Ready, Set, Summer: Onboarding New Families + Re-engaging Returners
While your students are focused on camp, vacation, and popsicles, school leaders know that summer is not the time to go quiet. In fact, June-August are essential months and the perfect time to engage new families, reinforce your school’s value, and ensure returning families head into fall re-inspired and connected.
Here’s how your school can use the summer strategically—to build community, smooth transitions, and boost retention all year long.
Understand What Families Need
For new families especially, the transition to a new school can feel overwhelming. That’s why the best summer engagement strategies begin with empathy.
Ask yourself: What would I want to know if I were a new parent? What would help me feel calm, confident, and excited?
Families are looking for:
A sense of belonging. Warm welcomes and personal touchpoints matter
Predictability. Clear information about what to expect and when
Connection. Relationships with teachers, administrators, and other families help build trust early
Reinforce Your Value Proposition
Everyone from your Head of School to front desk administrator to division principals to your transportation coordinator should have clear talking points about what makes your school special and sets it apart from others. Bake your key messages into emails, welcome packets, and phone calls. Keep it consistent. The best messaging is repeated often and feels familiar.
Double down on internal marketing. Retention is a year-round effort and your school’s story is never static and should not collect dust.
Give Families the Tools They Need to Be Successful
An overwhelmed parent is a disengaged parent. A supported one can be your biggest champion.
Help families succeed by offering:
Digital resources like a calendar companion and/or onboarding landing page
Logistical support for lunch plans, bus routes, and carpool sign-ups
Community integration through welcome swag, PTO introductions, and playdates
Have a Plan for Touchpoints
Use summer as a sequence of strategic engagement moments:
Early Summer - send surveys to families finishing their first year, host low-key meet-ups (like popsicles on the playground) for new families with parent ambassadors.
Mid-Summer - invite new parents to coffee, remind families about form due dates, and share a “Who’s Who” staff overview
Late Summer - host official orientation events and welcome gatherings to build excitement before the first day
Prep Your Internal Team for a Smooth Start
On the backend, prepare staff and faculty with tools and insight that will help them hit the ground running.
Share transition documents with comprehensive student profiles
Loop in support services
Use summer staff meetings to communicate retention goals and flag families that might need extra support
Make Retention a Year-Round Priority
Lay the groundwork by:
Scheduling leadership check-in calls with all families for the first few weeks of school, if possible
Creating a retention tracker that includes ALL families
Planning for surveys that provide insight into parent decision-making
Identifying and activating influencers from feeder school directors to parent advocates and alumni
Summer is often seen as a “break,” but for independent schools focused on building lasting relationships and growing/sustaining enrollment, it’s prime time for intentional, people-first engagement. With thoughtful planning and the right tools, your school can turn a traditionally quiet season into a powerful launchpad for the year ahead.
