We put in everything. We recently had a jump-rope for heart and the papers came out and took candid shots. We sold a cookbook and had the kids posed like little chefs to advertise it. A craft show, had the kids pose with crafts. Any kind of academic excellence - we recognize it with their picture in the newspaper. This is especially important because it shows the quality of your school. Winning fire poster contests, science project contests, etc. Also doing fun things like pie in the face contest with teachers, family fun nights, etc. to show that the school has a great time doing things. Our diocesan newspaper is now starting a school scene once a month. We will do a write-up of what some of the classes are working on. We advertise in 2-3 local newspapers, 2 cable tv advertisement channels and local parishes.

I finally had the chance to talk to the Principal about this, and she thought that contacting the parents of previously baptized kids was a great idea. So thanks for that! What kind of articles do you put in the paper, and do you pay for it, or does the paper give you free space? Also, those Pre-K'rs and Kindergarteners look soooo cute in their uniforms, what would be a good way to (for lack of a better word) exploit their cuteness?

We do a lot of advertisement. Last year the local newspaper gave us small a weekly column in the paper to let people know what exciting things the kids were learing, what's going on, etc. Any time a child does anything exceptional we ask the newspapers to come out and take a picture. We also contact our affiliate church and other churches with no school to send us a list of children baptized 3-5 years ago (say 1998, 1999 and 2000). We figure they're ready for Preschool or Kindergarten and send them a notice that registration is coming up. If the churches do not want to supply that info, we send flyers to the churches and ask them to keep in a place where people can see. We also send to local daycare centers. We pass those same registration flyers to all school families and ask them to pass on to one other person with a school-age child. Just a couple suggestions.

Does anyone have any ideas on Marketing your School? We are a small parochial school, and are always concerned about enrollment. In our district, public schools are not very good, yet somehow, enrollment has been going down. Does anyone currently have a marketing program for your school, or do you have any ideas on this. Thanks!