Parent Ambassadors

 
REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE THE CHOICE to send your child/ren to a Catholic school? The likelihood is that you, yourself, went to a Catholic school. Or, if you didn’t, someone who already has their child/ren in a Catholic school told you how wonderful their school is and that you should send your child/ren there, too. This “parent ambassador” made an impact on you. Research conducted across the country at the confirms this. It shows that a parent of a Catholic school student or graduate can play a significant role in a prospective family’s decision to send their child/ren to a Catholic school. The power of firsthand experience shared by word of mouth is undeniably the most influential factor. Now that your children are attending a Catholic school, you are an ambassador for your school.

Why is this important?  In Catholic schools across the country, enrollment is not at full capacity. Growing enrollment, or enrollment at capacity, ensures that a Catholic school remains viable and sustainable, with a thriving future that allows it to obtain new resources, enhance curriculum and upgrade/improve facilities. Catholic schools and arch/dioceses nationwide that have effectively utilized parent ambassadors or have implemented successful ambassador programs have experienced consecutive years of stable and/or growing enrollment.

What do parent ambassadors do? As a parent ambassador at SMLS, you would support the efforts of the Director of Admissions,  as well as the school administration. You would serve as an unofficial recruiter helping to increase enrollment by cultivating the influence that you, as a parent of a current or former student, possess.

How is this accomplished? The positive and supportive word-of-mouth that you share with prospective parents is the best way to market and promote SML Catholic school. Many school families, like yours, are in Catholic schools because they were referred by another family already in the school. As a satisfied parent, you will be an advocate, an ambassador and an effective word-of-mouth marketer for SMLS.

What other ways can I, as a parent ambassador, spread the good news about my Catholic school? In addition to the power of word-of-mouth sharing between parents, there are other key roles that you as a parent ambassador can play within St. Mary of the Lakes school’s recruiting efforts. You can serve as a tour guide during open house events, prospective parent nights and personal on-campus visits. As a parent ambassador, you can also be a personal one-on-one contact (face-to-face, phone call, email, handwritten letter) with potential families, initially and/or as a follow up. You can serve as a representative of the school by attending community events or conducting outreach at other parishes. As a parent ambassador, you can also assist with our school’s social media campaign by writing positive reviews, posts and tweets. The more positive voices in the community in support of SMLS, the more SMLS will continue to grow and thrive!

If you would like additional information on being an effective parent ambassador for SMLS, please contact admissions@smlschool.org.

Thank you!