“W” — The Shape of a School Year
During our recent travels to conferences and your campuses, we’ve spoken with a number of school leaders. More than once, we’ve heard the school year described as the shape of a “W.”
It’s a simple visual, and once you picture it, it’s hard to forget. You start at a high, enter a low around November, climb to a peak around Christmas, dip to a low around February, and then climb to another peak at the end of the year. It perfectly captures the rhythm of a school year. There are sprints of activity and excitement, followed by stretches where energy dips and momentum slows.
For school leaders as well as marketing and communications teams, that rhythm matters.
Whether you are a school leader or a marketing director, understanding the “W” of the school calendar can help you plan more intentional communication, support enrollment efforts, and maintain engagement with your community throughout the year.
During my career in admission, similar to the “W,” we described the school year as a movie. When those cold, dark winter days arrived, we would talk to families and students about “watching the entire movie” before deciding how it might end. This metaphor reminded them that the school year has ebbs and flows, and like a movie, there are some slower scenes, but the ending (a beautiful spring on campus) is worth the wait! It was during the cold and dark days (often in the proverbial valleys of the “W”) when we knew we needed to be more present and really lean into our relationships with students and families. Sometimes that took the form of email or phone check-ins with parents to remind them of how much we appreciated them. Other days it was walking the hallways during a class change to give a fist bump or high five to students.
As an athletic director, I worked with our Head of School and Director of Student Engagement to plan home basketball games or other sporting events where the school community could be together and lift spirits. The intentionality behind our planning was an important part of the re-enrollment process and working to retain our current students. As we moved out of the winter and into the spring (a peak in the W!), we embraced the weather change and planned outdoor cookouts or other events around our home athletic games. Those events were reminders that being together made our community better. We were embracing and capitalizing on a peak of the “W.”
It’s important to remember that your marketing office can help soften the valleys of the “W” and it can capitalize on the peaks. If your messaging is intentional, the ebbs and flows of the school year can work to your advantage.
If you’re a school leader, how are you engaging with your Marcomms office and helping support their efforts to share the wins and excitement? Are the teaching faculty empowered to share exciting experiments or projects their students are doing in class? If you’re in the marketing department, are you kept in the loop about school events? Is the plan to highlight those events clear and complete?
As you look at the semester or year ahead, take time to intentionally plan your content around the shape of the school year. At the time of writing, it’s mid-March and it’s the sprint to the last peak of the “W.” Warm days and graduation lie ahead. Hang on!
