Plan Smarter, Not Harder: Your Year in K-12 Admissions and Enrollment

In K-12 education, timing is everything. Whether it’s rolling out applications, re-enrolling families, or launching financial aid plans, each month brings key opportunities to attract and retain students. If your admissions team is constantly reacting instead of planning, it’s time to rethink your strategy.

FACTS recently hosted a webinar that laid out a step-by-step enrollment game plan designed to help schools not only survive the admissions season but thrive all year long. The core message? When you schedule your priorities, you don’t just stay organized, you get ahead.

A well-structured admissions calendar helps schools stay proactive and strategic. Here’s a month-by-month breakdown:

• October–November: Focus on early application advantage. You don’t have to make decisions at this point, but you can give prospective families an incentive to apply early by offering priority consideration for early applicants. Engage sibling families, launch shadow days, and reconnect with prospective families.
• December: Open rolling applications and ramp up recruitment efforts. The holiday season is a great time to show off your school community and invite prospects to experience your special traditions and culture.
• January: When families return after winter break, ensure tuition information is available for next year’s decisions. Collaborate with stakeholders to publish tuition rates, open grant and aid applications, and start re-enrollment campaigns. Early re-enrollment commitments help you understand your needs.
• February: Launch new student enrollment. Even if your school struggles with strong enrollment, it’s still best practice to publicize enrollment dates and encourage people to apply as early as possible.
• March/April: Continue rolling admissions if seats are available. This can, and often does, even go into the summer.
• May/June: Awarding financial aid may also bleed into the summer, but as we’ve mentioned, the earlier the better! This gives you more time to process and prioritize families.
• July: Although dates may vary, most schools activate the payment plans chosen by families this month.

With your admissions calendar in place, the next step is aligning your outreach to match its rhythm for maximum impact.

To make the most of each phase, align your outreach with the admissions calendar. If you follow the suggested schedule above, with new student enrollment beginning in February, your primary recruiting window will occur in September through January. This is when you should intensify your marketing efforts by increasing social media campaigns, hosting open houses, and reaching out directly to prospective families.

While recruiting looks different for every school, here are some things you can do during this crucial period:

• Flood social media with images of joyful families and students, as well as student success stories.
• Notify current parents about priority consideration for sibling applications.
• Invite feeder schools for special tours and open houses.
• Incentivize prospects to apply by a certain date for priority consideration.
• Invite prospects to holiday events to show off your school’s culture and community.
• Host a financial aid Q&A.

No matter what recruitment techniques you employ, consistency and timing are key to keeping your school top of mind. It’s also important to not forget your re-enrollment efforts, which should be happening in the same window.

With FACTS’ integrated admissions and enrollment tool, your school can track every step of the process, engage families more effectively, and simplify workflows from August to July. It’s not just about staying organized—it’s about staying ahead.

Ready to streamline your admissions process? Learn more about our admissions tool today!