I think you might start by deciding first what kind of students you want to attract. Are you planning to open a private school for wealthy children whose parents will pay for it? If so, then you might want to do an assessment of what motivates parents to send their children to private schools and what needs there are that are being under served. Then your marketing would be aimed to reach those parents and to show how your school will fit their needs.
If you have in mind an alternative high school that would be funded by tax dollars and free to the students, that is a very different thing. You would have to research policies and procedures to establish the schools. They may need to be set up as non-profit institutions. My impression is that in many cities students will enroll in the local charter schools mostly because they don’t want to attend the public schools.
I think you might start by deciding first what kind of students you want to attract.
That’s a good point. I’ve put some thought into this, but not a huge amount—probably because of a flinch. To me, the real point of what I’m doing is to produce competent, mentally healthy individuals. Ideally that would include everyone, but pragmatically that just isn’t going to happen. So, whom shall I omit early on? It’s an uncomfortable question, but you’re quite right that it needs asking.
I wouldn’t so much think about omitting anyone, as focusing on who you want to attract. The default plan for most students is to attend the local public school. So, you need to think about how you are going to convince people to attend your school instead. If you are going to start a private school, you will need to convince parents who can pay tuition that it’s worth paying it and that it is better spent at your school than other available schools. If you want to start a charter, you’ll need to convince the involved government bodies to approve and fund you. You’ll have to be able to convince them that you will be filling unmet needs.
Often charter or private schools specialize. They market themselves to attract
gifted students who are bored in the public school or
students with special needs
students who don’t feel safe in the public schools
students with behavior problems
students who are trying to get into top colleges and feel that they’ll have an edge coming from there
students wanting to study particular subject matter in depth, such as music, art, science
or some combination of the above
All schools hope to produce competent, mentally healthy individuals. You’ll need to focus more tightly.
I think you might start by deciding first what kind of students you want to attract. Are you planning to open a private school for wealthy children whose parents will pay for it? If so, then you might want to do an assessment of what motivates parents to send their children to private schools and what needs there are that are being under served. Then your marketing would be aimed to reach those parents and to show how your school will fit their needs.
If you have in mind an alternative high school that would be funded by tax dollars and free to the students, that is a very different thing. You would have to research policies and procedures to establish the schools. They may need to be set up as non-profit institutions. My impression is that in many cities students will enroll in the local charter schools mostly because they don’t want to attend the public schools.
Good luck.
That’s a good point. I’ve put some thought into this, but not a huge amount—probably because of a flinch. To me, the real point of what I’m doing is to produce competent, mentally healthy individuals. Ideally that would include everyone, but pragmatically that just isn’t going to happen. So, whom shall I omit early on? It’s an uncomfortable question, but you’re quite right that it needs asking.
I wouldn’t so much think about omitting anyone, as focusing on who you want to attract. The default plan for most students is to attend the local public school. So, you need to think about how you are going to convince people to attend your school instead. If you are going to start a private school, you will need to convince parents who can pay tuition that it’s worth paying it and that it is better spent at your school than other available schools. If you want to start a charter, you’ll need to convince the involved government bodies to approve and fund you. You’ll have to be able to convince them that you will be filling unmet needs.
Often charter or private schools specialize. They market themselves to attract
gifted students who are bored in the public school or students with special needs students who don’t feel safe in the public schools students with behavior problems students who are trying to get into top colleges and feel that they’ll have an edge coming from there students wanting to study particular subject matter in depth, such as music, art, science
or some combination of the above
All schools hope to produce competent, mentally healthy individuals. You’ll need to focus more tightly.