5 Simple Steps to an EPIC Back-2-School Season

With many school owners in the industry seeing record enrollment months this year post-pandemic, it’s making for a very exciting Back to School Season.

The kids are going back to school, the masks are coming off, and people are ready to be back to their regularly scheduled programming.

While some kids go back to school after Labor Day, many states and counties go back to school in August, so we figured it’s perfect timing to break down 5 simple steps so you can have an EPIC back to school season.

Simplicity scales.

With there being so many things you CAN do during the back to school season, it’s imperative that you choose the RIGHT things to do.

Let’s break down the game-plan.

Step 1 - Schedule Important Dates
Jim Rohn said it best, “Plan your work. Work your plan.”

School owners who sit down and take time to plan out their Back 2 School efforts will be the ones who find the most success.

Fuzzy targets don’t get hit, so we need to get really clear on what we're doing and what our goals are.

So step 1, you need to schedule in the important back to school dates on your calendar.

Each county and state is different, and the easiest way to find out when the kids are going back to school, when the open houses are, and when the teachers go back is
by simply going to Google and doing a search for your county’s school calendar (ie
- “Hillsborough County School Calendar”).

A simple search should provide you access to your county’s school calendar so you can plan accordingly.

There are 3 dates I would like for you to find:
1 - When the teachers go back to school
2 - When the Open House or Meet-the-Teacher is
3 - When the kids go back to school

Once you get these dates on your calendar, the next date you need to set is when you are going to host your Free Community Event.

Here at MAIA, we recommend that you do that the same weekend as the Meet-the-Teacher event.

So if the Meet-the-Teacher event is on Wednesday, you would host your Free Community Event that same Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Step 2 - Host a Back 2 School Supply Drive

One of the absolute easiest and best ways to start developing your Partnership in
Education with the local elementary schools is by hosting a supply drive.

You can get as fancy as you want, but really all you need is a cardboard box in your lobby.

Make announcements to your students that you will be hosting a Back 2 School Supply Drive for your local elementary school to help out those in need.

We have found that offering a free pizza party to everyone who donates is an easy way to get the donations pouring in.

If you wanted to step it up a notch and add a little competition, you could set up two boxes in the lobby.

Break your students up into two teams (you can do them by age or rank) and see which team donates the most. For the team that wins, you could offer either a  pizza party or a free Parents Night Out.

One of the keys to establishing any type of relationship is to GIVE.

Often times, school owners want to head to their local elementary school and immediately start asking the school to help them.

Gary Vaynerchuck famously said, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook”. And while that’s not my favorite combination, the meaning is: “Give, Give, Give, then Ask.”

Providing free school supplies to your local elementary will make you an instant hero.

Step 3 - Establish Partners in Education

When you are delivering your supplies to the local elementary school, be sure to bring your Partners in Education Brochure (you can find this on the MAIA Edge site).

Inside of this brochure, it breaks down everything you can do for them: hosting a Faculty Breakfast, being a PE Teacher for the day, sponsoring the PTA, volunteering to do public speaking at the school, offering free training for academic awards. The list goes on and on.

Most schools need help, and going in with a box full of free supplies and the willingness to help them out is a great way to kick off your Partnership in Education.

Step 4 - Schedule Faculty Breakfast

While you are dropping off your supplies and providing the school with your Partners in Education brochure, we recommend to ask if you can schedule a Faculty Breakfast for their school. (I mean, who doesn’t love free food?!)

This is a small gesture that will go a very long way.

This will also be your opportunity to ask if you can set up a booth at their Meet-the-Teacher event.

MOST elementary schools allow outside businesses at their events. Some charge, some don’t. But this is a MUST attend event.

Step 5 - Meet the Teacher

When the big day arrives, be sure to have a professional looking booth set up. This
can be as simple as having branded print marketing and a branded tablecloth.

It can also be as fancy as having pop-up banners, a backdrop, a TV playing footage
of your programs, etc.

There are 3 main goals while at the Meet-the-Teacher:

1 - Get people to your booth
2 - Build the know, like, and trust factor
3 - Get people to sign up for your Free Community Event

In order to build a relationship and make people feel comfortable in signing up for your event, you’ve got to get them to the table first.

There are many ways to do this from raffle wheels, to board breaking, to having a popcorn or cotton candy machine.  Regardless of what you choose, just make sure
you have something that is going to attract the kids to your table.

Once they are there, you’ve got to start building rapport. This means getting out from
behind the table and start talking to your prospects.

Your ultimate goal should be to get them to register for your Free Community Event.

We have found that the “Focus for Better Grades” and the “Children’s Confidence Seminar” have performed the best.

Positioning this as a Free Community Event and not just another martial arts class is going to increase your sign ups and show ups.

Now that all 5 steps are complete, it’s time for you to host EPIC Free Community
Events.

To learn more about how to host these, check out www.MAIAFoundations.com