Prepare for Summer Activities Every Year
Before the summer hits, it's important to schedule plenty of school-related activities. You want your students to know in advance all the fun they'll miss if they are not around. Post your summer schedule in a prominent area of the school where you can refer to it during class announcements. Include the schedule in your newsletters and hand it out to students and parents as well.
Also, be sure to schedule events that students can easily bring friends and family to. Popular choices include picnics, bowling or golfing parties, movie nights, lock-ins, buddy days, pizza parties, special training sessions, and laser tag nights.
Vacation Logs
Create a vacation log and announce in your newsletter and in classes that students going on vacation need to sign it. Your vacation log should have spaces for the student's name, phone number, departure date, return date, and the location they are visiting. Leave some business cards next to the log and invite students to mail vacation postcards to the school. Let the students know that the postcards will go up on a bulletin board so their classmates can read about their trip. This will help students think about the studio while they are away.
Using the information obtained in the vacation log, call the students a day or two before they return to town. Leave a message on their answering machine welcoming them back and offering extra classes or make-up lessons to help them feel comfortable about their return to the school. If the student doesn’t have an answering machine, send them a “We Miss You” postcard, and even consider having some of their classmates sign the card.
Early Make-Up Classes
Most studios offer make-up lessons for students who missed classes while on vacation. However, consider adding a “new twist” by giving your students the chance to make-up classes before they leave town. Students who will miss several weeks will appreciate being able to make up classes even before they’ve left for vacation. They’ll find this especially helpful if they are required to attend a certain number of classes before they can test for their next stripe or belt. But best of all, they will be more likely to pay their tuition over the summer even though they may have missed some classes.
Test Make-Up Policy
Another tip that helps retain students during the summer is to offer make-up belt or stripe exams. Students can take this exam either before or after their vacation as long as they have the required number of classes and are ready to test.
This policy works especially well for “A” rated students since they are typically ready to test first.
Add Flexibility to Your Schedule
To increase your summer retention, create a summertime schedule. By offering morning classes to children and adults, you allow the students to take classes during the day while still having plenty of daylight hours left to spend with their friends and family.
Also, if students can’t make their assigned classes, let them come to another class they can attend. A student attending a class of a lower rank, for example, is better than a student not attending class at all.
Conclusion
Preventing summer dropouts before they happen is much easier than trying to get someone back in school after they’ve missed several months of training. Implementing these retention techniques is well worth the effort.
As students come to you with reasons why they need to stop for the summer, take the time to listen and find a solution that will keep the student somewhat active and on the road to black belt.