District Administration - February 2007 - (Page 45)

Warning : session_start : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 9 Warning : session_start : Cannot send session cache limiter - headers already sent output started at /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php:9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 9 Warning : Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by output started at /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php:9 in /mnt/data/www.nxtbook.com/fx/config_1.3/global.php on line 10 SCHOOL ADVERTISING “If you grew up thinking that schools are above advertising, think again.” —John Musso, vice president of the Association of School Business Ofﬁcials International i ng students that hasn’t yet been streamlined. School advertising has only become more common in the last several years, and there still are no specialized ad agencies to serve the schools’ needs. Districts simply take lessons from each other, utilizi ng the resources and contacts they already have. John Musso, vice president of the Association of School Business Ofﬁcia ls International, an organization that includes 6,000 public and private school CFOs and other business professionals, says market conditions may provide the best argument for school advertising. “It comes down to realizing that you have to market schools because of the educational competition today,” he says. “Charter schools are here to stay, and homeschool i ng is on the rise.” Billboards to Television Eight years ago, Lamb could litera lly see the writing on the wall as he drove through Lima. One billboard hailed the Quest Academy commu n it y elementary school’s “Passion for Teaching.” Further down the road two private school competitors, the Heir Force and Golden Bridge academies, rented billboards of www.DistrictAdministration.com their own, promoting their free school supplies and student diversity, respectively. Perry’s student body had dwindled as the local populat ion aged and children moved away from family farms—leaving only 600 students from a census of 900 taken several years earlier. In an effort to compete, in 1999 the Perry Board of Education began running 30-second television ads on the local NBC station. The ads were designed to attract students from other districts, highlighting three advantages of Perry’s local schools: a student-teacher ratio of 18:1, much lower than the Ohio public schools’ standard 25:1; the opportunity to take college level courses at a branch campus of Ohio State University; and access to the best technology, such as electronic whiteboards. Sprinkled throughout prime-time programs, the six o’clock news and occasionally The Oprah Winfrey Show, the ads ran through June, July and August prior to the upcoming school year. Lamb showed the four commercia ls to other superintendents. “Many of these superintendents thought that it was probably a little cutting edge,” Lamb says, acknowledging the rarity of school advertising. But Lamb insists he was simply ahead of his time, especially with more than $5,000 per student in open enrollment funding from the state riding on the outcome. The student funds ultimately accumulated to more than $1.2 million from the state, though, when Lamb restored his enrollment to 900 for the 2005- 2006 school year. Three hundred of those students came from other dist r ic t s. Lamb credits the accomplishment in large part to the advertising campaign, and he has not had to cut stafﬁ ng or programming since. Wit h Perry’s success in full view, ﬁve neighboring districts have also taken to the airwaves. “It’s healthy in that if you follow the thinking that competition is good for schools, then advertising is the next extension,” Lamb says. Maynard, Mass.: A Place to Shine In Maynard, Mass., a former mill town about 25 miles west of Boston, Mark Masterson, school superintendent , got his wake-up call when a charter school opened nearby and siphoned 25 students from his district. Because the academic and athletic programs of several larger neighboring districts also posed a threat, Masterson hired New Media Associates, an advertising ﬁ rm in nearby Amesbury. Just like the Perry Local School district, the small size of Maynard’s schools became their main selling point after New Media president Bill Plante conducted focus groups with students, parents and community members. “The perception was that since Maynard was small, they were offering an inferior product,” Plante explains. “We found that the smallness was actually a competitive advantage. Some students ﬂourish in a large environment, but in Maynard more students were actually able to shine.” February 2007 45 school advertising.indd 45 1/17/07 10:35:54 AM Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in Unknown on line 0 Warning : Unknown : Failed to write session data files . Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct /var/lib/php/session in Unknown on line 0 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2007

Contents
Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Tackling Health Care Together
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Curriculum Hotspots
New Information Systems Track Student Progress
Students Wanted!
Spread the Word
Mentors Boost Student Reading Levels
The Online Edge
Speaking Out
Research Corner
Problem/Solution
Leadership Books
New Products
Calendar of Events
Professional Opinion

District Administration - February 2007