Head of Admissions & Enrollment
The Head of Admissions & Enrollment is a critical position at Sanderling Waldorf School, overseeing all aspects of student recruitment, admissions, and retention efforts in collaboration with the Faculty and the Administrative team. This key leadership role presents an exciting opportunity to bring a data-driven sales discipline to grow awareness of the school while maintaining and enhancing our reputation forged through word-of-mouth and community initiatives. The Head of Admissions & Enrollment is responsible for developing and implementing enrollment strategies and overseeing the admissions process while fostering a positive student and family experience. The overall goal is to attract and retain students and families at Sanderling.
Sanderling provides unique and compelling education for children PreK - 8th grade all based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. In addition to an excellent core curriculum in Humanities, Sanderling students also enjoy a robust language program (German and Spanish), Arts (Strings, Handwork), alongside unique experiential opportunities to learn math and science and about the physical world.
This is a 12-month, full-time position. Benefits include medical, dental, health insurance
coverage, retirement and flexible spending.
Base salary + incentive compensation
Primary duties and responsibilities of the position:
● Lead and execute long-term data-driven strategic enrollment and retention plans through a goal-oriented, data informed marketing and communications culture
● Oversee all marketing and communication channels (e.g. website, emails, and social media); forecast performance trends and act proactively to increase retention and enrollment
● Design and refine annual family recruitment campaigns across a variety of touch points including events, digital marketing, community outreach and more
● Lead implementation of community surveying program with aim of improving family communications, marketing tactics and other enrollment/re-enrollment activities
● Represent Sanderling to the greater community at outside events and meetings, and recruit and coordinate volunteers for outside events
● Establish relationships with other area schools that are mission- aligned with the Waldorf philosophy
● Ensure that our small group of faculty, staff, and parent body volunteers are working collaboratively to advance our retention and enrollment goals
● Schedule, organize, and lead regular school tours, accommodate families and visitors with private tours as needed, and organize and coordinate Open House events
● Work with the leadership team to effectively translate the benefits and strengths of a Waldorf education into the language of prospective and current parents unfamiliar with Waldorf education
● Coordinate the timely processing of Tuition Assistance program and shepherd families through the steps, ensuring relevant applicant records are collected and available
● Participation in school wide events, festivals and activities as appropriate
● Perform assessment of new applicants, follow up on incomplete applications, and collaborate with faculty and staff in the review of applicants while holding the admissions decision-making process
● Contribute input for the development of the annual marketing budget; maintain relevant data analysis on all aspects of enrollment, re-enrollment, and retention, including broader market trends
● Provide regular analysis of marketing, enrollment/re-enrollment and admissions data, trends, and other relevant qualitative and quantitative data to the Finance Committee, Board of Directors, Administrative Team, and others as needed.
● Track and acknowledge receipt of all gifts and donations to the school
● Develop operational-level understanding of the school’s CRM, contracting, marketing, tuition management, and communication systems as needed to support retention and enrollment goals
● Collaborate with the Administrative Director to engage and foster the ongoing review of enrollment/re-enrollment policies and procedures to ensure that our community is a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.
Required Skills & Capacities:
The successful candidate will possess the following background, skills and capacities:
● Bachelor’s degree
● Minimum of five years experience in sales, marketing and/or communications or a related field required. Previous work in an independent school or program admissions/enrollment office is preferred
● Entrepreneurial mindset with enthusiasm for new ideas and new initiatives
● Willingness to reinvent processes, procedures, and ways of working within an organization unused to working in a data-oriented manner
● Demonstrable experience in designing and implementing successful digital marketing campaigns
● Solid knowledge of online marketing tools and best practices
● Proven ability to track and analyze performance data to make strategic decisions
● Basic knowledge of web design procedures and best practices
● Strong organizational and project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple tasks and projects simultaneously
● Demonstrated leadership qualities, with a capacity to organize and motivate people
● Strong capacity to work collaboratively with faculty/staff colleagues and the parent community
● Exceptionally positive interpersonal and communication skills, including mature conflict resolution capacities and an ability to create warm connections with others
● Comfort in speaking to both large and small groups of people
● High ethical standards with ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism
● Ability to travel locally to admissions/enrollment events and fairs
Hours:
The Admissions & Enrollment Director is a full-time hourly paid employee. Normal work hours are 8:00am - 4:30pm Monday-Friday, participation in additional evening and weekend work are also occasionally required. This is not a remote position.
If interested please email your resume and cover letter to Ben Gaskin at ben.gaskin@sanderlingwaldorf.org
Sanderling Waldorf School is a thriving educational community serving nearly 125 students from TK/K through eighth grade in Vista, California. If you are looking to join a Waldorf school with a highly respected faculty and staff that enjoys the support of dedicated, loving families, please get to know us at an upcoming event!
Sanderling is located a few miles from the ocean, and about 20-30 minutes north of San Diego. The average temperature is 72 ºF (22.2 ºC) year-round. Our coastline offers 75 miles of beautiful beaches, hiking trails, botanical gardens, nearby mountains and deserts. The area offers a variety of natural foods markets, alternative healthcare practitioners, and organic farms, as well as a local branch of the Anthroposophical Society and the Waldorf Institute of Southern California (a Waldorf teacher training program).