Marketing Your School

1. Marketing Your School

2. Agenda Objectives School marketing 101 Communicating about your school Developing marketing materials: Working session

3.     Objectives Reviewwhy school marketing is important and how you can use it to attract quality candidates that are a great fit for your school. Identifythe best ways to communicate your school’s strengths and your focus on student achievement to prospective teachers, community members and students that you meet at recruitment and interview events Anticipate questions that candidates may haveabout your school and develop thoughtful answers to address them Develop materials that can help you communicate your school’s strengths and your focus on student achievement at recruitment and interview events

4. Agenda Objectives School marketing 101 Communicating about your school Developing marketing materials: Working session

5. How do you currently share information about your school? WHAT do you currently use to market your school? WHEN do you market your school? WHO markets your school? WHO is your intended audience?

6. A strong school marketing campaign will help to attract and cultivate high-quality candidates. GOAL: Create effective marketing materials and concrete messages to communicate about your school. WHY? Position your school tocultivate high quality teachers in a competitive market within your district and in others. Make strong matches between your needs and candidates’ skills and interests to increase teacher satisfaction and ultimately impact retention. Share your school’s unique programs, strengths and focus on student achievement to keep the school community involved

7.  H E L L O Developing a variety of marketing materials will prepare you to communicate about your school to any audience at any venue. Materials • School introduction • School one-pager or brochure • School website • Event displays (tri-fold, banners, etc.) Recruitment Events Networking sessions Internet Presence School-based interviews

8. Agenda Objectives School marketing 101 Communicating about your school Developing marketing materials: Working session

9. Create messages about your school that are relevant and compelling to ensure a strong match between you, your school and the candidate. Inspire candidates: Compel individuals to take action by inspiring them with the mission and vision of your school along with your goals to increase student achievement. Serve as a point of comparison: Contrast your school strengths, or those you intend to build, with what someone might find at a typical school. Share information about yourself: Discuss your strengths as a leader as well as the strengths of your leadership team and school community. Be strategic: • Avoid cliché statements. • Provide specific examples about systems you put in place and accountability measures you are using. • Share the progress your students have made and your goals for increasing students achievement and teacher effectiveness. • Share opportunities for individuals to be part of the success of your school and how everyone contributes to the school community.

10. Inspire Candidates: Consider the factors that inspire teachers to select a position in an urban district. • Teachers appreciate the challenges of working with a diverse, high-needs student population • Teachers are most inspired when the school leadership invests the staff in the school vision. • Collaboration and involvement in school leadership gives the teachers a sense of community and value. • Collegial support and any kind of buddy/mentor system is very attractive to new teachers. Brainstorm What inspires you about your school? How can you use this to your advantage and best position your school to inspire candidates?

11. Serve as a point of a comparison: Describe what makes your school unique. Key Information: Key Information: • School name • A school strengths and your student achievement goals for this year • Additional Details: • Your leadership style • Additional strengths • Recent accomplishments Additional Details: • Next Steps(should be determined by the setting): • Do you want the candidate to contact you? • Schedule an interview? • Visit the school? Next Steps: Delivery is crucial. With only a minute or two, a candidate’s interest is based just as much on the speaker as it is on the information.

12. Construct your 30-second school pitch to briefly summarize your school at hiring events and networking sessions. Key Information: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Next Steps for the candidate: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

13. Expand your school pitch to 2-5 minutes to use at a school-based interview. Add details, strengths, unique programs or accomplishments: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Next steps are your first interview question or specifics about the position: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

14. Be strategic: Anticipate and be prepared to discuss the challenges inherent to your school and district. Nationally, teachers were most concerned about gaining information about school challenges during the interview process: • Neighborhood and demographics information • High turnover of teachers that impedes the culture of collaboration • School safety concerns • Past reputation of the school or school building/surrounding area Brainstorm What are school-specific challenges you want to be prepared to address?

15. Be strategic: Challenges can inspire candidates if you also share your strategies to address the issue. Low parent/family participation • Added a back to school breakfast for parents that can’t attend after school • Hired a Parent Outreach faculty member Example What we’re doing: Example Challenge: Challenge 1: What we’re doing 1: Challenge 2: What we’re doing 2: Challenge 3: What we’re doing 3:

16. Consider which staff will help your efforts to inform and attract candidates to your school When selecting staff or community members to be on your marketing team, look for individuals who… • Are punctual for events • Come prepared with questions and materials • Exhibit the skills needed to be successful • Seem approachable • Are consistent with follow-up • Work well with a team • Have an active interest in new teachers • Possess strong verbal communication skills Consider adding … • High-energy recent hires or students to help recruit candidates • The AP or lead teacher who will most closely manage the new hire • A parent who can talk about community involvement Members of your staff or school community you want to add to your team:

17. Agenda Objectives School marketing 101 Communicating about your school Developing marketing materials: Working session

18. Create at least three marketing materials to market your school based on your key messages. Key messages about what makes your school unique Build School website for online access Event display or school poster School brochure or one-page flyer Equals Match between school’s needs and candidate’s skills and interests

19. School brochure: a simple, effective marketing tool to share your key messages with candidates. Be sure to include information about what makes your school unique. Learning community and professional atmosphere in your school • Clearly state your vision for the school • Highlight yourself as a leader, cite a strength • Update each year with recent school achievements Current statistics and long term goals • Explain how you will meet these goals • Highlight your vision for the future Personal connection to the school community • Teacher bios or testimonials are inspiring and an opportunity for individuals to connect to current staff • Student bios support the focus on achievement and those the school serves • Share information on community highlights and activities

20. School web presence: a powerful recruitment tool for teachers to explore the school’s details from home. • WHY websites work • 71% of job seekers reported using the internet to look for a position – a higher percentage than any other source – according to a survey by the non-profit group The Conference Board. • Newly hired teachers site web searches as their number one source for gathering information about a school in focus groups. • School websites can often be created for free or little cost, • Website Contents - Start with the basics • Determine staff members to help with web content and creation: • Content writers/editors • Photographers • Tech-savvy web designers • Involve your students to design and write content, or depending on skill, to maintain updates. Keep it simple and incorporate your key messages to draw in candidates that are the right match for your school. TIP

21. Websites can be simple, but inspiring

22. Event displays: allow your school to stand out at hiring fairs or other district events. Event Displays can include: • Tri-fold poster board with school information • Quote board with student, teacher, and administrator comments • School banner • Examples of bright, colorful student work • Recent awards or recognitions • Additional materials in school colors (balloons, tablecloth, etc) Brainstorm What materials do you already have to build or enhance your school’s event display? Who on your staff could create the display for you?

23. Remember: the purpose of marketing is to ensure that you recruit high-quality candidates that are the best fit for your school. School marketing messages… • Highlight unique school programs. • Focus on your own strengths as a school leader. • Are honest about challenges, yet focus on positives. • High-Quality Candidates… • Have diverse backgrounds with varied strengths and experiences. • Value strong school leadership. • Want to learn more about how schools are addressing their challenges Ultimately work to yield strong matches between potential teachers and your school.

24. Next Steps Share your school introduction and key messages with your leadership team and anyone who takes part in the hiring process. Complete your school flyer Create a positive web presence for your school by starting the process of publishing a website or updating the information on your current site for this school year. Gather materials to create your school’s event display to bring to upcoming hiring events.