0 First Impressions Matter

First impressions are lasting impressions. It takes just one-tenth of a second for an individual to make a judgment about someone or something, and most likely, that first impression will never change.

In the case of a school, how can you ensure that you are being judged accurately? How can you make a good first impression on parents? Successful schools do it all the time; they make themselves distinctive and memorable.

More and more, school choice is becoming a powerful element for parents, students, and teachers. It is the reason that a parent will travel across town to a different neighborhood daily in order for their child to attend a school outside of their immediate school zone. So what do successful schools do to create a good first impression and make traveling across town compelling enough to parents? Here are a few tips:

Your frontline should be a pleasure

There is nothing more frustrating to a potential parent than calling a school for information and hearing an unfriendly, unenthusiastic, unknowledgeable voice on the other end. On the phone or in person, your frontline staff should be courteous, helpful, and if needed, empathetic. Make an anonymous call to your school’s admissions office and see how you are treated. Email the admissions office and see how promptly you are answered. Note the quality of the response. Does it represent the atmosphere and feel that you want from your school?

School tours and visits weigh more than you think

Nothing sways a prospective parent more than a school tour. Your best people should be put on this important part of the public relations process. Make sure your tour guide is extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the school. Parents like to see students in action, so plan tours during the time of day that most closely portrays "a day in the life" of a typical student. Have examples on hand that show accomplishments, events, or activities that set you apart from other schools.

Rehearse the entire experience so that you get it right. Take a tour with your designated tour guide from the perspective of a parent. When inspecting a school, parents don’t miss a thing and are easily impressed by enthusiasm, knowledge, and courtesy. Ask questions as if you were looking for a school for your own child.

Your website is your school's welcoming center

A school’s website is usually the first thing a visitor sees. A good website is cohesive, informative, and easy to navigate. Keep it simple and appealing with a logical flow of information and messaging. And most importantly, make sure your website is providing timely, up-to-date information. A school's website should reflect the school's strength and character and speak to its audience appropriately.

Laborious registration = unhappy parent 

First impressions count in marketing your school just as much as they do in any endeavor. Are parents spending hours waiting in long lines to register? Are they required to fill out stacks of paperwork before even setting foot on your campus? Do they have to make several trips to your office over the summer to turn in paperwork? These types of activities create a negative first impression. No wonder parents aren’t excited about signing up for the PTA, volunteering as room mom, or contributing to your annual fundraiser. You’ve given them a bad first impression, so for the rest of the school year, they do whatever it takes to stay away.

Not only does an online registration system help increase enrollment and streamline the application and registration process, but it also portrays a stress-free, open, inviting environment for your parents.

When it comes to schools, school choice is a powerful element that can help create the conditions for a successful school. Families make relocating and home purchasing decisions around which schools they want or don’t want their children to attend. Don’t pass up an opportunity to show your best side. Put your best foot forward in the beginning so that parents receive an authentic impression.

What are you doing to make a good first impression and portray a stress-free, open, inviting environment to your parents?

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0 Are You a School Choice School?

Americans are looking for schools they can trust. Confidence in public schools is on a decline, and an increasing number of parents are opting out of neighborhood schools and entering the chaotic, developing marketplace of school choice.

Charter schools, other public schools within a district, Montessori schools, religious-based schools, and even homeschooling have all become viable options for parents trying to find a healthy, high-functioning learning environment for the education of their child – all in all, a school that is successful.

But the elusive recipe for school success is extremely difficult to convey simply and clearly. Yes, test scores are a valuable measurement, but in many cases, they are overvalued.

One paragraph doesn’t tell the story of a book. Similarly, one test score doesn’t tell the tale of a school. Using one tool that is as limited as a one- or two-day test doesn’t accurately portray a school's success.

Although test scores are important, rarely should they be the sole determinant for examining what makes a school successful. A school is a cohesive entity that relies on many factors to ensure a better education for all students.

Research shows that there is not a single thing that schools can do to ensure high student performance. However, research also shows that high-performing schools tend to have similar characteristics that make them successful.

K-12 Online has shared some insight from a few of our successful schools. Take a look at our blog series on successful school leadership.

0 Top 10 New (School) Year Resolutions for 2014

As a new school year starts, administrators and teachers are gearing up to implement lesson plans that will meet or exceed the year’s school resolution. Just as we make our own unwelcomed but necessary new year’s resolutions at the turn of the year, so does a school or district at the beginning of school. A resolution typically centered around some big initiative that is focused on whatever education problem plaguing the nation at the time.

In some cases, it’s a new name for an existing problem that has already been tackled by a predecessor initiative.   For example, 1:1 laptop initiatives have now become BYOD so that every child has access to a computer. Or “online learning???, changed to “blended learning???, transformed to “flipped classrooms.???

Nonetheless, every year there are a set of infinitives that keep administrators scrambling throughout the year to meet benchmarks and exceed targets so by the end the school year, they have maintained par and have a feeling of accomplishment.

So to properly kick-off your school year, here are 10 current initiatives (in no particular order) for the 2014-15 school year.   And while there are an array of initiatives that focus on numerous topics, we made this list on a broad scale.

Take a look at the list and let us know what you think: Are there any initiatives we’re leaving out? How many of these initiatives has your school implemented?

1. Common Core for 21^st century learning to teach critical thinking and problem solving skills.
2. STEM for global competitiveness.
3. Adaptive Testing to better pinpoint a students learning level.
4. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education.
5. Flipped Learning where students gain first exposure to a topic outside of the classroom and use classroom time to assimilate the knowledge.
6. Digital Literacy Skills so students understand how to take information from a computer and use it in multiple formats.
7. Environmental Education to reduce environmental impact and costs and increase sustainability.
8. Healthy Schools Programs to boost the nutritional value of meals served at school.
9. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) so learning experiences can be more personalized to the student.
10. Race to the Top to spur innovation and reform in state and local K-12 districts.

0 Can Your School Benefit from Online Registration?

Are you (and your staff) working overtime during peak enrollment weeks? Do you find that your current system is outdated and pushed to the limit by relying on manual forms of data management? Would you like to expand your institution and enroll more students?

If any of these apply to your current situation, then you may benefit from an online registration system. But when choosing an online system, consider the needs of all stakeholders: the school, students, admin, district, and parents. Include representatives from each area in the discussion to best assess the needs of each group (parents want registration to be quick and easy, while administrators want to collect a lot of data).

During the decision process, compare systems thoroughly to ensure you are getting the one that best suits your needs. Can the system be used year-round? Can you create your own forms? Does the company provide adequate customer support? Does the system integrate with your current SIS?

Ensuring upfront that a system meets all of your needs can reduce stressful and time-consuming activities later on. Consider features like lottery management if you participate in selective enrollment or a payment processing solution and webstore if you’d like to sell items and collect fees and donations.

Any company can create an online registration system, but companies that specialize in the K-12 market truly understand the needs of K-12 schools, such as residency verification alerts, recouping fees for lost textbooks, and providing customized forms and reports.

0 5 Advantages of Online Registration

Waste of time and materials can make registration time a nightmare for public schools and school districts. Even smaller charter schools struggle to make registration periods an efficient process for administrators, teachers, parents and students. Online registration is a wonderful opportunity for a school district or a charter school to redirect it’s energy towards the parents and students who need it, while leaving the paperwork aspect of the job in one secure, fast, and convenient location.

Five Advantages of Online Registration:

1. It SAVES TIME! With constant cut backs in education funding, the expression, “Time Means Money??? has never been more true. Valuable school personnel can take the time they are spending on paperwork creation/organization and put it where it belongs – in the service of students and teachers. It’s hard to imagine an office without dozens of paper organizers and stacks of forms to be filed. Online registration takes all of that and puts it onto your computer screen with a few quick taps on the keyboard.

2. Streamlined Paperwork Throughout a District. Online registration allows school districts to create uniform online forms that remain in the system throughout students’ education. This means no more lost files or important medical history forms that use precious time and resources to recover. It also allows schools in a district to use the same format for standardized documents/forms, keeping things simple for parents who may have multiple children in the same school or district.

3. Remote Access to Documents and Information: This is a valuable tool for personnel and parents alike. For parents, they don’t have to hear their children’s, “I forgot it??? or “It’s lost??? when it comes to school forms because they will be able to navigate them online.

4. Multi-Language Translation. Globalization allows districts to benefit from a myriad of cultures and languages. However, multiple translation forms are exceedingly costly. Online registration offers forms that are translated in applicable languages without a district having to create multiple copies.

5. Control of Information Access. Districts can make sure that confidential information is secure while allowing general information to be accessed by a wide variety of users. No more locking file cabinets.

0 Fundraising For Schools Increases the Socioeconomic Gap

We all know that there is a growing disparity over fundraising for schools. Some have a parent population that can commit an abundance of time and money to make fundraising for schools an easy task, while others within the same district are barely able to conger up enough parents to conduct a PTA meeting, let alone volunteer to give money or be in charge of fundraising for schools.

It is not uncommon for a gap between the have and have-not’s to exist within a school district. Public schools are meant to provide all children equal access to quality education; however, there are great disparities throughout the public education system. Private donations made to schools in more affluent communities makes this disparity an even greater gap.

The question then becomes, how does a district provide a level playing field for all schools within their district? One suggestion is to pool funds and redistribute to schools according to need. Some schools have successfully transitioned to such a shared system, however, parents with the means to step up and help offset budget cuts have threatened to stop donations because of centralized funding systems.

The reality is that parents at the “not so well-to-do??? schools are just as passionate about education as those wealthier ones; they care just as deeply about their children. But making large donations to a school for families at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum just isn’t an option.

So what is the right approach? Do parents have the right to pay for goods and services at one school when they are not available at other schools within a district? If districts attempted to move towards a “share the wealth??? system, would it create backlash for the districts, reducing the amount of donations they receive?

In most districts, fundraising for schools is done on an individual basis, and the differences can be huge. If parents at top fundraising schools were told that some of their donations would be redirected to other schools, parents may be discouraged to give and/or work hard to raise funds, which seems unfair to the schools that have the potential to raise large amounts of money to fund foundations and support programs that would otherwise not be available.

So what’s the solution? The truth is that there are no bad guys here – not the parents who can afford to sponsor programs and services so that their children receive a better education; and not the families at schools in lower socioeconomic communities who are desperate for more help so that their children can also receive a quality education.

There is no clear-cut across the board remedy that will satisfy all, but the uncomfortable truth is that until some steps are made to help close the disproportionate fundraising for schools, the gap between the public school have and have not’s will only increase.

What do you think is a happy medium for bridging the socioeconomic gap?  Has your school / district developed a policy that has proven successful?

0 K-12 Online Helps Solve School Problems with Budgeting

One of the toughest challenges in education is managing a small school. Budget cuts instituted on a statewide level affect both large and small districts, however, smaller schools tend to feel the crunch more when operating on an already meager budget.

In an age where everything is shifting towards digital, small school problems include falling behind with the inefficiencies of paper registration. K-12 Online is the first online school enrollment and registration system to cater to small schools. Although the web-based application is designed for any school or district, the product offers an option for small school problems by making the solution more affordable.

This could not be more apparent than in a recent encounter between K-12 Online owner, Michelle Sam, and a private school principal.

Upon returning from lunch, Michelle was saddened to hear a voicemail from a small school who had a demo scheduled for later that day. The caller, who in a proactive attempt not to waste anyone’s time, apathetically decided to cancel the demo. She had just completed a demo with two other online registration companies and had come to the conclusion that the software would just be too expensive for their little school.

Michelle immediately returned the call, outlining K-12 Online’s benefits and providing a rough estimate of cost. The caller was elated! She decided to go ahead with the demo and ultimately the school became K-12 Online’s newest client – the burden of affordable online school registration had been lifted.

“This is why we exist,” explained Michelle Sam, owner of K-12 Online. “I want small schools to have the same advantages and be able to operate with the same efficiencies as larger schools and districts. Because we are committed to improving the education system as a whole, making our product affordable for small schools in the end ultimately benefits parents, teachers, administrators and students alike.”

Savvy schools know their future requires them to become more integrated with parents, teachers and students. The world we live in is becoming increasingly interconnected and small schools can’t afford to be left behind for the sake of our children, nor can they afford to pay large amounts of money to implement the necessary improvements.

K-12 Online was developed to combat school problems like wastefulness and the excessive time and energy required to register K-12 students year after year. K-12 Online’s solution further helps to overcome school problems like application, registration, enrollment, and lottery management hassles and streamlines the process to be more cost effective and eco-friendly.

Finally, small schools and school districts can afford an online student application, enrollment and registration system that not only saves them time, money and resources, but also helps generate money through fundraising tools.

0 8 Tips to Improve Your Back-to-School Registration Process

Each summer, many districts begin their school registration and enrollment process for new and returning students. For some schools, this process can be a time consuming, dreaded affair filled with mounds of paperwork and hours of data entry. For other schools using online options, the back to school registration process is a smooth, stress free transition to a new school year.

Here are eight tried-and-true tips to help improve your back-to-school registration process.

1. Communicate with parents — Send a Principal’s Welcome Back letter. Staying connected and building mutual trust with parents from the start helps provide students with a strong foundation for learning throughout the year.

2. Utilize your school’s Web site — Provide parents and students with easy, online access to your customized registration forms right from your website. Post events, announcements, photos, etc. to stay connected with students, parents and volunteers throughout the school year.

3. Ensure easy website navigation — Provide easy-to-follow steps for registration on your Web site. Include a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section or a page regarding online registration.

4. Provide adequate training — Conduct a back-to-school registration training meeting with staff and volunteers so that they are familiar with your system and know where to find pertinent information. If volunteers and sub-admin are checking in students, ensure they have the correct role privileges. Recruit adequate staff and volunteers. Provide staggered time slots and make sure the times overlap to make for an easy transition.

5. Ensure data is accurate prior to information being loaded into the school’s SIS — Online registration software such as K-12 Online can provide a checks and balances system that allows information to be approved by an admin prior to it being uploaded to the school’s SIS, alleviating the worry of parents uploading data directly to the system.

6. Provide good signage — Have adequate signage so parents know exactly where to go when they arrive. Have signs outside with a copy of the registration form pasted to it with instructions of where to go if they do not have the completed registration form.

7. Simplify school registration day — If it is going to be a warm day, set up in the gym or another inside area rather than outside and make sure you have enough space to accommodate students and parents. Ask your PTA or a service group to host a refreshment station for parents. It provides a place to congregate and helps build a sense of community among parents. Have computers with access to the Internet and printers available (computer lab or library) for those who have not completed the registration process. Provide explicit directions on how to log in through the school network.

8. Start planning for next school year — After school registration is over, review the process with staff and discuss ideas for improvements. Email a short survey to parents requesting feedback about the registration process.

0 Inspiring Students: Whose Job Is It Anyway?

Year after year, schools enroll new students. For public schools, the process is a little less rigorous, but for most private schools, each student has to go through some sort of application process that determines their ability to succeed in that environment. An essay, teacher recommendations…something to help determine if they are "acceptable." Whether public or private, all students start the school year off with a track record – all the data, evidence, and documentation that make up a student’s academic story. But do educators equally judge the students they serve? More often than not, those with acceptable track records are not judged on their past, but on their potential. Interestingly, those with tarnished records are not judged on their potential but on their past. Is that fair to the student? Don’t all students have the potential to succeed? Does a student’s track record measure who they will turn out to be, or do they grow to measure up to their track record?

In any case, a student’s file might suggest potential, but it doesn’t determine success. Educators play a huge role in helping to shape the success of a child. We’ve heard multiple stories from successful adults about "the teacher that changed their life" – the one educator that saw their potential and helped them realize it.

Although difficult, teachers must see the potential in every child they serve. They must understand that each child has room for growth in order to believe that there is greater potential in every student. And more than that, they must make the child believe it! A fixed mindset cannot see beyond to a world of potential because a content mentality doesn’t value the search for better.

Potential includes the achievements just beyond what a student has already done. However, to truly work towards attaining that next level of growth, one needs to value getting to the next level more than they value the one they have already attained. This does not always come naturally to a child. Helping a child discover their potential is an exercise in finding and pushing their limits.

Success can only be achieved through effort, willpower, resilience, perseverance, and grit. Yes, grades and test scores are important, but without the aforementioned, one cannot consistently find success nor discover their true potential. Many will argue that it is the parents’ job and that the seeds of success are planted at home. The reality is that not every student has the most ideal, supportive family life. Statistics show troubling numbers of children nationwide who do not even receive the basic needs of survival, such as food and shelter, from their "home life." When a child’s reality requires them to persevere through some of the most unfathomable situations at home, how do you expect them to thrive and believe in themselves at school? The process to begin tackling these issues is so multifaceted, and of course there is not one concrete solution, so as an educator, where do you start?

As you look towards a new school year, ask yourself: will you be the inspiration your students need? Another year will bring another chance to help your students discover their own potential.

We want to know! What do you do to inspire your students?

0 Michigan School Collects $1000 in Free Money from Using K-12 Online’s Registration Software

Year after year, thick packets encompassing forms from a variety of departments were sent to Grosse Pointe Public School families to fill out and return. That information then had to be hand-typed into the district’s student information system, which sometimes took until March for the secretary to complete. An individual school could receive in upwards of 700 checks at the beginning of the year for gym uniforms, PTO donations, textbooks, etc., all of which had to be processed separately.

They knew there had to be a better way and six weeks after implementing K-12 Online’s registration solution, they had found it! Grosse Pointe initially rolled out the K-12 Online system to its high schools and middle schools. Because of its success, the following school year, they implemented online registration across its nine elementary schools and plan on using the system’s web store to allow students to apply and register for summer school.

The versatility of the system allowed admin to upload fines for the past 3 years for lost or damaged books. The school collected over $1,000 in old fines! “This was an unprecedented amount of money for us to recoup!??? Explained Sheryl Hogan, Parcells Middle School Secretary.

To read the entire case study for Grosse Point Public School District, Simply fill out this form, put Grosse Pointe in the comments section and we will email you the free case study.