8 Steps to Prepare for the Preschool School Year

Are you getting very excited about your upcoming preschool school year? Here’s a list of all the things you should do now in the weeks before school starts to prepare for your upcoming school year.

1. CREATE A REFERRAL PROGRAM

Create a referral program so your parents can rave about you and get rewarded! I suggest giving them a $50 credit (or $50 sent to them if not in your preschool) anytime they refer a new family to you who signs up. Every year we paid out $1,000+ in referrals… and those referred families (and the families that referred them) were some of our best families!

2. KEEP MARKETING

Yes, keep marketing until you’re full… and then keep marketing after you’re full! Don’t stop marketing if you’re full… that’s the perfect time for a new preschool to swoop in with new marketing and take some of your potential preschool families away from you. Always keep a healthy, full wait list! 

Every empty spot means lost money. If you have just 1 empty spot of $100/mo. for 10 months, you’re losing $1,000 for the school year! That means you could pay up to $999 in advertising to fill that spot and STILL be profitable!

Obviously you don’t want to make just $1, so we suggest you spend up to AT LEAST the cost of your registration fee, if not ALSO the cost of your registration fee + 1 month of preschool tuition to acquire a new student! That means we would spend anywhere from $50-$150 in advertising to acquire a NEW STUDENT.

It’s still profitable to us because we would usually be making at least $1,000 for the school year on that student, not to mention if that student stayed for a second year, came to summer camp, or had a sibling that attended later! Every preschool family might be worth $2,000+ to you, so don’t be afraid to spend money to acquire a student.

3. INPUT PRESCHOOLER INFO INTO DATABASE

After you’ve registered your preschoolers, you need to manage all their info in one place. Create a spreadsheet for all that information. Make sure you can easily find their names, birthdays, child release info, allergies, medicine authorizations, parent contact information, etc.

4. CREATE A PAYMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

You’ll also need to track all the payments you receive, including registration forms, tuition fees, and any other fees.

5. SET UP A SNACK CALENDAR AND SNACK BUCKETS

(Local only) You don’t want to spend money on snacks, as it’s a very common practice to ask preschool families to help with the snacks. Buy 4 large containers with handles as your snack buckets, then paste the snack bucket label on them. 

In each class, one child will take the snack bucket home over the weekend and return it on the next class day full of snacks for a 2-3 week period. The amount of snacks depends on the number of students and the length of the snack period. 

We like to put in the empty snack bucket an “All About Me” form (you can find them online) for the student to fill out, and the next week they are our “Student of the Week.” It’s the best day ever when they get the snack bucket! Be sure to print out a snack bucket calendar and give it to all preschool parents after class starts.

6. KEEP UP-TO-DATE IMMUNIZATION RECORDS

If you’re licensed, your licensor will require that your immunization records accurately show every child has had the required immunizations (or has a waiver on file). We try to gather copies of all immunization records at the Meet ‘n Greet, or at the latest by the end of the first month.

7. MANAGE YOUR FINANCES

Remember to use your business bank account for all business expenses. If you accidentally use your personal account for a business expense, that’s fine. You can write it onto your expenses spreadsheet and still write it off.

8. CREATE A YEARLY CALENDAR FOR PARENTS

You’ll want to create a yearly calendar so your parents know what to expect. This will include all the days you’re in session, reasons for any school closures, field trip days, parent teacher conference days, registration days, summer camp days, etc.