It’s an incontrovertible rule of life: every middle schooler will express a desire to go to a different school than the one they are currently in – any school – just as long is it is different. For small, private schools, this can be a worrisome proposition. Enrollment attrition is to be expected at key stages, most prominently advancing from 8th to 9th grade.
Parents who chose your school over all others now feel that their child needs to bear more of the decision for where to go. Bigger schools with more programs make it seem like tuition dollars get more value. There’s the hope that a different pathway will ensure college placement or perhaps scholarship opportunities. I know that my stomach sinks whenever I hear a middle school student confidently proclaim where they’re going elsewhere, which is quickly followed by sideways glances from the other students who are scanning to see if everyone else is getting on that bandwagon.
Administrators worry about their numbers for high school classes. Enrollment impacts so many different pieces of the operational puzzle of a small, private school. High school teachers likewise feel the loss of potential students they would love to pour into. Middle school teachers feel at a loss as to how to manage the mutiny on their hands. Should we shut down all discussion of school altogether? Do we hold an open forum where students get their school choice thoughts off their chest? Lingering in the back of our minds is the fact that the parents are ultimately the ones who will make a sensible decision about where their child goes to school, right? And since they chose to place their child here before, they wouldn’t just pull up stakes now, would they?
This article explores some possible strategies for addressing the problem of middle school attrition and retention, which hopefully will stimulate your own ideas about approaches to be taken to address the middle schooler who wants to go to a different school.
Strategy # 1: Press Your Advantage
Lots of schools spend thousands of dollars to raise their visibility. Lots of schools would love nothing more than to have access to a potential student. The education market is very competitive with lots of great options out there. You may be competing with a state-ranked public school district, a large, well-funded Christian school, a thriving homeschool community and innumerable online options. With all of the options out there, your students and parents are constantly assessing what is the best option for their tuition dollars and their long-term educational goals. But guess where that student is now? In your school. You have the access to them that all the competing schools are dying to have. This means you get to be the best admissions representative they have. Daily contact is an advantage, so press your advantage.
But this does not mean that you start pushing an agenda or give an impassioned sales pitch every day. Having worked with lots of college admissions reps, I’ve learned that the best admissions reps get to know the student, asking questions to find out how the school can meet their needs. This is an excellent strategy when working with middle school students. It might be the first time they’ve ever explored what it is they want out of their education. The grass that looks greener on the other side of the fence is rather attractive, but they need a trusted counselor to help them think through their values and give deep consideration to their options. So ask genuine questions.
“I heard you talking about going to school x. What’s got you thinking about going there?” The key here is to really listen. Are they attracted to impressive athletic programs, expensive science labs or high-tech classrooms? Maybe they have youth group or neighborhood friends who are planning to go there. Do they think that by going there they will have a better chance of going to their top college choice? Listen to what it is they are attracted to and what they are envisioning for themselves. Affirm the positives you hear from them. “Hey, you’re really taking your future seriously, that’s great.” “It sounds like you really like science, and that you’re looking for a place that will challenge you.” Then ask further questions, continuing to build on the student’s interests. “For someone who’s taking his future seriously, could we talk some more about what it might look like to stay here?” “Have you thought about what it would look like to do science here?”
Don’t make it an us-against-them battle. Instead enter into their set of interests and help them to see that our school could be a place that serves their interests. At the end of the day, they might still choose to go elsewhere, but you’ve built a bond of trust with another person centered on caring for their needs. A school versus school comparison will only make the child feel like a pawn in a petty battle.
Strategy #2: Talk to the Parents
As teachers, we interact most often with students who express their desire to go to another school. But the student is not the only decision maker. The parents have a say and may benefit from guidance as they try to decide what high school is best for their child. Building a good parent partnership over time is essential to any retention strategy. Education is fundamentally a service industry and the clientele we are serving is parents. Because we are interacting with students on a daily basis, this is something we too often forget. Therefore, effective communication begins way before questions of where the child will go to high school occur.
The key idea with parents is to build a trust bridge whereby they are willing to discuss their plans with you. This happens by repeatedly expressing your desire for their child to enjoy a happy and satisfied experience at your school. Just as with the student, you need to be an effective listener. The child might experience unhappiness or they might be dissatisfied. Can the parent fill in more of the picture for you? Are there good friendships emerging? Is the academic work challenging for them? How is the homework load? Even if you can’t fully resolve any of the problems that come up, you can effectively demonstrate your care and concern for the child and the family. If you haven’t put in the work of building a trust bridge through consistent communication, it will be difficult to rely on a good parent partnership when it comes to schooling decisions. The better part of being an awesome admissions rep for the parents comes through regular interactions about many other topics well in advance.
In and among these discussions with parents, it is quite natural to raise the question of their high school plans. Don’t wait until the students is in 8th grade to open up discussions about high school plans. Express enthusiasm about seeing the child here at this school through high school. Spell out the benefits you see, which means you need to have thought through the value proposition. Does your school have a great track record of college placements? Do you have a unique model that helps students solidify their faith? Are there aspects of your school that other schools don’t have that would give a parent a sense that their tuition dollars will be well spent here? You might have several different value propositions. If you’ve been effectively listening to the parents, you will have a sense of what’s valuable to them and can cater your program to their needs. Don’t stretch the truth or try to be something you’re not. Simply express your core values and let those stand for themselves. Not everyone will find the same value in them, and that’s okay.
Parents have similar interests to their students. Many will want their child to enjoy the same kinds of experiences they had in high school. In more cases, parents will have fears that are contributing significantly to their decision making. “If I choose the wrong high school for my child, will I ruin their chances of succeeding in college?” Validate both their interests and fears and empathize with them. Knowing that you care goes a long way toward helping the parents with their decision. Providing excellent information, though, is absolutely necessary. They will want to know college acceptance rates, average college entrance exam scores, and extracurriculars available to their child. But excellent information will fall flat if it’s communicated apart from a values-rich context and empathetic care.
Strategy #3: Utilize the Resources Available
So far I’ve talked about the two key relationships we can leverage when attempting to retain middle school students who are trying to decide where to go for high school. Beyond these relationships, there are many resources available to us that we shouldn’t overlook.
First, your current high school students made the decision to be here. They represent a valuable perspective for your middle schoolers to consider. Can you create a forum where the high school students can interact with the middle schoolers? In the past I have had a shadow day where I assign every eighth grader a high school student to shadow. I try to be strategic with those I partner. I find this generates excitement among the eighth graders as they get to see the high schoolers engaging in their work. I have also done a separate session where a group of high school students sit on a panel and answer questions from the eighth graders. I get the ball rolling by interviewing them like a talk-show host. That gives me the opportunity to frame some key ideas, such as our values, the great experiences students have that might not be seen by the rest of the school, and some of the ways students have grown in character, spirituality or life meaning.
Second, tell the story of your alumni. Even if you only have a few alumni, you have a rich storehouse of examples to share. Highlight how they have been shaped by the school’s values. Tell about where they are now, and share how your school has helped them to get there.
Third, parents of high school students and alumni are a great resource to connect your middle school parents to. They’ve walked this path before and can be another voice in their lives. Plus they lack the self-interested perspective you will be perceived to have.
Fourth, create special traditions. Is there some kind of ceremony that initiates the new high school students? Is there a right of passage or a new privilege that high schoolers get? Make these known to the younger students in the school. Help them to imagine what it would be like to be in this high school.
Fifth, show what your high school is all about with newsletters, social media posts, and social events. The values of your high school are often difficult to describe in words and phrases through conversation and correspondence. A picture is worth a thousand words and can open the eyes of many about what makes your school special. Have your camera ready to capture key moments that reflect what you would most want potential students and parents to see.
In the end, the most effective strategy for retention is to be as helpful as you can to your students and parents by keeping communication open, listening effectively and caring empathetically. You can’t keep people from going elsewhere and you can’t force people to stay. But if you’ve been a kind, empathetic companion on their journey, you have left a lasting impression that will remain with them even if they don’t remain at your school. That translates into good will toward your school, which can sometimes mean a student returns after leaving or a parent puts in a good word to a friend.
Retention and attrition are difficult for any school, but have a greater magnitude for small schools. Hopefully some of these thoughts will stimulate your own thinking about effective strategies to help your middle schoolers make the transition to high school. Do you have strategies that have worked? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.