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Creating a school community is about relationship building. Ensuring it is truly diversified— culturally, economically, academically—takes strategic relationships. Social Media can help along the way to engage globally, drive enrollment, collaborate with local recruiters and advocate to enrich your school. Your time as a leader of your school will help anchor your families and students to your community. We teach our students the importance of peer learning, trust, and collaboration. We must ensure that as administrators, school directors, parents, and teachers, we are leading by example how we take strides to position our school within our community at large.
This is the story of how we are building our relationships.
The Montessori School of Charlottetown is located on the East Coast of Canada, nestled on the beautiful beaches and red cliffs of Prince Edward Island. We only established ourselves in the 2016-2017 school year, with a one-year preparation and development time frame beforehand. Our approach to financial planning and health was uniquely different: We successfully secured the capital, real estate, and operational funding for a five-year growth plan from one key investor. This strategy has caught the attention of the international Montessori networks and our local business community both in education and childcare.
Securing this financial strength to launch was just the beginning of our relationship building.
As the first and only Montessori education option past Casa within our entire province, we have been very conscientious that our school—both physical site and staff—are often a family’s first impression of Montessori. The weight of this responsibility is not lost on our team. All of our public communications and social media platforms demonstrate how the entire community has the opportunity to benefit from our existence, that we are contributing across sectors, not just educational ones. We offer ties to the community. We create jobs. We give business to local suppliers. We help aerospace, medical, government and academic sectors recruit talent because we can serve the children of that talent. By placing ourselves in this way in the wider community dialogue, we create a shared sense of our existence, and a desire for more people to want us to succeed.
We made sure our doors are as open and welcoming as possible. Our programming is available to public school students on PD days as day registrations, as are our after-school, extra-curricular, and summer programs, adding diversification to our revenue streams and diversity to our student population. Our community room has been utilized by not-for-profit boards of directors for strategic planning weekends, newcomers for language tutoring, musical rehearsals, and additional children’s programmers. Our sound-proof studio is the new home for music instructors’ private lessons. His Honour, the Lieutenant Governor, Frank Lewis, recognized our impact during his greetings at our Official Dedication ceremony this past spring.
We believe we are contributing every effort possible to growing our mighty Island community, serving existing and new family clients: from participating in international school networks, promoting all things PEI from meeting and convention opportunities, to tourism, to settlement. Our school puts our own resources into being present internationally for shared learning. Our students participate in national projects bringing attention to PEI. When Islanders who have worked away, internationally and/or across Canada want to come home to raise their children in the safe, beautiful, family-focused culture we celebrate, they are used to living in areas where robust choices of Montessori education are available. We, therefore, have to ensure we are offering the best possible facility, staff, and experiences.
Once all the wheels are turning, how then were we going to share our story? To demonstrate our position? Through time and commitment to forge relationship one by one, in person. Our team is present at business sector networking events, mixers, socials, coffee shop meetings, presentations, golf tournaments, workshops, and so forth. It is yes, grassroots, word of mouth that works. Allowing people to ask their questions in a safe environment is paramount to building trust. All of this before they set foot in our school or before they see a classroom. Which is why we have found taking our teachers to such events is crucial to success—taking staff to locations where we know we already have an audience curious to ask and eager to listen.
Our efforts are noticed. This fall, we will be attending a 500+ person gala for The Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce as Finalists in the President’s Awards of Excellence. We have been nominated in the category of “Emerging Business.” This recognition within our business sector helps to solidify our legitimacy and contributions.
We found our champions in the community.
The federal Ministry of Indigenous and Northern Affairs has approved our school to receive transfer payment of Aboriginal children living on reserve. As a result, three families commute together to give their children access to our school. Health PEI now has our school as a scheduled element of their community tours when recruiting medical professionals from abroad and across Canada. The PEI Business Women’s Association utilized our community room to host a monthly mixer, filling the school with first-time visitors. The PEI Newcomers Association staff attend our celebrations, knowing that, in 2016-2017, we enrolled students who have returned from the Yukon, British Colombia, and Ontario with International registrations, including representation from India, Turkey, Japan, and Vietnam. This fall, we welcome a family from the USA and two more from Ontario.
Social media is the amplifier to telling your stories. We have found success in selecting platforms and using each to their best advantage. Facebook™ allows us to post open-house events and pop up Information sessions. Paid advertising generates an enrollment inquiry for every $20 spent. Twitter™, as the quick and instant communication tool, is outreach—starting a dialogue with local and federal politicians, like-minded businesses, demonstrating our presence at community events, and reaching out to fellow Montessorians! Through both, we offer our families an added window into their children’s day by posting field trip reports and photos of beautiful work.
Humour also has its place! We have found that an Instagram™ account for one of our class pets, Mr. Green the hedgehog, allows us a freedom the other platforms do not. With Mr. Green, we can engage in a lighter, more comical voice, taking some of the wind out of the sails of presumptions of a being a ‘private’ school. Stunningly, the hedgehog even created some return on investment, by catching the attention of the local CBC station to provide web, television, and social media coverage of his existence at our school!
All focus comes back to our core students and Montessori families. They are our most important relationships. Our communications with our families are paramount to our school success—from expected monthly e-newsletters, and field trip updates, to the above and beyond individual texts, calls, and accommodations for the needs of the child. From logo bumper stickers to custom local t-shirts, we give our families a brand alignment to the lifestyle choice of what Montessori offers. Through our social media platforms, we provide our families the content to celebrate, connect, and share in the experiences of their children with resounding pride of being a
Montessori family.
Relationship building can build your school. We have found it is the key to ours.
About Wraychel Horne The school’s development is under the management of Wraychel Horne who has launched and overseen opportunities for 16,000 children and youth over a 17-year career. Wraychel is part of a three-generation commitment to Montessori educational approaches.
Wraychel holds a Masters of Arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and certification in Whole-School Management from the North American Montessori Teacher’s Association. She has overseen local, provincial, federal and international programs. Wraychel was selected to pilot youth programs and train colleagues in best practices for both the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities while working in executive and consulting roles across Ontario.
She led the first paid co-operative program for youth outside of the Armed Services in Canada, and further expanded the program to run in its second year on Reserve for Aboriginal youth. Wraychel has previously partnered with a sister educational organization in Jamaica where she lobbied in person to double funding from federal ministers and senators for their 70,000 members and shared and learned best practices of programming, marketing, and instructor retention. Wraychel liaised with the High Commissioner of Canada to ensure colleagues and youth were able to enter Canada for exchanges without delay.
Wraychel is thrilled to be offering a Montessori education opportunity for Prince Edward Island where her family has five generations of history. She lives with her husband John, daughter June and two Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. Connect directly at wraychel@montessoripei.com or @WraychelH on Twitter.
Follow the school’s adventures and stories: @MontessoriPEI | www.facebook.com/montessoripei | Check out what’s happening in our Upper Elementary class with Mr. Green the Hedgehog @mr.green_montessori_hedgehog
