| Hershey Montessori School is seeking an accomplished and mission driven Director of Marketing and Communications to elevate brand awareness and visibility to identified relevant national and international populations. There will be a focus on increasing enrollment for the Middle and Upper School campus by implementing a strategic marketing and communications plan guided by professionally researched data. Hershey Montessori School founded in 1978, is a thriving, world renowned school located in Northeast Ohio, serving a diverse population of approximately 300 students from birth through high school. The Middle and Upper School attract international as well as local students. The Concord 13-acre campus serves students from birth through age 12, and the Middle and Upper School 97-acre campus is located in Huntsburg, Ohio. Both campuses are approximately only 40 - 50 minutes from downtown Cleveland respectively. The key to Hershey Montessori School’s success is the adherence to Dr. Maria Montessori’s acclaimed and proven pedagogy. Hershey Montessori School employs the meaningful integration of daily academics with purposeful work in the indoor and outdoor natural environments on both campuses. Through the Montessori method, students gain a high level of academic education that also responds to their developmental needs. This includes deeper levels of engagement, applied understanding, increased motivation and reduced negative stress contributing to an optimal state for healthy physical, emotional and intellectual growth for children and adolescents. This education model is most relevant for success in today’s global economy. The Huntsburg campus was recently expanded with the addition of Upper School 10th through 12th grades, thus completing a full continuum from birth through 18 years. The Middle School was founded in 1999, and the program has steadily grown and thrived since its inception. For twenty years, Hershey Montessori School has shared this unique and successful template by hosting a five-week intensive training course “The Orientation for Adolescent Studies” (a sell out every year) attended by teachers from all over the world. Over 500 schools have modeled their schools on aspects of Hershey’s programs. Successfully completing a $5 million capital campaign to build an Upper School, Hershey Montessori School graduated its first high school class in June of 2018. With this expansion, there is a need to meet the full enrollment capacity of residential and day students on the Huntsburg Campus to assure fiscal sustainability. The school leadership is highly collaborative and committed to building on the school’s many strengths. Even though the school is well-managed, the leadership believes that admissions and fund-raising goals can be obtained by more effectively communicating the school’s value to both internal and external constituencies. Hershey Montessori School values diversity, inclusivity and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is licensed by the Ohio Department of Education and the AMI (Association Montessori Internationale, and is beginning the ISACS Accreditation process. BASIC FUNCTION Reporting to the Director of Advancement, collaborating with the Director of Admissions, and working with the senior administrative team, the Director of Marketing and Communications will lead, plan, direct and implement overall strategies for all marketing and communications on behalf of Hershey Montessori School in order to raise Hershey’s visibility, advance its brand, and articulate clear messaging to internal and external constituencies. The Director will oversee and actively participate in the creation, design, budget and production of regularly produced events and all school publications. Additionally, the Director will coordinate all advertising, publicity, and public relations and serve as the school’s spokesperson when so designated by the Head of School. The primary objective of the Director of Marketing and Communications is to is to identify and engage markets most relevant to the enrollment in Hershey Montessori School, with an emphasis on the Middle and Upper School. Continuity in high quality messaging should lead to increased admissions applications and should support the efforts of the Development Department. MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES The Director of Marketing and Communications will be expected to: - Rapidly acclimate to Hershey Montessori School; thoroughly know the history, culture, traditions
and constituencies of the school; understand the educational philosophy; know all marketing and communications activities of the department. - Incorporating the research and strategies procured from an outsourced firm, develop marketing and communications strategies and plans that advance Hershey Montessori School and drive increased engagement with prospective and current constituencies.
- Collaborate with administrative team in articulating their purpose and ongoing work. Specifically, this includes the Director of Advancement, Head of School and the Directors.
- Ensure brand and messaging quality and consistency and establish communications guidelines to apply across all staff, programs and events at the school and among professional and
volunteer leadership. - In collaboration with the Director of Admissions, design strategies and implement
concrete plans to increase student applications and maintain prospective student and family interest. - In collaboration with the Director of Development, design strategies and implement concrete plans to capitalize on increased visibility and clear branding of the school to drive increased contributed revenue.
- Plan for and deploy digital activities: website, online campaigns, email marketing, social media, blogs, and digital content production.
- Plan and manage the marketing budget in order to maximize the effectiveness of all communications. This includes bidding out production of materials when appropriate to outside vendors periodically.
- Create and execute a plan that regularly places the school in local, and optimally in the national and international media. Manage all messaging in the media.
- Manage all aspects of the school’s print and electronic communications, ensuring the continuity of the school’s brand and logo. Oversee the work of graphic designers and print vendors in production of printed materials and web visuals.
- Provide staff leadership to the department in all respects, including hiring, day-to-day management and motivation of marketing staff and contractors, ensuring professional development and excellence.
- Participate actively in the work and success of the senior leadership team and provide support for school events and administrative jobs as requested.
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