The following guidance is intended to inform planning for the disruption of the Admissions recruitment and enrollment process as a result of COVID-19. Schools are encouraged to modify the guidance provided from the national office as necessary to ensure that it is appropriate and relevant to their current needs. Schools across the country are experiencing the effects of COVID-19 differently, some cities have sheltered in place while other cities continue to operate normally. Nevertheless, all 37 Cristo Rey Network schools remain closed, but the Admissions process must continue. The financial viability of the schools is directly correlated to enrollment numbers. Admissions teams must leverage internal resources, creativity and best practices to respond to this unexpected challenge to student recruitment.

Student Recruitment & Resources

Website

It is critical that schools maintain their websites updated with pertinent admissions information, including a published calendar of the recruitment cycle. Students and families are now more likely to check the website often. Updated information will avoid further confusion.

• In consideration for how vulnerable the recruitment process has become, we recommend that schools centralize an Admissions banner on the landing homepage that easily redirects students and families to the Admissions section where students can find applications, timelines, etc. Please see Cristo Rey Philadelphia and Cristo Rey Richmond’s websites for examples.

• Another website feature to leverage is the pop-up window that reminds viewers that applications are still open, please see Cristo Rey Jesuit for an example.

• Add a Frequently Asked Questions section to the Admissions section.

• If you have “student experience” or relevant videos, embed them into the Admissions section.

• These examples demonstrate how schools should be intentional in leveraging their websites for a transparent, accessible and seamless process to applicants.

Recruitment Adaptation and flexibility

Schools should develop recruitment strategies that expedite the process and removes bureaucracy, if they haven’t already. Schools should continue to set deadlines to provide applicants with structure but flexibility with recommendation letters (consider phone “reference checks” instead), interviews, testing, and other relevant parts of the process is encouraged. Schools should use their discretion and judge on a case-by-case basis what is appropriate for an applicant.

Marketing

The following are additional marketing efforts utilized by Cristo Rey schools in light of COVID-19.

• Radio

• Robocalls

• Newspapers

Presentations

Because of social distancing protocol, Admissions teams should cancel in-person information sessions, if they haven’t already. Virtual information presentations are highly encouraged and offer students and families another opportunity to engage with the school and have their questions answered. Bi-monthly virtual presentations, at a minimum, is an effective target; weekly presentations are recommended. It has been great to see on Workplace that many schools already moved to this format. Below are some useful tools and practices as you continue engaging virtually.

• Zoom is the best tool for virtual group presentations – it allows presenters to interact with the group. Zoom is also temporarily free for schools.

• Ensure 3 staff are present during your virtual presentation to troubleshoot: the presenter, someone to monitor group chat, and someone to monitor technology issues.

• Schools should create and publish the calendar of virtual presentations on their websites and social media, with corresponding sign-up links. Offer a variety of times and days to families to be respectful of their schedules (afternoons, evenings, weekends, etc.). (A fun presentation could be a virtual tour of the school. Also, consider a presentation specific to admitted students and families.)

• Offer the virtual presentations in other languages.

• We recommend creating an Eventbrite for every virtual information presentation in order for students and families to get reminders about the specific date they are interested in. Create a specific Zoom link for each Eventbrite and be sure to embed the Zoom link in the Eventbrite. Click here for more information about how to create an effective Eventbrite for virtual presentations.

• Once the virtual information session calendar and Eventbrite registration links are created, Staff should reach out to current applicants, feeder schools, middle school counselors, high school partners and other relevant groups with invitations.

• Record the presentations and post them on your website and social media accounts afterward.

• Send email and text reminders to students and families in advance for your presentations. You can utilize Google Voice for texts.

• Please see the tools section below for more information on Zoom and Google Voice.

Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are excellent networks to employ. Social media can be a very useful tool for marketing to students, specifically Gen Z, as they are actively engaged on social networks. Potential students are more active on Instagram, while parents are more active on Facebook. Improved student and family engagement via social media can help keep them aware of the full range of resources students and families have access to, provide timing information, and offer another creative avenue to provide information. Click here and here for two great recent examples from our schools that are personalized.

Some best practices

• Share unique photos and videos that capture important information (e.g. application deadlines). It is hard to stress this point enough, with videos and photos driving significantly more engagement on social media than text and links alone. For videos, have someone from your team speak directly to potential families and students. These work well when promoting something specific, such as a virtual info. session.

• Share everywhere. Post to every social media account your school utilizes.

• Utilize *pinned posts* to highlight important information (E.g. the updated recruitment calendar with virtual presentations).

• “Like” every Cristo Rey school’s Facebook account to get inspired by their posts.

• Create Facebook events for virtual events and presentations.

• Target your content as much as possible through Facebook advertising to ensure your message is getting in front of the right audience. This can be helpful for application awareness.