Advancement · School Operations

Next year’s enrollment,
before contracts go out.

A reenrollment survey is useful only if someone acts on the undecided answers while families are still deciding. Record each family’s answer, reason and rating as it comes in. The survey totals students expected back and at risk, and flags the calls to make this week.

$12one-time · every device you sign in on

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the School operations toolkit, $49 for 52 items.

Family answers

The worked example is made up: a family of two returning without a deposit, an undecided eighth-grade family worried about cost and a family of three moving away. Family codes, not names. Saved on this device only.

Loading the family form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Advancement · School Operations$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per family answer: family code, children, grades, date, intent, main reason, deposit, a 1 to 5 rating, their words and four follow-up checks. Works out students expected back as a percentage, students at risk, the count at each intent and the average rating; flags undecided families with no call, cost reasons with no aid information, returning families with no deposit, low ratings from returning families and leaving reasons the school can affect.
Who it is for
Heads of school, admissions and enrollment staff and business managers at schools that reenroll families each year.
Format
Browser survey log with a saved record per family. Prints one answer, every answer in a table or a blank survey card; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the School operations toolkit ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The School Operations space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Send the survey before contracts and deposits go out.
  2. Enter each answer as it arrives.
  3. Make the calls the flags list, undecided families first.
  4. Share the expected-back figure with the business office.
  5. Read the leaving reasons with the leadership team.

Add a family’s answer

Reading the answers

What to do with each answerAnswerNext stepCount asReturningConfirm the deposit dateExpected backLikelyAsk what would make it certainExpected backUndecidedA call from someone they knowAt riskLeavingAsk why; part on good termsAt riskWhat to do with each answerReturningNext step: Confirm the deposit dateCount as: Expected backLikelyNext step: Ask what would make it certainCount as: Expected backUndecidedNext step: A call from someone they knowCount as: At riskLeavingNext step: Ask why; part on good termsCount as: At risk
The survey is a starting point. Families who answer undecided usually decide in the weeks after it.

Count students, not families

Budgets and class lists run on students. A family of three leaving moves the numbers three times as much as a family of one, so the side panel counts children. The worked example’s 33 percent is two of six students.

Reasons you can act on

Moving away is nobody’s fault. Cost, academics, program fit and transport are reasons a school can sometimes change, and they are the ones worth bringing to the leadership team and the board.

Sources

  1. National Association of Independent Schools. Enrollment management and retention benchmarks (nais.org).
  2. Enrollment Management Association. Research on family satisfaction and retention (enrollment.org).
  3. National Center for Education Statistics. Private School Universe Survey (nces.ed.gov).
  4. National Business Officers Association. Tuition, financial aid and retention planning (nboa.net).

The worked example is made up. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.