Breadth and Depth of One Schoolhouse Courses

Brad Rathgeber

Enrollment (and re-enrollment) season is upon us in schools.  Families are searching for the right match – the right culture, the right community, and the right opportunities for their children.
 
What makes a match “right”? Well, that depends on the family, of course. But, when thinking about this question, I often return to a really great report done by the Enrollment Management Association: “The Ride to Independent Schools: 2,300 Families Tell Us About Their Journey.
 
One helpful data point from this report regards the application process: “When evaluating the private schools to which they would ultimately apply, parents relied on a variety of information and data. Overwhelmingly, the breadth and depth of course offerings were cited as the most important information assessed. Almost three-quarters of the parents (73%) included this among their top choices.” (22)  In fact, breadth and depth of academic offerings ranked number one on this list by a lot – a full 23% above the next option (and the one many educators might suspect to be number one): the college list.
 
For the tuitions our schools charge, families expect a full range of academic opportunities.  And yet, no school can offer every opportunity on campus (of course, this is particularly true for smaller schools).  That’s why we’ve seen so many schools partner with us to act as a value increasing, flexible department within their school – one that extends the campus across the country and around the world.
 
Last month, we launched a series of posts that helped schools understand how to use One Schoolhouse strategically – you can see that series here, in case you missed it.  Look out this month for a series of posts that explain how One Schoolhouse can add value to your school by expanding offerings in key areas – helping schools meet demands (and expectations) in high quality, cost effective, and flexible ways. 

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