Schools can learn a lot from tangential industries. Granted, schools are not retail establishments, car rental companies, or tech firms. Still, parents buy the product an independent school sells and expect to receive the product they purchased, even though the buyer is not the consumer in this case. The student is the consumer of the product. It is a business with many layers and complexities, where we must demonstrate value in everything we do. 

Value often seems self-evident to those inside an organization, but making this clear to others can be a challenge. This is where an articulation of the school’s value proposition is so critical - the sticky messages that one associates with The Independence School, such as strong academics, focus on the whole child, outdoor education, and outstanding preparation for high school. 

Major League Baseball uses a non standardized metric called "wins above replacement" to quantify an estimate of how much value a player adds in terms of how many more (or less) games are won compared with a typical replacement player. The best players demonstrate more wins above replacement than by another, similar player. 

How is this applicable to schools? The more a school can quantify the value it adds to a student’s life in terms beyond a very good competitor school, the more people will want to stay (who may have considered leaving), the more people want to apply (who may have been on the fence), and the already strong reputation of the school only grows.

In a competitive marketplace when resources are scarce, people will pay for value if one can demonstrate its presence. The value of an Independence School education is exceptionally high, and we must continue to shout this fact from the rooftops.
 

Mr. Tim Costello is Head of The Independence School.