Dear Aysha,
Thank you for writing Ask an Advisor!
I am not sure exactly how to address your question because I do not know what kind of school you are trying to attract students to, where it is located, etc. These all will make a difference in what approach you could take.
One thing I can sense is that you assume that your school is at a disadvantage, and I sense that you are only focusing primarily on your school's deficits compared to other schools. This can blind you unnecessarily. Every place has its strengths (lower cost, location, attention to students, class size, etc.), but only you know what these are.
The best way to avoid making assumptions about the community population is to go to them for input about what they look for in a school. What you are describing seems like an excellent opportunity to interact with people from the community, share information with them about your school's strengths, and learn about what they would like to do or would like to see in your school. One way to do this would be by engaging with one or more community organizations (e.g., neighborhood organizations) and talking with parents about what the look for in a school. It might help to do some focus groups with potential participants/recipients to learn what sorts of things they would like to see in a school that you can provide, whether they would attend, if they would want to help make it happen (or take charge of making it happen).The more you can involve members of the community, the more likely it is that your school's strengths will attract them. Just that personal contact can impress and attract people.
Under our "Learn a Skill" you can read about how to assess your school/community strengths, and how to market them. Look under our Table of Contents and see is there are sections of interest to you.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck,
Ask an Advisor
