This session will share hard-won takeaways from a difficult school closure and how we have (and you can!) use these learnings to grow enrollment and engagement. We will propose that a clear understanding of your school’s identity is at the foundation of strong enrollment practices. We will discuss how schools with longstanding educational philosophies can focus on staying pliable and relevant in our current world and how schools without a clearly defined philosophy can claim their space in the market. Drawing on NAIS Jobs to Done Research, we will talk about the importance of staying true to your mission (especially in the face of enrollment pressure) and resisting the urge to be all things to all people. We will discuss department silo-ing and advocate for collaboration among enrollment, admissions, communication, and development departments. We will also look at the importance of demographics and surveys and how to gather useful data and draw actionable conclusions. We’ll make the case that positive Word of Mouth is the most powerful tool and will offer strategies to help you combat and/or amplify what is being said. Finally, we will get into concrete examples, sharing what has worked well at BHMS. We will offer takeaways from our time at Blue School – including some examples of successes under fire and pitfalls we hope colleagues can avoid. We will explore the power of a well developed enrollment and communications plan and encourage participants to generate their own thinking with some targeted prompts.