International School of the Peninsula For the full effect of the presentation, run in “SLIDE SHOW” mode Date of creation: May 12, 2006 Admissions - Analysis of the year James Pao Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

2 Some Questions I’ll Answer Today … Enrollment –How much and in which classes have we grown? –How many applicants have we had to waitlist and/or reject? –When accepted to ISTP, do people come? Advertising –What ads are most (and least) viewed? –What, if any, is admissions’ seasonality over the year? –How cost-effective is our ad spend? –How much did we spend on Program-specific ads? Event Attendance –Which events have been working? –Is there a difference between Ch and Fr interest? –Are there a difference in grade-level interest? –How far is our geographic reach in the Peninsula? –How many believe ISTP is their 1st choice? Do they eventually come? Retention –How is retention for each grade compared to last year?

3 Enrollment - growth since 2003 Chinese grew by 58% last 3 yrs. We have “solved” the KC-to-1C transition “problem” Largest ever 1st and 2nd grades bodes well for the future French grew by 11% last 3 yrs. Strong 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades bodes well for the future New I.M.S. has grown to 27, but low enrollment for incoming 6th Total growth of 100 students, equaling a 22% increase, in 3 yrs.

4 Enrollment - new students for N, PK, and K We are increasingly seen as the top choice of applicants (when accepted, 80% come) We are a more selective school with a 50% accept rate vs. 60% last yr (waitlists of 62 vs. 40, and rejected of 14 vs. 2) Growth in NC and PC applicants has created big waitlists Our NF/PF structure creates just enough PF demand

5 Advertising - all events Word of mouth works: “Friends” now tops the list “ISTP person” is strong 2nd Gross #s much stronger Total ad exposures grew by 30% (from 341 to 444) ISTP’s website more popular best ads best ads

6 Advertising - did they apply/attend? Good word of mouth: “Friends” was a much stronger draw vs. last yr Best ads: the top six are all good (affects “applied” and “y”) First appearance of newspaper “articles” which yielded 4 applicants Coming to events did lead to applications: over half applied to ISTP, of which 37% ended up coming

7 Advertising - monthly ad views, last three years Ad views even stronger this year –(1.5x in Nov / 4.5x in Dec / 1.3x in Jan / March and April combo was about equal) We are building for next year –(April ‘06: 35 out of 45 were “future” applicants for vs. April ‘05: 6 of 14)

8 Advertising - spending Increased spending of $10K mostly on “public relations”: PAW flyers to promote school events and upscale publications ( S.J. Magazine and So. Bay Accent) Reduced program-specific ads in Chinese or French (more spent on advertising in English to the general public) Increased ad spend for Int’l Middle School by $3,500 but this did not positively affect interest or enrollment for IMS

9 Advertising - cost/benefit For : Most cost effective ads are BAP, MomClubs, PAW, PAD, and Gentry For : Most cost effective ads were BAP, World Journal, and PAD (somewhat decent were PAW, Gentry, and Mother’s Clubs) For : Most cost effective ads were BAP, SJMN, Yellow Pages, and MomClubs (somewhat decent were Independent, LATC, PAW, and Stanford Arts)

10 Event Attendance - Overall compared to Last Year Interest in the two programs used to be equally distributed in 2004 and 2005 Attendance increased by 21% overall (last year, our increase was 80%) Admissions Tours up 12%, Info Nights up 40% (last year was the reverse: tours way up, info nights slightly up) But 2006 shows weighting towards Chinese program (18% more)

11 Event Attendance - Tours Total number of attendees was only a little larger (195 vs. 174) People came to events earlier (in Dec vs. Feb/Mar), which means a clearly articulated admissions process works (even if the process happens early) More people came in April to look for the future ( )

12 French Program Event Attendance - Info Nights French attendance remains solid No major changes Spread out more evenly (Nov is getting more attendees) Chinese continues to grow rapidly Dramatic increases from last year, for every single month Chinese Program

13 Admissions Events - specific class interest Interest is building for already (71 vs. 40 last yr) On average, 47% of all event attendees applied to the school All key grades are in the acceptable range of 40% to 60% Interest level particularly high for NC (76 vs. 69 last yr) Despite some low “% who came” #s, we have still been successful, since we rejected and waitlisted many applicants

14 New city to enter the top 5: Sunnyvale Other popular cities have been consistently near the top for the last three yrs About 50% are local within 10 miles of us (PA/MP/Sun/MV/LA/SC/B) Admissions Events - where do they come from?

15 Is ISTP Your 1st Choice? - (and were you telling the truth!) Overall, 61% say ISTP is their first choice (vs. 48% and 34% last two yrs) For the committed, 56% applied and only 22% eventually came to ISTP Surprisingly, among the non-committed, 31% applied and 13% came We are now more competitive, because even if you want to come you may not be able to (see last row)

16 Overall retention of 87% (vs. 85% for 2005 and 78% for 2004), an increase of 2% = 10 students Superstars include PC, 1C, 2C, 3C and 1F, 2F, and 3F which provide a solid base for the future Small number of students hurts 4C and 5C; 6IBch and 6F challenged by other middle school options Retention

17 Summary Enrollment –Primary growth is from Chinese program, with steady growth in French –We are waitlisting or rejecting half of all applicants –Vast majority of accepted students do choose to come to ISTP Advertising –“Friends”/word of mouth now tops the list; people “talk about” ISTP –Total ad exposures way up by 30% –Biggest months were Jan. and Oct., followed by Nov. –BAP works best; PAD, PAW, MomClubs, and Gentry are good –Most cost-effective ad over last 3 years is BAP (Bay Area Parent) Event Attendance –Info Night attendance way up; Tours attendance steadily higher –Chinese now more popular than French by 18% –Consistent interest in all Cowper grades; strongest interest in NC by 2x –50% of families come from the local 12 mile area –Increasingly larger %age say ISTP is first choice; but fewer can come Retention –Retention even better than last yr; solid early grades (PK, K, 1, 2, 3)