The big holiday month has arrived! December tends to be a little quieter around here due to winter break, but here are a few dates parents should mark on the calendar:
Dec. 4 – BCS Board of Trustees Meeting – 5:30 p.m. at the school. All are welcome to attend.
Dec. 22 – Spirit Day! Wear your ugly sweater, holiday-themed or not.
Dec. 25 through Jan. 1 – Winter break. We return to school on Jan. 2, 2018.
We hope you have a joyful holiday!
October 5 – BCS Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Members Present
Henry A. Lambert, Chair
Tony Betaudier
Diana J Lee
Mark David
Joanne Hunt (ex-officio non-voting)
Others Present
Pam Sanders
Robert Morales
The meeting was held on October 5th at the Brooklyn Charter School. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. The minutes of the meeting held on June 20, 2017 were approved.
Enrollment
The school requires 240 students to run efficiently but currently only has 200 students enrolled for this school year. There has been significant growth of schools, particularly charter schools, in the neighborhood, creating a saturation and this has affected our enrollment. There are currently 19 students enrolled in the kindergarten class.
The key to increasing the number of students enrolled is marketing. The school has many attributes and compares favorably with others in the neighborhood but it is important to convey this message to the families. It is important for us to have families come to visit the school to have a sense of how it is run; what it offers; and to meet the families of current students. One of the specific marketing strategies that the school is looking into is providing an afterschool program. The school will be reaching out to programs and researching whether afterschool activities actually aid in increasing student enrollment.
There is a positive atmosphere at the school and the parents are complimenting us on this.
The new website will play an important role in marketing the school. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Ad words will help drive people to our website. As part of any of these marketing campaigns, it will be critical to push the programs that we offer. In January, we will potentially be receiving a $30,000 grant for Afterschool Programs.
Joanne will present a proposal for how to market the school, and to tie this in with the budget.