The War of the Ads

Most of us in educational administrative positions recognize that families are giving very serious attention to applying to schools. Why, because daycares and on-going private schools consume a very large portion of a family’s income. And because each child has only one childhood.

Admissions Directors are careful to point out the great benefits of having a child in their facility. What might those benefits include? Could be smaller classroom size, extra curricular activities, better hours, closer to home, great teachers, low staff turnover, etc. etc. etc. The sales pitch is well polished and delivered sincerely time after time. Each incoming student represents a business account of five-figures.

But what concerns me are the unnoticed ads that are located within these schools and their brochures. The “ads” are hiding in plan sight and they are often missed.

A co-worker emailed me the following today: “At the cafeteria they write the day’s choices on a blackboard. Today’s choices included pasta with meet sauce. I kid you not.”

This came from the cafeteria of a well-known private all-boys school in New York City. Their website blurb says, “Learning in the primary years sets patterns for future academic growth…” I couldn’t agree with them more.

Private schools do not have an exclusive hold on these problems. A recent advertisement on www.Craigslist.org for a public daycare position in Hollywood, FL was posted as follows (spelling and punctuation have not been altered):

“Experienced manager needed for early childhood center.Must have all licences and cirtifications up to date, have verifiable work history and references,have a happy nature, be good at sales and dealing with government departments ,family central and be VPK cirtified.”

When I saw this ad I wanted to warn everyone to run as fast as they could and run away from this school. I felt for the children and parents who rely on trained and dedicated educational professionals to guide their young children to good educational habits. If the administration is satisfied with this ad, what expectations will they have for their staff or their children?

Don’t get me wrong. Anyone can be a horrible speller, but I can’t help but wonder just where the Quality Control concern in our schools is? There must have been double digit staff members going through that lunch line. Did anyone other than my visiting co-worker notice or care enough to get a correction made? Clearly it wasn’t worth the trouble. They must have been thinking, “Not My Job.” Wrong. It’s everyone’s job.

Sadly the person who posted the Craigslist ad didn’t care enough to have someone proof the ad before it was placed. Misspelling the word “cirtified” was more than I could take.

Yes, The War of the Ads really tell their own stories. These stories document a school’s philosophy and history. How does a school and a staff attend to detail? How does a school and a staff envision their teaching mission? Life is made up of a series of little details. Taking time to correct these little details is taking time to embrace a teachable moment.