An Interview with Joann McPike, founder of THINK Global School

Have you ever thought about starting your own private school? There are a couple of reasons why you might be pondering a large scale project such as starting a private school. Perhaps you are discouraged by the lack of education options in your area and want to do something about it. Maybe you have a vision and philosophy of education which is ahead of the curve. Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori are examples of educators who established entire movements based on their teachings and philosophies. Or perhaps no school in your area is doing what you know and feel strongly is necessary and beneficial for young people. Many determined people have established private schools because they want to be able to include religious instruction in their curricula. These are just a few of the reasons why private schools get their start.

Separation of Church and State

Historically this has been one of the major reasons why private schools were established. Public schools legally cannot teach faith-based religion. So if you are a devout follower of your religion, you will probably want your children to have a thorough grounding in their faith. That's why 22,731 private schools are affiliated with a religion according to the data available from the Private School Universe Survey of the National Center for Educational Statistics. To put that number of schools in context the PSS shows that there were 33,366 private schools in the United States. Based on those statistics religious private

A decade ago, you spent a fortune on a gorgeous catalog and a couple of recruiting trips. Then you waited. You would be in good shape if you had gotten your catalogs into the right hands and had a good turnout for your recruiting trips. The applications came in hopefully in a three-to-one ratio. All was well.

That approach doesn't work very well today. Your demographics have changed. More and more of your target parents are Generation Y. They get their information from social media.

The diversity goals your school has require different approaches, too. You need to extend the reach of your advertising campaigns by using social media, which is easily shared. Your market has become more segmented and much more competitive. As the economic outlook makes the future look more and more uncertain, parents are examining the educational foundations that their children will need to be successful in their adult lives.

The uncertain economy, which has dogged us since the 2008 recession, causes financial concerns for both you and your school and your current and prospective families.

That's where social media comes in. Done well, social media will improve your admissions yield. Done consistently, social media can cement value in place in the minds of your target audience.

But remember: social media is still marketing. It requires planning and execution of that marketing plan to work. It cannot be a hit-or-miss approach. Neither can you leave

The way we use social media in the private K-12 school setting is a bit different from the way social media is used by businesses. Businesses are looking to develop a client list from their social media efforts. They need clients in order to sell them their products and services. Private schools, on the other hand, seek to promote their community to attract new families and students. Let's look at some more differences and also some strategies and techniques that will help make your school's social media program successful.

Dedicate resources to social media.

My first bit of advice is simple but really quite necessary: devote some resources to your social media program. Your school's website used to be the only front door your school had. It was the first thing people saw. Now it is the first thing parents or anybody over the age of 40 will see. Facebook and YouTube are your new front doors for folks under the age of 30.

This video gives you a comprehensive overview of social media and what it can do for your school.

You have never been casual about creating your catalog, have you? Remember catalogs? Your catalog and other printed materials you give prospective families are always professionally produced, aren't they? They also cost a fortune, don't they? Your social media deserves the same professional approach. Therefore, allocate staff time and money in your operating

A private school handbook is essentially a set of guidelines for life in the school community. The reason why I am devoting an entire article here on Private School Review is to underscore the importance of handbooks. Both you and your child need to understand that the school's handbook is linked to the contract which you signed with the school. Private schools are not like public schools in this very important regard: students have rights in a public school; but they do not have rights in a private school. They are governed by what is known as contract law. That contract which you signed with the school spells out all the obligations of the parties to that contract. Somewhere buried in the fine print will be a statement to the effect that one of your child's obligations is to abide by the rules and regulations of the school and its community as set forth in the school's handbook and elsewhere.

Most handbooks are comprehensive, very detailed documents which seek to cover every conceivable aspect of school life. They are generally rather lengthy documents too as you will see when you review the examples listed at the end of this article. Take time to review your school's handbook. Discuss and confirm that your child understands the seriousness of this document. While the school will explain the content of its handbook at the beginning of school, assume nothing. Make sure that she understands that failure to abide by the terms