When Your Greatest Competition Is the Strong Public Schools Around You
This is a conversation at every school we work with. We ask for a list of the five schools they most frequently lose students to, and public schools are always on it. As they should be. We should hope every family in our communities has access to quality education.
But comparison is the thief of joy.
I was at the AISAP Annual Institute this summer, where competing against good free options was a session topic. The conversation was honest, and the frustration was real: the demographic cliff is here, families are under real financial stress, and there’s a painful truth underneath it all — families pay taxes for public schools, so of course they give them a try first.
But what else could be true?
Competing against each other is a race to the bottom. It doesn’t have to be us-versus-them. Focus on what’s yours to control, and do that well. There are students and families who will thrive under your mission and your experience, not because public schools are bad, but because not every kid thrives under the same conditions. Even when outcomes look similar across schools, the path to get there differs enormously: the experience along the way, the level of academic and parental support, the fit. There are many paths to unleashing a student’s potential, and yours is one of them.
So here’s a hard truth, from me to you: you haven’t gotten the word out effectively. Not yet. What’s worked before may not be enough for what’s ahead.
I spoke about this in my session — “Harness the Power of Word-of-Mouth Marketing” — when you actually listen to your market, they’ll tell you what’s really being said about your school. All feedback is a gift, but some are harder to unpack than others, especially when the same note keeps showing up. Still, you can’t move forward with a plan until you know what you’re up against. That starts with four things:
Take a beat. Let the data speak. Resist the urge to react to the demographic cliff with panic or a scattershot pitch.
Acknowledge the landscape. Good free options are a real and legitimate choice for families. Naming that honestly builds credibility, not weakness. You are not for everybody, and that’s OK.
Listen to what your market is really telling you. Ask your admissions funnel, your lost families, your current families. The answer is rarely a mystery once you go looking.
Get specific, and say it often. Find the few things that make you distinct and that families find genuinely compelling, not just distinct for its own sake, and repeat them clearly, everywhere. Remember, value first. What’s in it for them (WIIFT)? You’re in good company. That’s a good thing. Now give families a reason to believe your school is more than worth it.
Ready to get specific about what makes your school different — in a way that resonates with the families you most want to reach? Let’s talk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Families pay local taxes that already fund public education, so it’s often the default first option — especially when household budgets are tight. Trying the free option first is a rational financial decision, not a judgment on the quality of nearby independent schools.
No. Competing on price against a free option is a losing strategy. Independent schools compete more effectively by clearly communicating a distinct mission, experience, and fit that a public school can’t offer.
The demographic cliff refers to the sharp, ongoing decline in the number of school-age children in many U.S. regions, driven by falling birth rates since 2008. It shrinks the total pool of prospective students, intensifying competition for enrollment across public and independent schools alike.
Gather direct feedback from three groups: the admissions funnel data, families who chose a different school, and current enrolled families. Their answers, especially recurring themes, reveal what’s genuinely distinct and compelling rather than what a school assumes about itself.
Word-of-mouth marketing is the practice of listening to what families are already saying about a school, then using that direct feedback to shape messaging, rather than guessing at what to communicate. It treats the market’s own language as the source material for a school’s positioning.
Ask admissions staff or recently enrolled families one direct question: “What almost stopped you from choosing us?” The recurring answer typically points to the specific objection a school needs to address in its marketing.