Marketing Towards Teachers… How?

[Crazy8]

If you do it, how?? This job has never allowed me to be very involved in my kids schools so I don't really know the office staff there.

But I am getting very resentful of working all summer and would really like to gear my program towards teachers, even if it means reduced income in the summer. What are some ways to do that?? Most people around here send their child to preschool at 3-3.5 years old so I mostly do 0-3y. What can I do to get more teachers here and what changes should I make to my contract, if any, for it???

I would probably keep one non-teacher family I have now until her kids age out (not for a few years) but the others I would have no problem terming.

[DaisyMamma]

Following

[Blackcat31]

Why market to just teachers? Many teachers WANT summer care too..

If you are wanting to be a seasonal child care then I would go that route when advertising.

I don't know what the work is like where you live but here we have LOTS of workers that only work winter months and have summers off.

I also know there are LOTS of families that choose to hire a college student for the summer so their kids have more freedom. etc...

I would just advertise as a part year program in general and just make it clear upon enrollment that you close up shop for the summer months.

We have 3 daycares in my area that do it that way and they are always full and not always with teacher families.

[hope]

I offer teachers their spring and fall recess off unpaid in my contract. I also don't make them put a deposit or pay anything for summer. All the ones that I wanted back have always come back. I also offer a slight discount because they are teachers and their hours work with my needs. The discount makes them feel like they are getting a deal.
As for marketing to teachers....I can't help you out. I have called all my local schools and talked with my own dd's teachers. Most won't refer. I lucked out with getting one teacher and word of mouth produced the rest. I go out of my way for them and they refer lots of clients to me in return.

[snbauser]

This is the part of my ad that allows me to focus on teachers/school employees. I don't strictly target them but I set my ad so that the expectations are there. If the don't work for the schools and have someone else who can fill in the days I'm closed, then that works too.

**** is a 5 star licensed home based preschool program focusing on Kindergarten readiness. During the school year we are open 6:30a - 5:00p, M-F, traditional school days and teacher workdays. We are closed for all annual leave and holidays and you don't pay for annual leave days.

In the summer we offer a reduced schedule that allows your child to stay in the routine of school and time to play with their friends while also allowing the parents time to get things done without the kids.

[snbauser]

Meant to add - annual leave days are what our school calls those days that they are closed that aren't a holiday - so part of the 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week at spring break, etc. And for summers I decide what I want to do based on who is here. This year I have a couple of kids whose parents are 11 mont employees but they drop to 4 days/week after school is out. So I dropped to 4 days a week with shortened hourse until the end of June and beginning again in August and closed for the month of July.

[spinnymarie]

I do the same as above - I say specifically that we are school-year daycare, no payment for any non-teacher workdays. My daily rates are higher than year-round daycares in my area, but parents still save money across the year.
I have a craigslist ad up, but also, teachers talk If you can save them money, they will appreciate it and tell their friends.

[CedarCreek]

You've gotten some good info on how to word your ad.

I would just add that I would make up some cute flyers with that wording and take them to the nearby schools. Ask the receptionist to pass them along or hang it on the bulletin board in the break room.

Do you have an FB page for your dc? If so, ask your friends to share your page with their teacher friends. Or, better yet, if the schools have an FB page, maybe you could post there.

And of course, craigslist.

[SignMeUp]

For most of my years I've had lots of teachers kids in care, but I never marketed specifically to them.
They do tend to notice certain things -
Toys that are sorted and bins that are labeled
Children's names on their items - cubbies, papers, charts
General organization of toys, paperwork, etc.
That your books match the toys you have out, in a curriculum type of way

Also, it seems to me that once you get a teacher or two, they flock to you. Lots of word-of-mouth there, especially among the early ed, elementary and special ed teachers.

[Crazy8]

Why market to just teachers? Many teachers WANT summer care too..

If you are wanting to be a seasonal child care then I would go that route when advertising.

I don't know what the work is like where you live but here we have LOTS of workers that only work winter months and have summers off.

I also know there are LOTS of families that choose to hire a college student for the summer so their kids have more freedom. etc...

I would just advertise as a part year program in general and just make it clear upon enrollment that you close up shop for the summer months.

We have 3 daycares in my area that do it that way and they are always full and not always with teacher families.

I have had many teachers in the past, just happen to not have any this year. I have never had a single one that wanted full time care in the summer. They all would only come 1-2 days a week for the summer because that is what I required to hold their space.

I have no problem being open during the summer but am really hating the M-F 7-5 for summer. I have had past summers where I only had kids 2-3 days a week and while I hated the lack of income now I really want that type of schedule!!!