How many students do microschools serve?

The end of the first semester can mark a time of growth for microschools. As many microschools are looking to enroll new families for the start of the second semester, and new families are looking for a different option from their traditional schooling experience, it can be helpful to understand the ways microschools grow.

Our 2024 Sector Analysis shows the median average for number of children served by a microschool at launch is 9, at the end of the first year is 12 and currently serving is 16.

What this doesn’t show is all of the ups and downs in between.

It’s not uncommon for first year microschooling founders to see a dip in enrolled students between the start of the year and the end of the year. October and November can be two of the most stressful months for new microschool founders as numbers either dip or don’t grow as anticipated. There are a few things that can be helpful for microschool founders during this time:

• There are families that opt to leave their neighborhood schools at the end of the first semester. Be ready to onboard new families that transition to your microschool mid-year.
• If you are actively giving tours of your microschool but aren’t enrolling new families, ask the families who toured why they didn’t enroll. This feedback can be invaluable for your program.
• Consider a set of questions allowing you to reflect on your vision and mission and if you’re actively moving towards your vision or if there are any programmatic changes you need to make in order to live to your vision.
• Think through your marketing materials, consider them from a parent’s point of view that has never heard about microschooling before.
• Consider offering a discount in tuition/fees to existing families that refer your microschool to another family that enrolls.
• If you’re attending public events, such as farmer markets, have a current parent come with you and man your vendor table. Hearing about your microschool from a parent perspective is helpful to new parents.

Knowing the trends of microschools across the country, including the media average of students served, can help newly launching microschools have an understanding of how to budget and what a realistic number might be. 

Looking for help growing your enrollment? Join our upcoming Hot Topic Webinar: Conversations with National School Choice Week on Thursday, January 9th at 4pm PT/7pm ET to talk through the different ways that parents and families navigate school choice with the Center team and Shelby Doyle, Vide President of Public Awareness from National School Choice Awareness Foundation. Register here!