How Smart Schools Use Summer to Deepen Connection and Boost Engagement

By Tim Seldin
President, The Montessori Foundation

Summer may feel like the quiet season in schools—but in truth, it’s a golden opportunity. A chance to build relationships, deepen family engagement, and get ahead on the work that ensures a strong start to the new school year.

At a recent Montessori Foundation and AIMS (Admissions Inquiry Marketing Software) webinar, we had a lively and insightful conversation about what schools can do now—before families drift into vacation mode—to keep the spark alive. Here’s what we learned from each other and from years of real-life experience in school leadership.

Summer Is a Season of Opportunity

Let’s start by acknowledging a simple truth: during the summer, many families disengage. They mean well. But life happens—travel, camps, work, fatigue. We become a vague memory until a back-to-school email jolts everyone back to reality.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

In fact, summer is a critical window to:

• Reinforce your school’s place in the heart of the family

• Build anticipation and belonging for new families

• Strengthen bonds with returning families

• Head off potential attrition before it happens

The key is intentional, consistent outreach.

Three Audiences, Three Needs

As we discussed in the session, your community isn’t one-size-fits-all. Most schools have three key audiences to think about:

1. New Families – They’ve just joined your community. This is your chance to build excitement, answer questions, and offer a warm welcome. The goal: help them feel like they already belong before the school year begins.

2. Returning Families – These families may seem secure, but summer is often when people reconsider decisions. Life changes—moves, divorces, job shifts—can lead to surprise withdrawals. Keep them engaged so that leaving feels hard.

3. Waitlisted or Prospective Families – Don’t forget them. The more they hear from you, the more likely they’ll stay excited and committed if a space opens up.

What Works? Practical Strategies from the Field

Here are a few of the top strategies we discussed that schools can use to engage families all summer long:

1. Email Campaigns That Build Trust

Create a simple series of emails to:

• Welcome new families and introduce key staff

• Share summer fun ideas and Montessori-friendly home activities

• Offer quick “Did You Know?” insights about your program

• Answer FAQs before they’re asked

• Promote social media accounts (many families still don’t follow!)

Consistency matters more than volume. Even one message every two weeks can be powerful.

2. Family Outreach: Ask and Listen

Send a thoughtful message asking:

• What are your summer plans?

• Anything going on we should know?

• What are your hopes for the coming school year?

You’ll learn so much—and your teachers will love starting the year already knowing what matters to each child.

3. Parent and Student Ambassador Outreach

Activate your room parents or PTA members to welcome incoming families. A quick phone call or coffee invitation can make a world of difference. Consider pairing students too, especially in upper grades.

4. Create a Summer Video Montage

Record short “welcome back” clips from teachers, students, and staff. Compile them into a joyful, authentic video and send it out in August. It’s a low-cost, high-impact way to rekindle excitement.

5. Summer Socials and Ice Cream Events

If families are in town, invite them in:

• Ice cream socials

• “Meet the Teacher” picnics

• Pool parties or open playground days

These informal gatherings spark friendships and belonging early on.

6. Reframe Tuition Reminders with Heart

No one loves bills—but they don’t have to be cold. Consider a friendly message with your invoice:

“Think of this not as a payment, but as an investment in the joyful journey your child is on. We’re honored to walk this path with your family.”

It’s a small touch that reminds people why they’re here.

7. Support for Overloaded School Leaders

Let’s be real—many of us are juggling admissions, finances, summer camp, and gala prep all at once. Lean on tools like AIMS or Montessori Compass to streamline communication and automate reminders where you can. And when in doubt, send a short note that simply says: We’re thinking of you. We care.

Final Thoughts

We don’t stop being a community in June. If anything, these quieter months are the time to double down on connection. Show families that they matter, that their presence is missed, and that they are part of something special.

When you do, you’ll find fewer surprises in August—and more smiles on the first day of school.

Let’s not disappear in the summer haze. Let’s lead with presence, warmth, and intention.

Every Montessori school is a living, breathing work of art.

Unlike businesses that exist solely to deliver a product or generate profit, schools—especially Montessori schools—are something more organic, more soulful. They are shaped not just by strategy or budgets, but by the hearts and hands of the people who govern, lead, and teach within them. In this light, school leaders, teachers, and even parents become artists—co-creating something deeply human and beautiful: a community that nurtures children and helps them grow into their fullest selves.

This is why so many Montessori educators feel such a powerful, often lifelong bond with the schools they help shape. The connection goes far beyond employment. We don’t just work at a school—we *give ourselves* to it. We invest not only our time and energy, but our hopes, our creativity, and our love.

Montessorians know this: education is not assembly-line work. Each school, like each child, is a unique creation. The way we prepare the environment, interact with families, guide children, and design learning spaces is all a form of artistic expression—not in the sense of decoration or aesthetics alone, but in the deeper sense of crafting something meaningful, responsive, and alive.

To run a school, of course, is also to manage practical realities: payrolls, admissions, tuition, staffing, compliance. Even nonprofit schools need financial sustainability to exist. But in a Montessori school, money isn’t the mission. The mission is transformation. We are here to shape lives, to build peace, to cultivate independence, empathy, and a love of learning in children—and in ourselves.

And what we create together—the school community—is never static. Like any great work of art, it evolves. New families arrive. Children grow and graduate. Staff come and go. Challenges arise, new ideas take root. Through it all, the culture of the school shifts, expands, deepens—always becoming. The artist’s hand never leaves the canvas.

This is why we care so deeply when something threatens the life of a school. Why we grieve when a program closes or a beloved teacher leaves. Why we work late, show up early, volunteer for things that were never in our job description. We are not just protecting a structure—we are protecting a vision, a community, a sacred trust.

At its heart, a Montessori school is not a building or a business. It’s a collective expression of love—for children, for humanity, for the possibilities of a better world. It is a place where purpose and practice meet, where people—children, parents, and educators alike—are nurtured, challenged, and transformed.

And like all great art, it leaves an impression on everyone who experiences it.