Clay High Team A – Design Brief/Journey Map

Posted on by Madison

Project Description:

Enrollment numbers have been dropping for the past 6.5 years and they need help in putting Clay back

on the map and drawing students in. Clay High School was the top high school in South Bend. Over the

years, it has been relegated to the back, and Adams became the top one. Clay currently has an AP

program and School Improvement Plan.

How can we maintain the numbers and attract more students?

Intent/Scope:

Our team wants to address how the school can better market its wide array of services to the parents

and students in the South Bend area.

Exploration Questions:

  1. What makes students want to come to a school?
  2. How does the school currently market itself?
  3. What are the easy problems that can be addressed?
  4. What does Adams offer that Clay does not?
  5. Does Clay have the resources to make the necessary improvements?

Target Users:

The evident target users for a high school are prospective students and their parents.

The focus might be best placed on middle school students, parents of middle school students,

current high school students at other schools, and even elementary school parents. The problem

will involve the community as a whole.

Research Plan:

We will need to gather information on the following major things:

    1. What makes students want to attend a school?
    2. What makes parents want their students to attend a school?
  1. What are Clay’s current offerings?
  2. How are they currently being marketed?
    1. Did something change? What are parents looking for in a school?
    2. Case studies from other successful public schools
    1. Problem identification/survey research. Why is enrollment low, recently?
  3. Is there is actually a deficiency?
  4. What could be changed?
    1. characteristics of audience, where they live/currently attend school
    1. Identify recruitment population
    2. Prepare a recruitment presentation highlighting benefits of Clay education

Expected Outcomes:

We hope to create a recommendation to increase the student attendance at Clay High School.

In order to increase attendance, we believe it is necessary to increase awareness of what the school

offers.

Success Metrics:

  • Number of parents who are aware of the high-school’s offerings
  • Enrollment over the following years

* Effectiveness of metrics will be more effectively measured in the long term as opposed to the short.

Project Planning:

  • Address forms of media: Website? Social Media? News Sources?
    • Personalized tours of school, free lunch during visits
  • Focused recruiting on transition time: 8th grade/middle school parents
  • Where should media and advertising be located? Middle Schools? Local Businesses?
  • Budget Evaluation
    • What is working?(Needs more money)
    • What is not working?(Opportunity to cut)