we must pay attention to this particular barrier. I don’t know an Admissions Office that has not heard from families, “we love the school, but can’t figure out how to get our children to and from school due to work and family schedules.” Not surprisingly, this refrain is most often heard at schools with limited or no transportation options. If you work in Admissions at one of these schools, you have two options. You can go to your Head of School and/or CFO and say, “Gosh, I have heard from several families that they would enroll if we had a bus, so my intuition tells me we should start a bussing program.” OR You can do some research and data analysis using the available tools and present your case in this way, “I have done a demographic analysis and identified these areas where we have the most potential to attract and enroll families who fit our target profile. Here is the report with tables and maps.” Which approach do you think gives you the best chance of buy in, and therefore, success? I piloted this approach first at my current school with a great deal of success. We did not have any busses when I arrived, and we now have ten routes and over 200 students riding the bus every day. Separately, I have helped several other offices use a similar approach to convince their schools of the importance of creating transportation options. I love this example because it is the perfect illustration of how a data-driven approach allows the Admissions professionals to be expert and get the resources they and the school need to be successful. In fact, the Admissions Officer is the hero not just for the school but for the families whose lives are made easier by this option. As a side note, there are often unintended benefits to these types of initiatives. While the main goal of the bussing program is to remove a barrier to enrolment, there are often additional benefits. The busses provide great “free” advertising and many families are likely to become interested in your school because they see your bus and can see that transportation is available. Busses also create a great sense of community for families who live near the same stop. In many cases, they may not even know there are other families in their neighborhood who attend the school. Think of other ways you can use data. Go ahead, dip your toe in the water! GEORDIE MITCHELL DIRECTOR OF ENROLMENT MANAGEMENT BUCKINGHAM BROWN & NICHOLS SCHOOL, USA FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER, AISAP DECEMBER 2018 4 5