Executive Summary

The future success of the Prairie School is attainable, but not guaranteed. There are
some key factors that need to be addressed in order for the Prairie School to be a
successful, thriving institution.
Citizens in the surrounding areas have little knowledge of the Prairie School and the
service and knowledge that they have to offer. This Schools strong curriculum can
help the minds of children expand into minds of adults. Citizens in the surrounding
communities need to be aware of the influential and sophisticated curriculum the
Prairie School has to offer. The school needs to diminish their reputation as an elitist
school and promote diversity and culture among the community. Since the Prairie
School has such an excelling curriculum that is very well rounded, it comes with a
high price tag. As a result, too many children are using the benefits of Financial Aid
to attend the Prairie School.
For all these factors to be tackled, some major objectives must be considered. To
diminish the schools reputation as elitist and attain a higher volume of students, we
must increase awareness in the surrounding counties of the Prairie School. This can
be accomplished by:
Increasing fundraising by hosting non-school sponsored events
Organize fundraising and philanthropic events
Sending brochures of the school to families in surrounding counties
Increasing open house opportunities so parents and children can become
familiar with the school
Creating a social networking presence
Updating the website frequently
Printing high quality brochures and send it to parents in the district and
surrounding communities
In brochures, discuss percentage of students who go to Ivy League colleges
Mention available financing programs
Reach out to the community by planning events to encourage participation
Invite students from other schools to hold concerts on the grounds of the
school
Plan charity events and ask students to volunteer while wearing branded
clothing to increase knowledge of the school



Business Objectives

Our business objectives are profitability, retention, efficiency, and growth. Creating
high profitability for the school is a necessity to attain in order to keep the
institution funded and in business. The costs that the school has to endure are quite
high and in order to be able to meet those expenses, the school is going to need a
high budget from its profitability that can be met by tuition costs and other outside
resources and donations. Also, the retention of our student body is a key objective.
Retaining students is another priority because the turnover rate has increased over
the past 4-5 years due to hard economic times. Efficiency is another important
objective because in order to retain students, we need to have an elite faculty who
demonstrate their knowledge and core values to their students. Last but certainly
not least, growth is another key objective. The school needs to create a larger
student body because of their falling number of enrollment has created large
problems financially. By gaining the competitive advantage with other local private
and even public schools in the area, we can expect to see a substantial increase in
overall growth. Our objective is to increase enrollment by 30% by the fall of 2013.









Situation Analysis
Citizens in the surrounding counties have little to no knowledge of the Prairie
school. After casually speaking with people in the Racine area, along with the
Kenosha area, it is apparent that there is a need for knowledge of the Prairie School.
To increase knowledge of the school:
Must create a high standing reputation of the school to people of other communities
by updating social media sites, hosting events, and outreaching to people through
ads and brochures.
Key Observations: After visiting the prairie school, it is apparent that the school is
predominantly white. Diversifying not only the student body, along with the faculty
will help the Prairie School to become a more diverse learning environment.

Enrollment by rnce/ethniticty:








Because the school is a private institution with a unique curriculim, it comes with a high
price tag. As a result, many children are on financial aid. In the last couple of years, the
number of children on financial aid has grown substantially and as a result the school is
struggling financially.
In order to balance out the students on financial aid with those who pay the full tuition we
need to target:
Higher income families
Famiies who put education for the children as a priority
After speaking with people in Racine, the people who have heard of the Prairie
school think it is a school for rich kids. Therefore, the school has a reputation of
being elitist. In creating a diverse student body, we can abolish the reputation that it
currently has. We can change the reputation by:
Bring in skilled professionals to run workshops for faculty and staff
Having faculty embrace the principles of diversity taught in the workshops
Outreach to students of different socioeconomic backgrounds


Key Issues/Opportunities

Too Many Students on Financial Aid
As of today, the Prairie School budget for financial aid is increasing low due to the
fact the school is giving out more money than what is coming in. Although the school
distributes over $1.5 million annually in need-based financial aid and merit-based
scholarships, too many students are receiving financial aid. An astounding 42% of
the Prairie School students are currently accepting financial aid, and unfortunately,
this number continues to increase every year.

Customer Reach is Narrow
The Prairie School is certainly a renowned school throughout the Racine area.
Unfortunately, many people in the Northern Wisconsin counties, such as Milwaukee
County, Waukesha County, and even the Southern county of Kenosha, have very
little awareness, if any, of the Prairie School.

Not Enough Diversity in School
According to a recent poll, The Prairie School student body fell short of the average
number of colored students at 14%, compared to the Wisconsin state average of
18%. Over 82% of the students who attend the school are White, leaving the
remaining students of Asian, African American, or Hispanic descents, at an
inadequate 18%.

Reputation of School is Elitist
After personally visiting the Prairie School and meeting with one of the faculty
members who gave us a tour of the school and provided us with insight and
informative brochures, we concluded that, unfortunately, the school had a
reputation of being an elitist. Many people, who dont know a great deal about the
Prairie School, assume this mindset that the school is exclusively for rich kids. In
reality, that assumption is incorrect. Although it is not inexpensive to go to the
Prairie School, the students who do attend are known to be humble and amiable
children.


Target Market

Our own specified SAM Plan contains three focal target markets that we are going to
attain. First, we are going to utilize segmentation and target market the wealthier
families in the Racine area, as well as the surrounding counties. We are going to
inform these wealthier families about the prestigious education the Prairie School
has to offer. In return, we hope that in the future, these families can make generous
donations, in addition to participating in fundraising and philanthropic events held
by the school. We are going to continuously send out different forms of awareness
through mail, such as postcards, brochures, and letters. This will ensure we keep a
fresh place in the parents minds that the Prairie School has everything and more to
offer to their children.
Our second target market is students and families of different race, ethnicity, and
culture. Currently, the Prairie School is dominated by the White race by a staggering
82%. This number may seem intimidating to families of different descents who are
considering attending the school. We want to encourage people of all races,
ethnicities, and cultures, that we more than welcome them into our Prairie School
community. We are going to host different fundraising dinners that cater to
different ethnicities, showing our great support and care for our multicultural
students and families.
The third target market are the families who live outside the Racine County and live
in the surrounding counties, such as, Milwaukee county, Waukesha county, and
Kenosha county. Although the Prairie school is popular among the Racine residents,
very few people know about the Prairie School in the surrounding counties and
towns. We will continuously send out different forms of awareness through mail to
these families as well, such as postcards, brochures, and letters to introduce them to
the school. We will also host open houses, so families are welcomed to explore the
school in person.






Marketing Objectives

Increasing fundraising for financial aid by hosting school sponsored events
(Objective)
The Prairie School has too many students that are in need of financial aid. As a
result, we need to bring in a larger sum of well-off financially stable families. A
way to encourage higher income families to become a part of the school is by
increasing fundraising by hosting philanthropic events such as fundraisers. Since
the school is located near Windpoint, which is a nicer area, a way of attracting these
families is by reaching out to them with invitations to events that the school hosts.
Customer Reach is Narrow (Objective)
The customer reach is narrow. This means that the neighboring towns and counties
do not know much about The Prairie School. One objective is to increase awareness
of the positive aspects of the school to neighboring counties. By having a high
standing reputation, the school can gain more publicity. The more people hear about
the prairie school, the more well known it can become and as a result we can attain
the goal in raising its enrollment numbers and keeping them at the numbers where
they should be at.
Not enough Diversity in School (Objective)
Another key issue is that there is not enough diversity in the school. By creating a
more multicultural-infused curriculum, we can hope to attract other students that
are not predominantly white. A way in which we could go about doing this is by
having the students recognize differences and similarities among their peers. This
gives children the opportunity to share different traditions along with learning
about new customs and traditions. By doing this, we can encourage cooperative
social skills. The teachers can implement these values by adding different
perspectives into the curriculum.
Reputation of school is elitist (Objective)
The reputation of the Prairie School is elitist. People think that only rich and
smart children can be accepted into this school. This is a problem because it is
turning some families away from the prairie school. By accepting applications from
every socioeconomic background, we can attain the diversity that the school needs.


Tactics (overview)

Excessive amount of students on financial aid:
Increase fundraising for financial aid by hosting school sponsored events
By hosting these events the school will bring in more revenue for financial aid.
Organize philanthropic events
These specific types of events are examples of how the school will fundraise.
Customer reach is narrow:
Send brochures to families in neighboring counties
The brochures will be about the school and have pictures and important
information.
Increase open house opportunities
There will be more days allocated to open houses, especially during the times of
recruitment.
Not enough diversity in the school:
Diversify the faculty and staff
When the school hires staff, they will chose applicants from different cultural
backgrounds.
Create foreign exchange and host family programs
These programs will give kids the option to live with another family and gain a
different type of experience.
Reputation of school is elitist:
Accommodate students with special needs
Students that may have a disability of some kind will be accommodated in any way
possible.


Tactics (detailed)

Increase fundraising for financial aid by hosting non-school sponsored events
A method that will increase revenue to help support financial aid is to have
more fundraising by adding events that are not sponsored by the school. By doing
this the school will be able to increase its revenue enough to have less students on
financial aid. Some non-school sponsored events to help increase fundraising
through philanthropic events such as sports and theatre. At each event we will raise
money through concession stands at theatre productions and sporting events.
Besides sporting events and theatre productions we will also have formal dinners
for alumni and parents of current students. We will host different types of dinners to
target different types of ethnicities. The revenue we will raise from the dinners will
be the money we receive from the specific dishes and drinks people order at the
dinner. Our initial budget for the dinner will be $700 for spending costs.
Organize philanthropic events
Besides gaining revenue from fundraising during sporting events, we will
also be hosting charity events. One of the events we will be hosting will be a 5K run
downtown Chicago and it will be sponsored by Cheeseburger in Paradise during the
summer. The budget for the run will be $100, so that we can provide refreshments
for the runners. The next event that we will host in order to gain fundraising money
will be a casino night. The casino night will be in the fall after the school year has
started. The budget for this event will be $200 for decorations and gambling
materials as well as snacks. The final charity event we will host will be a dunk tank
for the students and faculty to participate in during the day on a specific school day
during the year. The revenue gained will go to the school and the budget for this
event will be $200 for the cost of the dunk tank and possible food costs.
Send brochures to families in neighboring counties
In order to increase awareness, the school will hire a company to create
brochures to attract potential students to the school by mailing them to families in
the neighboring counties. The number of brochures that we will be mailing out will
be 1000-2000 brochures to outside counties. Therefore the budget for this tactic
will be around $800. The brochures will contain pictures of the school along with
facts that would attract parents to the school and make them want to look at the
school. We will send the brochures out during the summer for fall enrollment. This
method will make parents consider sending their kids to this school.


Increase open house opportunities
The Prairie School will increase the days that the school will hold open houses for
the parents. The more open houses the school has, there will be more options
available for the families to come and visit the school and take a tour to figure out of
the parents would like their child to attend the school. There will be more times
available in the summer to visit the school in addition to the open house days that
the school already has. Also to let the families know the open house days, they will
all be in newsletters that will be sent to families in neighboring counties as well as in
Racine to make families aware of the open houses in the summer and throughout
the school year. The budget for this will be $300 for sending the newsletters out.
Diversify the faculty and staff
Currently the staff is not as diversified as it should be in order to make students
from all different types of ethnicities feel comfortable. When the school chooses
their staff, if there is an applicant that is from another country or a different
ethnicity and has good references and qualifies for the job, they will be chosen for a
staff position. This will help to create a multicultural curriculum and bring in more
diversity to attract different kinds of students and make them believe they can
attend the school.
Create foreign exchange and host family programs
This will be another way to increase the diversity in the school. The school will
work with the International Exchange Program to allow students with host families
to come to The Prairie School. Families will also be able to host foreign exchange
students through the school and the school will also encourage families of current
students to host foreign exchange students. This will enable the student to come to
our school and the current students will be able to learn from the students that are
from other countries. This program will bring in students during the summer so
that by having these foreign exchange students we will be bringing more diversity to
the school. There is no budget for this task due to the family paying for the costs of
hosting the student.
Accommodate students with special needs
When students apply to the school that may have a disability, no matter their
disability they will be accommodated. The school will have faculty that will help the
student in any way possible. If the student needs tutoring the school will also
provide a tutor for them either at home or at the school at a certain time.
Accommodating students in this fashion will start as soon as possible during the
school year as we get students with disabilities. The budget will be the amount that
the tutors will get paid per hour if the students need them at all.

Event Deadline Price
School Sponsored
Formal Family Dinner 12/1/12 $700
5K Run Downtown
Chicago 10/1/12 $200
Send Brochures 6/1/12 $800
Newsletters for Open
Houses 6/1/10 $300
Total: $2,000
Sample Brochures