Case
Studies

Growing Into a
New School with a Unique Message

daVinci Schools was growing at such a pace that their high school building was becoming a bit cramped. When Jackson College, the current owner of the building, decided that they may wish to purchase the space from daVinci, the challenge was to go grow into a new building. daVinci was lucky to be able to quickly find a new school building, but with a community full of students that have high anxiety and fear of change, this move would be a large challenge. RJM stepped in with a complete marketing plan aimed to both ease this transition and grow the student body.

The Problem.

daVinci Schools has a community that needs extra support, having a population that has experiences with trauma and anxiety. While daVinci provides a unique blend of education techniques to make these students feel at home, the move to a different school building and increasing the number of students would be another challenge. The current high school was already filled and the opportunity to sell the building and expand was too great to pass up. The question was then how to complete this transition without losing students?

The Process

1

Capture the community's perceptions and thoughts about daVinci Schools.

2

Build a brand that is unique among local schools and develop a message that speaks directly to students, parents and local community members.

3

Increase communications and marketing to inform students, parents and the community that the school is moving while relaying that daVinci Schools are centered around the student.

4

Design a space at the new high school that captures the essence of daVinci and motivates the students to be proud of their school.

The Results

After investing more in marketing than they ever had, daVinci Schools saw an immediate and positive return on their investment. An early open house for the new building saw nearly 440 people come visit the new school (equivalent to the size of the entire school). The first student count after the campaign showed an increase of 69 students year over year, and the student count in the winter after the campaign showed a 64-student increase from the previous February. That's nearly a 5:1 ROI and an increase of $500,000 in new funding for the school. But beyond that, RJM was able to develop a message that captures what daVinci Schools is and how they take care of kids.