Sharing Student Recruitment Strategies from NAF Academies

At NAF, we know that providing students with access and opportunity has the power to ignite their career aspirations and help them become future ready. Academies support them in developing essential skills, such as program solving, communication, and collaboration, that will benefit them in any pathway they choose. Our goal is to ensure every student – especially those in under-resourced communities – can move toward a life of upward mobility and success. At NAF, this is our role in leveling the playing field.

An important role that academies take on is in the arena of student recruitment, and, at times, reaching potential new students can be challenging. We’re here to amplify your efforts and are excited to spotlight our districts, that are finding innovative ways to reach their recruitment goals and present their best practices.

Calvin Coolidge High School – Academies of Health Sciences & Mass Media – DC Public Schools – Washington, DC

The most successful recruiting events that we have facilitated are the Calvin Coolidge H.S. Open House and Feeder Fair. During this event, academy leaders corresponded with middle school counselors and/or lead administrators to welcome students and families across all 8 wards in the District of Columbia. Our event guests were hosted by current Coolidge Colts, who shared their academy experiences, acted as tour guides, and helped spearhead the event from beginning to end. 

For many events, NAF materials such as brochures, banners, posters, retractable banners, featuring the NAF logo, and pennants, are displayed prominently around the school. Invited participants included, but were not limited to, middle school counselors, administrators, students, families, local community organizations, and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners.

The events were successful because the Coolidge H.S. team intentionally incorporated student-led organizations, such as the Student Government Association; community resource organizations, such as REACH Inc.; Mary’s Center; and Latin American Youth Center, Inc. (LAYC); just to name a few. Our guests were also able to witness Coolidge Colts in action, by participating in live audio/visual presentations from the NAF Mass Media Academy students. Additionally, NAF Academy of Health Sciences students demonstrated phlebotomy skills, and blood pressure screenings, led by Nursing Assistant students.

As the icing on the cake, our school librarian provided free reading materials to guests, while our cheer leading squad and dance team welcomed our guests with a performance. 

Burbank Unified School District – California

The district leads of Burbank Unified School District shared their four-pronged approach that supports recruitment efforts:

Begin outreach early! We host a middle school “shadow day” where prospective students shadow and have lunch with an academy student to learn about the school, course offerings, etc. Every year, we also provide middle school principals with information on our programs and ask them to share out on their websites, social media platforms, etc.

Digitize your efforts! We create messages and share student stories and events, via our school news channel and social media that are both created and marketed by students! To reach their parents, we create content for an email that we send to counselors. We also created an awesome recruitment website to help our digital efforts, take a look!

Have your current students help spread the message! We love recruiting student ambassadors and train them to provide tours, pitches, presentations, and more, and as a thanks for their time and efforts, we provide them with community service hours. We also encourage students to talk to their friends and provide them with swag items, such as buttons or t-shirts, for students that say, “Ask Me About” to spread the word around their community.

Host Events! We suggest hosting an academy booth for open houses – include board members and student ambassadors to speak with event attendees! In the virtual space, we pivoted to hosting recruitment webinars.

Deer Valley Unified School District – Arizona

Debbie Moore and Jeff Samaniego of Deer Valley Unified School District shared a few strategies they implemented to recruit students to their program:

One major tactic we use is talking to our current students, because they are our target audience. These students provide valuable feedback on their experience in the program. Our NAF students help us determine our strengths and weaknesses and we use this information to improve.

We successfully market to all students in our classes, clubs, and organizations through announcements, school websites, social media, and parent newsletters and/or Facebook groups. Students share their stories by completing assignments, in which they offer testimonials and create digital marketing ad campaigns.

Collaboration is crucial to promoting our program. Ask fellow teachers in your building to visit their classroom and talk about your program with their students. Introduce yourself and deliver your elevator speech about your program. You have a captive audience, and you can get them interested!

Need a new video for your recruitment efforts in 2023? This video created by NAF intern, Joey S., shows how we equip students to define their own career paths.