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MPS reports early enrollment gains after new marketing push; staff outline long-term plan
Summary
District communications officials reported kindergarten applications are up 22% and high-school applications up 15% over last year after new website, targeted ads, grouped promotional videos and expanded community outreach; administrators described a year-round strategy with measurement and school-level supports.
Milwaukee Public Schools administrators told the Family and Community Engagement Committee the district's enrollment marketing strategy is showing early gains and described next steps to sustain growth and improve school-level recruitment.
"Kindergarten applications are up 22% and high school applications are up 15% from last year," Superintendent Brenda Castellia reported. Chief Communications Officer Tony Talivia and Brian Litzy outlined tactics including a redesigned district website with conversion monitoring, digital and traditional advertising in English and Spanish, grouped promotional videos (by program type), earned media and targeted list-based outreach to families most likely to enroll.
The communications team showed a short arts-specialty script used for video promotion and said grouped videos (for arts, language-immersion and traditional neighborhood schools) are easier to produce at scale and can be repurposed for paid ads and school websites. Talivia described conversion monitoring using website analytics to track engagement and to inform course corrections during active enrollment periods.
Administrators said they are pursuing a data-driven approach to make support available for individual schools, working with an analytics vendor to project enrollments, manage class-size impacts and guide transportation and program placement decisions so the district can better balance over- and under-enrolled schools. Staff said the work will include parent surveys and perception measurement to track changes over time.
Board members emphasized canvassing and door-to-door outreach, teacher engagement at events and leveraging faith-based and recreation partnerships to reach families. Administration said it is coordinating with the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association on canvassing and will provide additional enrollment and projection data to the board on request. No formal votes were taken on the informational presentation.
