Reference no: EM133248288
What questionnaire we need (specific questions) to accomplish the objectives below:
-School is having enrollment decline issues while other private schools have enjoyed significant gains, sometimes at the expense of River Pines.
- school cannot function with the existing enrollment presents a severe issue.
- the drop in enrolment is harming the school's reputation. The school is also lacking marketing approach.
Below is the full case study:
River Pines School
Tom Sanders, headmaster of River Pines School, sat in his office one afternoon pondering the state of his school. Even though the school reportedly has the highest academic standards and a long list of distinguished graduates who have gone on to excel in college and life, enrollment was at dangerously low levels. It had been frustrating for Tom who had been hired four years ago to turn the school around. It seems that every time a positive step was implemented, or positive recognition was achieved, it was met, at best, with community apathy and more often was ignored by the local newspaper and television stations.
River Pines is a private, not-for-profit college preparatory school located in the northeast-central quadrant of a county of 250,000 people. The school offers classes in pre-Kindergarten through the 12th grade. The school has suffered through declining enrollment over the past six-eight years, going from a high of approximately 550 students down to a low of approximately 200 students. Present enrollment is 235 students spread through 14 grades. River Pines' high school is one of four private high schools in the county and the only private high school not affiliated with a religious organization. A larger, religious-based private school is located five miles north of River Pines. Additionally, there are five large, public high schools in the county. The school offers a variety of extra-curricular activities at the middle- and high school, including athletics (football, basketball, softball, baseball, track, tennis, cheerleading/drill team) and personal enrichment (drama club, quiz bowl, debate team, French and Spanish Clubs, Fellowship of Christian Students, and choral competition). Academic requirements at River Pines exceed the requirements mandated by the state, and it is believed that academic standards and achievements of River Pines students (in all grades) exceed those of other private and public schools, due in part to a low student-teacher ratio. Over the past five years, the average dollar amounts of scholarships earned by River Pines graduating seniors has exceeded the average dollar amount earned by the graduating seniors at all other area public and private high schools in the area.
While River Pines has suffered through major declines in enrollment, other private schools have enjoyed significant gains, sometimes at the expense of River Pines. While a number of possible causes of enrollment decline have surfaced, such as students wanting more social opportunities and different extra-curricular activities not offered by River Pines (e.g., band, boys', and girls' soccer), no one at the school has been able to determine a root cause of the enrollment decline. A troublesome problem has surfaced, however. Parents have been subjected to or have overheard negative rumors and other types of "character assassination" by members of a rival lower-middle private school. There appears to be some credible support for that claim. Over the last five to seven years, not one student completing that rival middle school's program has looked at or chosen River Pines as the high school of choice.
Tom knew that he and the school most likely needed a more focused marketing approach. It was obvious that word of mouth and internal recruiting efforts were failing. While the school was financially solvent -- a minor miracle in view of the dramatic enrollment drops -- there was very little money for extras, such as an expensive marketing campaign. He knew, however, that the school would have difficulty surviving and flourishing with the present enrollment level. Additionally, obtaining outside help was viewed as a necessity since Tom and members of the Board of Directors had no marketing expertise. The board gave Tom the approval to begin talks with outside groups.
One particular firm in the area, Conceptual Dimensions, Inc., seemed very interested and qualified to provide guidance and assistance to River Pines in this project. Becky Hutchinson, a senior research professional, came to the school to meet with Tom and four key members of his staff. After touring the facilities, Becky asked the group some questions. She wanted to know what the school had done over the past few years to attract new students and to retain existing students. They described several attempts at attracting new students. These approaches included a 60-second video that aired on the local cable television channels, billboard advertising provided by a local bank which offered private school financing programs to families, and a program called Winterfest (held in January two years before). This program featured several academic contests between River Pines students along with a theme party. Students from schools of varying grade levels were invited (along with parents) to come and observe the academic competition and participate in the theme party. River Pines indicated that they added 3-5 students as a result of the Winterfest program.
Student retention programs were virtually non-existent. As mentioned earlier, students and parents stated that the reasons for leaving had to do with programs that were not available to them at River Pines. Tom suspected that the stated reasons were only superficial, but he had not been able to determine any other reasons. Becky Hutchinson suggested that obtaining more information about why students and families left River Pines for other schools would be critical information for the school to have in the development of enrollment strategies. The committee agreed and asked Becky to put together ideas for them to review.