As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Before the hustle and bustle of the academic year truly gets underway, it's crucial to extend a warm welcome to new families joining your school. 

The stakes are even higher at the beginning of an academic year when families are eagerly seeking information and getting accustomed to a new environment. To put it simply, the start of the academic year is the moment you've been given to showcase your standards for how you communicate with parents.

It's an opportunity to offer guidance, extend support, and showcase your school's commitment to their child's educational journey right from the start.

No pressure, right?

Thankfully, an easy-to-navigate, visually appealing, and informative website can be one of your most impactful communications tools for your school. Here's how to bring it all together and use different elements of your website and messaging to ensure a warm welcome for new families:

How Can Schools Engage New Families?

Personalizing the Experience with a New Families Hub on Your School's Website

Personalized experiences show new families that they're more than just another name on your roster. A crucial aspect of welcoming new families is creating a dedicated space on your website specifically for them— a place that makes new families feel seen, heard, and valued. Think of this as an online orientation point—a “New Families” hub.

Here are some ways to make this hub informative and inviting:

• Easily Accessible: The New Families Hub should be easily accessible from your website's homepage. Consider adding it to your navigation to ensure it's clearly visible and easy to find, just like Hilton Head Christina Academic did with its New Family Guide.

• Welcome Message: A warm welcome message from the head of school, division head, or a parent ambassador behalf of the PA can set a positive tone for new families. This personal touch can make new families feel valued right from the start, just like Harbor Day School did.

• Consistent and Clear Messaging: Ensure that the messaging across your website is consistent and reflects your school's mission and values. It’s a moment to set the tone and reinforce your school’s voice with clear, concise, and jargon-free language to make it easier for new families.
   
• Orientation Information: Include a comprehensive orientation guide that details what new families can expect during their first few weeks or months. This could include information on school hours, dress code, meal plans, and any other school-specific traditions. Think about a calendar with important events just for new families!
   
• Frequently Asked Questions: A section devoted to FAQs can help address common concerns or questions new families may have. This can range from academic questions, like curriculum details, to more practical matters, such as school bus schedules or how to report an absence.
   
• Resources for New Families: This could include links to local community resources, school forms, and documents, parent education resources, or tips for supporting their child's transition to a new school.

Loomis Chaffee includes a ton of helpful links and resources for new families like boarding and day student information, important back-to-school information, and even main points of contact in the administration and parents association.

• Engaging News and Updates: Helpful and informative content goes a long way in giving parents a reason to regularly visit your website, but it also reassures them that they're part of a vibrant, active community. Blogs, newsletters, and Q&As providing insights into your school’s approach to education can be powerful tools for engagement (and an important retention tool!)

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart listed some great content on their New Family Resources page, including after-school options, important dates, and all their social media handles so families can starting following all the action.

Almaden Country Day School welcomes families with open arms — and many many resources to help them acclimate to their new school. Information about uniforms, drop-off and pick-up, extended care, and ways to join the parent community are all easily accessible and ready to help families ease into the new year.

A Great User Experience: Removing the Friction for New Families

The layout of your website plays a pivotal role in guiding your visitors through the wealth of information you have to share. A clean, user-friendly design can greatly enhance their user experience.

By dedicating a part of your website to new families, you're not only providing them with a wealth of information but also showing them that you understand their needs and concerns, which can go a long way in making them feel welcomed and appreciated.

• Contact Information: Ensure you provide clear and easy-to-find contact information for departments or faculty in the school. This encourages open communication and reassures families that help or answers are readily available.
   
• Make information easy to find: Families often visit your website looking for specific information, such as back-to-school procedures, curriculum details, or faculty information. A well-structured website with clear menus and sub-menus can guide them to the required information quickly.

Mobile-first design: With a large number of families using their smartphones on the go, ensuring your website is mobile-first can enhance the user experience, making navigation easier for parents.

Woods Academy had all their new family information in a neatly presented, mobile-friendly design with icons and expandable accordions, perfect for families needing to access the information when they’re away from their laptops.

Communication Tools to Improve New Family Engagement

Maintaining Timely and Regular Communications

With each new academic year, families come with higher and higher expectations. Your website plays a role in this, but so do your communications tools.

Regular updates on school activities, curriculum changes, parent-teacher conferences, and more can reassure new families that they're in the loop. Tools like push notifications to your mobile app and automated emails can help support this regular communication and engage families.

Kent Place School keeps new families connected with its new families newsletter, just one of the many resources posted on its hub for new members of its community.

Tailoring content to meet the specific needs of different divisions within your school and addressing parents' preferences is equally important. A mobile app can be a powerful tool because by sending personalized updates, content, and notifications directly to the devices parents prefer, you create that sense of a curated experience.

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy reminds new families to download their app to access the latest news and information. With the Finalsite Mobile App, families customize their calendars and content settings to view only news relevant to their students.

As families receive information that's relevant to their interests, whether it's a reminder about a parent-teacher conference, a highlight from a recent school event, or a look into classroom activities, they'll see a personalized glimpse into life at your school.

Key Takeaway

Consider the start of the academic year as a fresh canvas to create a supportive, and welcoming environment for new families. By crafting engaging content, offering personalized experiences, and maintaining timely communications, you can ensure that new families are welcomed with open arms and feel valued from day one.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connor has spent the last decade within the field of marketing and communications, working with independent schools and colleges throughout New England. As Finalsite’s Senior Content Marketing Manager, Connor plans and executes marketing strategies and digital content across the web. A former photojournalist, he has a passion for digital media, storytelling, coffee, and creating content that connects.