally important—and extremely difficult if the district isn’t working with someone within the schools. Having a choice liaison also helps the district determine specific ways to diversify the communication methods: “You have to determine your audience. Where are they? Where do they socialize and gather? We go to festivals and block parties. We advertise on the radio stations the students, their parents, and their grandparents listen to. Grandparents play a huge part, actually.”

District- and school-level communication continues after the applications have been distributed and the acceptances have been sent. Ohanian states, “We communicate when the students are accepted. Schools follow up with a phone call, and some offer shadow days right after the acceptances. We continue communicating through the summer, and schools might offer a summer program.” Follow-up communication after acceptance brings students into the schools. Ohanian explains, “The thing about having a choice in schools is not just that you have it; it’s about exploring yourself and what you want to do. What are your goals and interests? When kids have a choice of where they go to school—it just gives them a sense of ownership in the process that, I think, can eventually lead to success in other ways because they’ve made the decision to be there.”

Principles for Marketing

may 2011 • page 5

Marketing is a primary student recruitment strategy for magnet schools. Magnet leaders can generate excitement around school enrollment through community-wide marketing campaigns. Whether you contract with marketing specialists or do it in-house, applying strong marketing principles to student recruitment can benefit your magnet program.

Know the communityStudent recruitment must be based on a thorough understanding of your community. Examine demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural data

to help devise marketing strategies that are sensitive and relevant to your targeted community. In addition, keep up with current events and spend time talking to families to determine their children’s needs and aspirations. All families in your community—regardless of whether they enroll a child in your magnet program—have important insights.

Develop the magnet staffStaff members have active roles in the community, and their regular interactions with neighbors can help promote your magnet program. Therefore,

offering periodic professional development for all magnet staff—from principals to cafeteria workers—is vital. Remind your staff about the magnet school’s mission and unique program, and teach them how to communicate the school’s qualities. Everyone on your staff should be a walking ambassador for your magnet school.

Communicate the messageMarketing messages must be creditable to ensure that the community’s perceptions of the magnet school are accurate. The messages must

be communicated through diverse channels and media, ensuring your targeted audience is reached regardless of age, ethnicity, or gender. Having a consistent brand can help families and communities distinguish your magnet program from other schools. Marketing activities should always reflect the mission and values of your magnet school.

Evaluate effectivenessMagnet schools must regularly evaluate their marketing efforts. Based on evaluation findings, magnet schools should modify ineffective

marketing approaches and invest in those that work. Always ask questions, gather data, and record lessons learned to improve the marketing plan.

Branding Your Magnet ProgramBranding can play a key role in helping students and their families understand the features that set your magnet school apart from other schools. As defined by the American Marketing Association, branding is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them” that conveys how your product is unique. The point of a brand is not to sell a product but to distinguish it from similar ones. Branding is not synonymous with a logo; rather, it is intended to capture the essence of your organization’s mission, activities, and culture.

When a magnet school applies branding thoughtfully, it can help families evaluate if that particular school is a good fit for their children. An effective brand should be understood, relevant, credible, and motivational. It should reflect the values of your stakeholders, connect with your target audience, and evoke an emotional response.

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Ideas for Branding Magnet Programs

Make a video for TV and movie theaters.

Make a brochure.

Create table tents for restaurant tables.

Wrap giant magnets on school staffs’ cars.

Create a “welcome to the neighborhood” box with a magnet, flyer, and invitation to visit the magnet school’s website.

Mail postcards.

Post door hangers.

Ideas for Branding Magnet Programs attributed to Sandy Day, Magnet School Coordinator at Omaha Public Schools.

Knowing What Is Different

Sandy Day, Magnet School Coordinator

“From the minute you meet this person during the Labor Day Extravaganza down in the Old Market, they’ve been in your database. You’ve met them once; you’ve contacted them at least three times, probably four times before January. Sure enough, they show up for the open house. They walk through your school, see what a fantastic school this is where caring educators just can’t help being

really invested and where parents can’t help wanting to be a part of ‘that something special’ that’s going on there,”

explains Sandy Day, magnet coordinator for the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) district in Nebraska. Day has worked with OPS magnet schools in a variety of roles for 32 years, and she has also presided over Magnet Schools of America. She explains that once the families attend the open house, they are hooked. “It’s funny how marketing rolls into recruitment,” she states.

Day’s understanding of marketing and recruitment began as a teacher because, as she observes, “it’s all about what you say, how you say it, and how you talk to people. And knowing where the people are that you need to talk to.” Day stresses the importance of professional development and in-servicing teachers and staff, both magnet and nonmagnet: “If staff can’t tell you what the magnet program is in a minute or so,

well, that’s all you get.” In-services must include everybody in the building—every teacher, cafeteria worker, and custodian. Day explains, “Everyone is on the marketing team. In any one building, you’ve got an entire marketing team that touches several families every day. And if the team doesn’t know what your magnet theme is about, and they talk to their neighbors who say, ‘Oh, I understand that you’re a magnet school now,’ and they respond saying, ‘Yeah, I don’t even know what that is,’ that’s a problem.” Day notes that the principal must strategically evaluate how to develop the staff ’s knowledge of the magnet program, including the theme, goals, and dynamic curriculum. She states, “Each person in the school ends up as your face and your voice out in the community.”

If staff can’t tell you what the

magnet program is in a minute

or so, well, that’s all you get.

Sandy Day

may 2011 • page 7

Day explains further, “Magnet schools are typically formerly low-performing schools with low-income students. Something has got to be different when they’re converted. There has got to be a tremendous amount of professional development, and some of it has to deal with how to communicate effectively and how to make people feel at ease. It always seems to go back to relationships. No matter how much money you spend, it’s all about the parents’ perceived integrity of the school: ‘Is this a program that makes sense? Do the people running it seem to have it together?’ We need to communicate these points the moment parents walk in the door.”

More InformationFor more about recruitment and marketing, visit http://msapcenter.com/resource.aspx.

Magnet Schools and Student AssignmentFamilies’ perceptions of district school choice policies and practices influence their willingness to participate in public school choice options; therefore, districts and schools need to share information about their magnet programs, application processes, and student assignment systems. To build excitement around student recruitment and enrollment, district and magnet school administrators must engage families and the community in thoughtful dialogue about magnet programs as a public school choice option. More importantly, families and other community members must understand that school choice enrollment and assignment are

transparent, allowing parents to understand clearly how students are matched with a particular school;

fair and equitable; and

efficient for district operation and family participation.

may 2011 • page 8

BibliographyDeWire, T. (2011, February). One Implementer’s Reflections on

School Choice Design: A Policy and Practical Look at School Choice Design in Urban Schools. Paper presented at the Voluntary Public School Choice Project Directors Conference, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: Office of Innovation and Improvement, Retrieved May 1, 2011, from www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/.../res_portf_studentassignment_dewire_feb11.pdf

Gross, B. and Lake, R. (2011, May). Reforming Districts Through Choice, Autonomy, Equity, and Accountability: An Overview of the Voluntary Public School Choice Directors Meeting. University of Washington Bothell, WA: Center on Reinventing Public Education.

Lockhart, J. (2011). How to Market Your School: A Guide to Marketing, Communication, and Public Relations for School Administrators. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Omaha Magnet Schools. (2010). School Marketing Plan. Retrieved April 26, 2011, from http://www.magnet.edu/uploads/File/c. 2010-11 Blank Marketing Plan template.pdf.

Quiñones-Miranda, A. (2010). Best Practices in Student Recruitment. Presentation at the Magnet Schools of America: The 2010 National Technical Assistance Training Conference.

Sumpter-Breland, D. (2010). Strategies for Recruiting Suburban Students to New Haven’s 17 Interdistrict Schools. Presentation at the Magnet Schools of America: The 2010 National Technical Assistance Training Conference. Retrieved April 26, 2011, from http://www.magnet.edu/modules/info/files/files_4cd586ab57edd.pdf.

Warner, C. (2009). Promoting Your School: Going Beyond PR (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

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