What Students Want

In this episode we answer a question by Tim from Hanover, PA: “Does marketing work for schools in an area where population is decreasing?”

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Justin Medved. He is the Director of Learning, Innovation, and Technology at The York School - a K to 12th-grade independent day school in Toronto, Canada. Justin leads the way in professional development for faculty to ensure that technology is integrated into the classroom, and 21st-century pedagogy is developed to enhance learning. The York School was the first school in Canada to implement a 1-1 laptop program, and thereby positioned itself as a tech innovator early in the game. Justin has spent more than 10 years expanding and improving the school’s tech offering. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator and a Google Certified Innovator.

In this episode, Justin articulates what it means to be a 21st-century learner/teacher/school.

He gives specific strategies for how to start from the “why” technology is needed in education to the “how” it can be implemented. 

Listen and take note of how a school can improve its value proposition and increase enrollment by embracing technology as a non-negotiable basic skill needed for the future. If you want to learn about the role of tech in schools, this conversation is not to be missed.

Quotes:

5:52 “We as an institution needed to figure out where tech belonged within the tried and tested traditions of the past; new pedagogy needed to be crafted and woven into the way our school operated.”

11:30 “The broad awareness of just how many skills are required to exist in the world today goes well beyond what a traditional education can deliver.” 

15:30 “People want confidence that the school knows where it’s going (with technology).”

23:35 “Schools are very complicated organisms. It’s so easy to come up with a change and aspire to have a change that ultimately contributes to your school’s value proposition in the market or increases enrollment, but realizing that change takes a lot of energy with a lot of stakeholders involved and its not as simple as a few Saturday PD days and some newsletters.” 

25:34 “A brave school - or a school that really ends up implementing change well doesn’t lose sight of the long-term stewardship required on some of these big initiatives.”

30:50 “The mindset you (a teacher) have to adopt is one of continuous learning; the teacher has to come to the table with a growth mindset and a willingness to ask questions, seek help, and drive towards competency.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/

Dr. John Paul Kotter - the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School, and best-selling author - https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-for-leading-change/

Grant Lichtman, nationally recognized thought leader in education and author of, “Moving the Rock: Seven Levers WE Can Press to Transform Education” -  http://www.grantlichtman.com/

Cohort 21 https://cohort21.com/

The Strategic Change Accelerator https://www.cais.ca/professional-development/strategicchangeaccelerator

The York School - https://www.yorkschool.com

Where to learn more about Justin Medved:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/jmedved

Blogs - http://medagogy.edublogs.org

Justin on Linkedin https://ca.linkedin.com/in/justinmedved

In this episode we answer a question by Cindy from San Pedro, CA: “Can a school do marketing successfully with stock photos?”

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Miles Latham. He is Managing Partner at Affixxius Films - an in-house bespoke commercial film company with an innovative and unique approach to providing breathtaking videos for public and private sector companies and organizations. In particular, the videos that Affixxius Films has produced for schools put a finger on the distinctive story that sets that school apart in the marketplace. In the research phase of their process, Affixxius is known for provoking schools to push them in surprising directions that “reveal what the school deems unquestionable.”

In this episode, Miles shares how schools owe it to their students to take a stand for their brand, and details how his company strives to tell a story for each client that will resonate with the deepest feelings that parents have about their children.

If you are thinking about what makes your school unique, this is a conversation that you should not miss.

Quotes:

6:25 “Independent schools are ‘high-brand’ propositions. We are dealing with huge amounts of money for the most emotionally important assets that a family has - and that is their children.”

7:00 “For us, that’s where film is at its best - it’s an emotional buy-in. We have to make people feel something.”

8:15 “As soon as we started to say less in a more emotionally powerful way, that’s when schools started to see results.” 

9:50 “It’s the human qualities that make a school special.” 

19:10 “Quite often, the creative process that we go through will fundamentally change the way a school markets itself or thinks about itself as a result of our research.”

23:40 “We are ultimately interested in telling interesting stories.”

25:35 “We are obliged to treat the marketing of these organizations incredibly seriously because of the level of trust that we are asking people to embed in the school.”

26:40 “I think a school’s marketing is fundamentally a 2-fold proposition: on one level, it is acutely emotional...and on the other side of the coin, it is acutely practical.”

28:00 “Schools are gold mines of storytelling about phenomenal young people who are doing phenomenal things.”

30:00 “The first thing I ask is: What does the school stand for?”

32:20 “The clarity and efficacy with which we tell these stories has never been more critical.”

37:05 “School marketing needs to react to what is going on around it and not be so insular and so microcosmic.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Christ School - a private, Episcopal college preparatory boarding and day school for boys in Asheville, N.C. - https://www.christschool.org

https://affixxius.com/academic/portfolio/5252/your-future-is-coming-for-you

Inter-Community School Zurich, Switzerland - a private, independent, international, co-ed day school  - https://www.icsz.ch/

https://vimeo.com/292943705

Dan Carlin Hard Core History: the Wrath of the Khans https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

Where to learn more about Miles Latham:

Email - [email protected]

Twitter - https://twitter.com/milesaffixxius

Miles on Linkedin https://uk.linkedin.com/in/miles-latham-7531a427

Affixxius Films http://www.affixxius.com

In this episode we answer a question by Tara from Baltimore: “I moved the school to a larger location, how do I get the word out now that I have relocated?”

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Angelo Lambroschino. He is the Senior Admissions Officer at Caldwell University. Angelo has a strong focus on building student diversity, retention of current students, and student engagement. He works actively to keep the university promotion efforts fresh, honest, and relevant for prospective students.

In this episode, Angelo walks us through “Everything Admissions” - from persuasion to platforms, from data to division of responsibilities, and from time to tuition. He shares the ethics of recruitment and talks about the importance of helping students to find the right match rather than just getting as many enrollments as possible for the university.

Listen and take note of how he makes it a priority to engage with students in ways and on platforms that are familiar, personal, and less-pressured than traditional recruitment efforts.

Quotes:

4:00 “A challenge for today’s universities is to demystify the college admissions process, and the admissions counselor has an important role in translating everything the student finds out online into what it means for the student.” 

7:25 “I’m the kind of guy who will introduce you to the right people; you need to meet students, professors, and community influencers to be able to share in their stories (when making a decision about a school).”

9:10 “Building trust with a student is important and if you’re using the same platforms that they are, they’ll feel more comfortable.” 

20:50 “It’s important for top-level people at a university to have an open door policy.”

33:20 “It’s good to have a diverse team of people who are really connected to each other for the overall values of that institution to come alive.”

Where to learn more about the guest:

Email - [email protected]

Angelo on Twitter - @lambbro1

At Caldwell University - https://www.caldwell.edu/faculty-staff

Angelo on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelolambroschino/

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Tom Vander Ark, an education advocate, and adviser for better learning. He is the author of “Getting Smart: How Personal Digital Learning is Changing the World”, “Better Together”, “Smart Parents” and “Smart Cities”. Tom is the Founder and Executive Editor of “Getting Smart” - a learning design firm helping education and learning-focused organizations increase their impact with strategy, design, growth, publication, and learner experience services. Tom has written more than 800 blog posts for Education Week and is a contributing author to Forbes Magazine. He is here with Enrollhand today to share some thoughts on the direction that innovation is going in education.  

In this episode, Tom shares some ideas on how even small schools can begin to take steps to move towards personalized learning and competency-based learning, some of the challenges that they might face, and how to overcome those. He gives specific strategies for school leaders to consider as they enter a time of great innovation in education. 

Listen and take note of how the entire model of education is changing from “course-based learning” towards “platform networks”, and what that might mean for schools as they plan their value proposition.

Quotes:

1:10 “A community conversation that leads to a few important goals is the way to start.” 

3:00 “By starting small, iterating, and learning as you go, you can minimize your risk (as you adopt change).”

19:00 “We think that school visits are the way to go. You can watch a video or read about a school, but there is nothing short of visiting a place to see how it actually works.”

19:20 “Look for schools that stand for something and that focus on a few core ideas with a common intellectual mission that creates coherence for teachers and kids.”

25:35 “I’m bullish on platform networks as being super scalable.”

29:25 “Courses - as both the architecture of and the way we measure learning - have been a useful construct in education, but we’ve reached the limits (of their usefulness), and courses are now blocking innovation and integration, and are a lousy form of measurement.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Forbes Magazine article by Tom Vander Ark:
Organizing Your School as a List of Courses Doesn't Work for Learners

Malcolm Gladwell - “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”

Seth Godin podcast: How to get into a famous college

David Frank - Executive Director of the New York State Education Department Charter School Office and 2016 National Association of Charter School Authorizers Leader.  

Shelley Kurth - School Director at Thrive Public Charter Schools in California

Smart List: The 100 middle and high schools worth visiting - https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/03/100-middle-high-schools-worth-visiting/

In this episode we answer a question by Doris from Austin, TX: “How do we overcome the perception that the area is bad?” 

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Tim Mains. He is the Superintendent at Pine Bush Central School District in Middletown, New York. Tim is an experienced educator who has worked in various capacities from teacher to principal in K-12 urban, suburban, and rural school districts. He has a strong commitment to improving educational outcomes by engaging families as partners with the school.

In this episode, Tim shares the “Dual Capacity Framework” and explains how viewing parents as partners can change the entire approach to education. He gives specific strategies for taking the first steps towards parent engagement - even for schools who have limited financial resources available to initiate the starting point.

Listen and take note of how Tim has used strategic planning to accomplish very different goals in very different school systems; it’s the plan that acts as the guidebook to success.

In our discussion, we cover:

3:10 Alexis asks Tim to describe a “typical” day for him. 

8:45 Tim responds to the question: What do you wish that you had known on your first day on the job in education?

10:40 Tim begins to explain what it means to make parents the partners of the school in the process of educating young people.

14:14 Alexis offers two schools of thought about parent engagement, and asks for Tim’s thoughts about the different approaches.

17:20 Alexis asks Tim, “As a new principal, what actions would you prioritize in order to engage parents?”

20:30 Alexis and Tim discuss the ways that a school can take the first steps toward parent engagement even when the school has limited finances available to start.

25:20 Tim responds to Alexis’ question about whether he is using the same techniques and approaches to parent engagement that he had used in a different school system with different challenges.

27:30 Tim discusses the value of using instructional coaches to help teachers implement any changes that are initiated in schools. 

31:20 Tim expands on how to use strategic planning to set and accomplish goals in a school.

34:00 Alexis asks Tim to contrast the ideas of communication from the top down vs. on-the-ground direct communication.

Quotes:

8:50 “Not everything has to be perfect, and ‘not perfect’ should not mask the understanding that I’m doing some things well. Don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good’.” 

18:50 “Rather than blaming parents for the conditions that they are in and the way that their kids are coming to school, we need to see parents as partners.” 

29:00 “We view the use of coaches (to be sure that professional learning is embedded in teachers’ day-to-day practice) as a more valuable approach than a stand-alone staff development program.” 

37:40 “One of the reasons I’m in schools all the time is that there is a lot of informal communication that occurs because I’m in the classroom.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Dr. Karen Mapp - The Dual Capacity Framework https://swopeparentengagement.weebly.com/dual-capacity-framework.html

Where to learn more about Tim Mains:

School Contact - https://www.pinebushschools.org/contact-us/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/TimOMains

Tim on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-mains-67390b26/

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: https://www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our guest today is Don Wettrick. He is the Innovation Coordinator for Noblesville High School, the founder and President of The STARTedUP Foundation, and the author of  "Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level." The STARTedUP Foundation empowers student entrepreneurs and innovators with collaborative, immersive experiences, accelerator programs, and seed funding for students under 20 years old. As a public speaker, Don specializes in educational development with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. He also helps groups understand and utilize blogging and collaboration in social media integration.

In this episode, Don delivers a strong message about the prospects facing today’s students in tomorrow’s heavily automated employment market and urges schools to take a stand now for creating an innovative, entrepreneurship culture. He details the mindset, strategies, and key players needed to make change happen in the education community. 

Listen and take note of how schools can step-up to the challenge of preparing students for a market that we cannot yet even imagine from the chairs that we occupy today.

In our discussion, we cover:

3:10 Don offers the insight that up until about 10 years ago, traditional education had a pretty good track record for success, but that has dramatically changed. 

7:20 Andrew asks if Don has any advice for school leaders who are seeing competition pop up in their immediate area. 

9:35 Don responds to Andrew’s question about whether parents seem to be willing to consider a future job market where 50% of jobs will be freelance. 

11:50 Andrew asks Don to help school leaders visualize the beginning stages of the shift toward implementing innovative opportunities in schools. 

16:10 Don talks about the necessary mindset change in schools from chasing grades to creating a culture of innovation. 

18:30 Don responds to Andrew’s question about whether school leaders should brand their product and sell. 

21:00 Andrew asks Don if every school is becoming a media school.

21:50 Don talks about what his foundation is doing to help create innovation. 

24:30 Don responds to Andrew’s question about what will happen if colleges begin to change their admissions requirements. 

26:45 Andrew and Don discuss the ways that innovation can happen very quickly when the market responds to change.

Quotes:

1:50 “The future is looking very automated.”

5:10 “Social media is a windfall opportunity for students if they treat it professionally.”

7:30 “The hardest part is getting a school to see that doing well on the SAT is not preparing kids for the future.”

17:10 “Cool idea; now, what do you do with it?”

17:50 “We’re entering this new economy where new ideas are worth something.”

19:28 “Everybody is stealing great ideas, and that’s awesome.”

26:45 “Forbes tells us that by next year, half the nation’s jobs will be freelance.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/

Gary Vaynerchuk at VaynerX - www.garyvaynerchuk.com/Do we want to mention him since this is an advertising agency?

Where to learn more about Don Wettrick:

Don’s Foundation - https://startedupfoundation.org/

Email - [email protected]

Twitter - https://twitter.com/DonWettrick

Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/donwettrick/