Young mom with her daugher at psychologist consultation
What I found over the years is that most people will tell you what you want to hear. To find those families that were the best fit for my school, I took a tip from Elvis Presley. Elvis’ business manager, Colonel Tom Parker, required every venue that asked Elvis to perform to deliver a matchbook from their business to him at an appointed day and time. If the matchbook was delivered correctly, the Colonel booked Elvis with them. If not, well… Elvis never played there. What the Colonel knew is that talk is cheap. Being able to follow through is what you want from someone you are doing business with.
Here is my version of having the matchbook delivered:
Before an enrollment application would be considered, both parents (even if they were divorced) had to come and visit the school and do a tour. Usually, in February/March, we had a Saturday or Sunday open house where we could accommodate many families at once. These open houses would be adults only. I’d give a 30-minute talk about our school and Montessori and then answer questions from the parents. There was also time for them to explore the classroom, and I had a few activities set out for them to do with instruction cards, such as a Binomial Cube; the Moveable Alphabet; the Sandpaper Letters; the South America Puzzle Map; and the Multiplication Board. I’d also do the same in the elementary classroom.
During this talk, I stressed that ours was a nine-year program for three to twelve-year-olds.
After that meeting, their enrollment application would be reviewed. They would be invited to an interview (with the parents and the child). Again, both parents were required to attend. We usually did this on a Saturday and allocated 30 minutes for each family. The classroom teacher took the child into the classroom and did a preliminary evaluation of how the child reacted to the environment. I visited with the parents in the observation room while we watched. This all took about 15 to 20 minutes. We normally could do eight interviews on a Saturday morning.
After their application was accepted, there was another meeting before school started. Again, both parents were
required to attend.
Families entering in the fall were invited (grandparents and siblings, too) to our school picnic in May. After school started, there was a 90-day probationary period with another parent meeting required. During that period, the school could ask the family to leave if the fit wasn’t good, and the family could leave if the school was not the right place for them. After 90 days, the contract was fully enforced. With this process, we usually had families that were a very good fit for our school.
Montessori Leadership / 2014 / p 13
