Small school teams have a way of making big things happen with very few hands. One person might be writing the weekly newsletter before lunch, taking event photos by 2 p.m., updating the homepage before pickup, and building an admissions flyer before the day ends.

That’s becoming the norm more and more often. According to NAIS research, 30% of schools have just one person in charge of marketing. For small schools, that often means one person is carrying the work of an entire team: website updates, email campaigns, social posts, admissions ads, design, and every “quick favor” in between.

That leaves many school leaders facing the same question from different angles: I need to help my team, but what comes first?

• Do we focus on upgrading the website?
• Do we clean up family communications?
• Do we fix the admissions and enrollment process so fewer things fall through the cracks?

All of those questions are on point, but they're not the first question to ask. The first question is: What's putting the most pressure on your school right now?

Maybe your website is hard to update, or maybe families are missing important messages. Maybe admissions work is spread across too many spreadsheets and emails.

Once you know where the pressure is coming from, it becomes easier to choose the right next step, roll it out at the right pace, and give your team the support they need.

Software for Schools: Which Project Comes First When You’re Wearing Every Hat?

Many small-school leaders get stuck when everything feels important at once. It's easy to treat every project as equally urgent, so set the right priority:

• If your website doesn’t reflect your school well, buries important pages, or creates extra work for your office, the website may be THE project that unlocks progress everywhere else.
   
• If families are missing updates, or staff are sending the same information through email, PDFs, and last-minute reminders, communications likely need your attention first.
   
• If your inquiry numbers are low and open house season is around the corner, your first move should focus on the admissions experience, forms, and follow-up.

A better approach is to evaluate each project:

• Is it time-sensitive?
• Does it affect enrollment or retention?
• Does it create repeated manual work?
• Does it touch families, staff, and leadership at the same time?
• Can we do it well this season?

The wrong project at the wrong time will only add stress to teams. However, a smaller project that removes a daily pain point can create momentum, save time, and make the next step even easier.

Start with the website if:

• Your site doesn't represent your school well
• Key pages are hard to find
• The mobile experience is weak
• Admissions pages are outdated
• Your team is answering the same questions all the time

If your admission steps are buried or your team keeps answering the same questions by email and phone, a website becomes both a branding issue and an efficiency issue.

Innova Prep, a small but innovative school in Missouri, started by choosing a stronger content management system that elevated its image and gave it a stronger foundation for every campaign that followed.

Start with communications tools for your school if:

• Families are always missing updates
• Messages live in too many places
• Staff are duplicating efforts
• Internal and external messaging feel disconnected

If messages aren't bringing your community together, updating your communications tools should move to the top of your priority list. Families shouldn’t miss updates, and staff shouldn’t have to repeat the same information in different places.

The best content and most important communications fall flat when they don’t reach people in the right place, at the right time, or in a format they can easily follow.

Start with enrollment software if:

• Inquiries aren't nurtured consistently
• Scheduling a visit to campus is clunky
• Applications and contracts create manual work
• Reporting is hard to pull together

If there’s initial interest from families, but they don't stay engaged, new enrollment software for your school is likely the right first project. If tours are difficult to schedule, contracts are delayed, or reporting is hard to pull for leadership, the process is slowing your school down.

For Queen Margaret’s School and its some 525 students, the goal was to remove the most friction first, then build from there.

Another option: Let the school calendar shape the priority

Timing matters so much. The right priority in October may not be the best project in June.

If you’re short-staffed and in the middle of recruiting season, you probably don’t have the bandwidth to tackle a full website redesign. In that season, the best move is usually the one that helps families move from interest to action: rethinking inquiry forms, refreshing visit pages, improving calls to action, and setting up for success.

The priority may shift if you’re heading into re-enrollment season. At that point, awareness matters less than the reminders, contracts, parent-facing information, and communication flow families need. A parent portal or stronger communications system may do more for your school than a homepage refresh.

That can be a big relief when families are busy, and timelines are tight.

Summer, or slower times of the year, is often when the website project rises to the top of the priority list. That’s when many schools have the best opportunity to rethink navigation, clean up outdated content, improve the mobile experience, and prepare for a stronger back-to-school season.

Looking at it through a seasonal lens can help:

• Fall: tighten admissions messaging, forms, tours, and essential family updates
• Winter: support inquiry nurture, applicant follow-up, and re-enrollment communication
• Spring: reinforce value, streamline contracts, and support retention
• Summer: tackle larger projects, structure, training, and cleanup work

Those changes may not solve everything, but they can create breathing room and make the next phase easier. The goal is not to do everything now, but choose the next move that gives your school the most momentum.

What the right software should do when your team is small

When your team is small, your school’s software solution should do two things well:

• Reduce repeated work 
• Make it easier for people to keep moving

The best software is not the one with the longest feature list, but the one your team can use quickly, consistently, and well.

Website tools should make updates easy

If the person updating the homepage is also managing admissions events, parent emails, and board reports, ease of use matters. If your team can’t make updates quickly, the problem becomes a larger, strategic challenge.

Communications should centralize information and cut down on repeated questions

For school-to-home communication, every form, calendar, update, or resource you can organize in one place is one less email thread, one less attachment, and one less moment of confusion. A parent portal or communications hub can reduce that noise without forcing your public website to carry everything.

Enrollment software should support the process without losing the personal touch

For admissions and enrollment, the right software should help your team and families, but not replace personal connections. It’s designed to preserve your time and energy for the moments that matter most.

And then there’s support...When you evaluate software, ask:

• Can someone on my team update this quickly?
• Does this reduce repeat tasks?
• Does it help families move forward with less confusion?
• Can it grow with us without forcing a full reset next year?
• Will we have help when we hit a staffing crunch?

The software may still look impressive in a demo, but it won't do much for you on a Wednesday afternoon when five things need your attention at once.

Key Takeaway

When you lead a small school, the best next move is the one that has the most impact without overloading your team. The right software helps, but the right sequence and a seamless integration matter just as much. Match your priorities to the season, focus on the issues slowing your school down, and get support that fits your capacity. Soon, your big goals will start to feel much more manageable.

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. At Finalsite, 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.