St. James Episcopal Day School

“After hearing Rick Newberry speak at an enrollment and marketing event, I decided to hire him,” said Lauren T. Ray, the Head of School at St. James Episcopal Day School. “I knew we had a lot of room for growth … and his strategies just made sense.”

Before Rick Newberry with Enrollment Catalyst stepped onto the scene, the school’s admissions office lacked structure and there wasn’t a strong focus on analyzing crucial admission funnel data.

“We needed an admissions plan desperately,” Ray said.

Rick Newberry was instrumental in helping the school create an effective enrollment plan through the institution of the following strategies:

• Focus groups with current students, parents, faculty/staff, and board members
• Admissions data analysis
• Word-of-mouth, peer-to-peer marketing
• Creation of a new Pre-K3 program

“The idea for opening up a Pre-K3 section came about from Rick Newberry’s suggestion to hold focus groups,” Ray said. “It was so wildly popular that the 2016-17 section filled up in two weeks, and we plan to open a second section in 2017-18.”

You want a word of advice? “I’d hire Rick Newberry before your competition does,” Ray said.

Lauren T. Ray, Head of School