Promoting Your Microschool

Looking for creative ways to share your school with the world? It's likely you already have an audience that will be excited to support you. Read on for tips on how your existing network: friends, family, and community can help your school pick up momentum.

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Start with your friends and family

"When I launched my school, I first reached out to my friends and family. This allowed me to get their honest feedback, highlighting the best way to describe my kindergarten pod's restorative approach in ways that resonated with them."
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~ SchoolHouse Teacher in San Diego

Your friends and family already know about your career and ambitions, so sharing your school with these people is a perfect first step. Consider reaching out to them about your microschool, tell them why you're excited about it, and all the details they need to share it with their own networks. If you feel nervous about reaching out, imagine a friend was launching their own microschool, how might you feel about supporting them?

Here's a sample email you can use as a template to start from:

Hi, [ Name ].

I'm excited to let you know about the microschool I'm launching and invite you to be a part of it. I've turned my passion for individualized instruction and [ summarize your background expertise or special interests ] into a microschool, which I'm running through SchoolHouse.

I would love to invite you to see my microschool profile. I'm reaching out to give my close friends and family a special sneak preview and would love to get your feedback. You can see my microschool profile here [ link to profile ].

Please also share this with anyone in your network who might be interested and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for joining me on this new adventure, I look forward to chatting again soon.

[ Your preferred salutation - keep it casual, such as "Warmly," ]

[ Your Name ]

Share your experience on your social media channels

You can use social media channels you already use, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or your personal blog to share your experience. Incorporate appropriate images to make your post stand out, as well as a direct link to your profile. Using relevant hashtags, like #microschool or #learningpods in your posts can help you reach a wider audience.

"I seem to have the most interaction on Facebook. A lot of parents are already on Facebook looking for options this year and it's easy for my friends to tag their friends or share my post with their whole network.
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~ SchoolHouse teacher in Fort Lauderdale,

Spread the word to your network

Beyond your immediate friends and family, think about groups in your broader network who might be interested in your school. For example, Rachel A. from Austin was already part of a local Facebook community. When she launched her school, she posted about her new adventure in the group to help spread the word beyond her close circles.

It can be helpful to start brainstorming a list of groups you and your closest friends and family members are in. Consider alumni networks, community or neighborhood groups, parent groups, and so on. Once you start writing these groups down, you may find your network is more extensive than you thought!

Identify and connect with related community groups

Try joining online groups with people who have similar interests or passions. Don't join them to promote your school, but to genuinely connect with like-minded people. You'll find once you've connected in this group, you'll have a better insight into those who have similar interests, and may have built an online support system open sharing your microschool outside the group.

Promoting yourself is a way to share your passion with your community, whether your friends and family or members of your local community. When you are promoting remember to keep your tone genuine, not too self-promotional, and:

• Share your passion and excitement
• Highlight your expertise
• Include a clear request, or "call to action", and link for people to learn more

While promotion might feel like a lot to take on, if you incorporate it into your plans from the beginning it can help you gain momentum and establish your reputation as a great teacher.

Let's go!

Ready to start promoting your microschool? Here are four steps you may want to consider taking:

1. Update your social media profiles to include details about your microschool and a direct link.
2. Use the template above to draft an email to friends and family inviting them to see your profile and spread the word about your microschool.
3. Share your microschool with a group your regularly participate in.
4. Identify, join, and participate in a new group who might be interested in your microschool.