Parent Action Network. Maybe you’ve heard of this phrase at a recent AISAP conference, but how does it work in practice? How can admissions and enrollment management professionals utilize current parents to increase applications, help with event planning, and improve yield? At The Kehillah School, an independent Jewish high school in Palo Alto, CA, our PAN, named CHER, after the singer, has been transformative in helping increase freshman enrollment by 15% and transfer enrollment by 50%.
PAN Formation
When I arrived at Kehillah in the fall of 2023, I and the head of school realized a need for committed parent volunteers who wanted to help with admissions, enrollment, and development. We reached out to five parents who were passionate about the school, had some free time, and offered a diverse range of skills, including someone who worked in human resources, a retired dentist, a retired orthodontist, and a qualitative researcher. All these volunteers were detail-oriented and committed to spreading the word about Kehillah.
Event Planning
As any admissions professional knows, open houses and yield receptions are absolutely essential in attracting and yielding the right students. At Kehillah, I intentionally engage our PAN in planning for these events. Although we have our own communications and marketing office, having more ideas is always better, and current parents just went through the admissions process and know what prospective families are looking for. Creating boards that highlight different aspects of our program like college admissions, Jewish life, or academic honors? That idea came from our PAN. Adding a photo booth for students to take pictures of themselves with current students at our yield reception? Yet another idea from our PAN! Our parent volunteers also showed up early to each of these events and helped with decor and other logistics. Their contributions helped make our open house and yield events shine.
Recruitment
Where a PAN can also help is with recruiting new families to your school. First, when parents are part of a PAN, they are more likely to make word of mouth referrals, which we all know are invaluable. Second, they can talk about the latest initiatives in the community. For example, Kehillah transitioned from AP to advanced topics courses this past year and our PAN was instrumental in explaining the shift to prospective families.
In addition, members of our PAN have agreed to host feeder school receptions in February for prospective students who attend the same middle schools as their children. At these receptions, current RamBassadors, our tour guides, interact with prospective students, and current parents engage with prospective parents. These receptions help keep Kehillah front-of-mind for prospective families and communicate one of our central value propositions: community.
Bottom Line
As some of the parents in our PAN are “graduating” this year, plans are in the works to “pass the baton” to the next set of parents committed to Kehillah’s mission and recruitment efforts. If you don’t already have a PAN at your school, you should consider it! Please reach out to me if you have any questions.
David Weiner
Director of Admissions & Enrollment Management
The Kehillah School