F.W. Parker Charter Essential School

Minutes

Enrollment Committee

Date and Time

Wednesday February 14, 2024 at 9:00 AM

Location

In-person at Parker School or Remote

Committee Members Present

B. Harrigan (remote), H. Pierpont (remote), M. Beganski (remote), P. Gordon (remote)

Committee Members Absent

J. Appleton, N. Odekirk Hatlevig

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

P. Gordon called a meeting of the Enrollment Committee of F.W. Parker Charter Essential School to order on Wednesday Feb 14, 2024 at 9:02 AM.

C.

Approve Minutes

H. Pierpont made a motion to approve the minutes from Enrollment Committee on 01-08-24.
B. Harrigan seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Enrollment

A.

Review Current Application Numbers

Currently 366 students enrolled. Number locks at 366 on 2/15 for rest of the school year. Expect average number of enrolled students for year to be 368 or 369. We budgeted for 390. Will blance the budget by not contributing to technology and facilities reserves. Don't expect need to dip into reserves except for board approved spending for marketing. Should break even for year.

Six students enrolled in January for 11 total between October and December lotteries. Not all midyear students from last year stayed.

Currently have 192 applications for next year and expect to end with around 220. Would like more 7th grade applications.

Basketball clinic at BGCFL on 2/27 with 60 students attending. Will have tabling and are are giving away branded tshirts to attendees.

Have seen drop in 7th grade applications over time. Wonder if the urgency to get in for 7th grade has decreased as chances of getting in for 8th and 9th have increased. When people learn about us they have a positive impression.

B.

Update from Enrollment Liaison

Hannah has sent 392 emails in past 3 weeks with 32 replies and has fielded multiple calls from parents with questions. Of replies, about half expressed positive interest.

Discussed need to clean up prospect list and changes to future data capture.

Most comments from prospect parents were about arts and music.

C.

Prepare for Ambassadors Meeting

Consider adding an info session after the lottery instead of informal Q&A during shadow days. Potential accepted students day on March 20th for all offers and low waitlist numbers. Need to determine programming and would like to have parent ambassadors help. Potentially include a brief Parker 101.

Ask ambassadors to look for opportunities to hand out postcards.

Discussed event at Harvard General Store on 2/27 hosted by Pam and Stacie.

III. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 10:05 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,
M. Beganski
Documents used during the meeting
None