School’s out for summer! This is a big hype for children and teachers. Are you excited? Feel like you haven’t had time to get ready for this season? We’ve collected a few ideas to think about.

How are you offering classes or camps this summer?

The beauty of being a small business owner is the ability to make decisions about how many classes you’ll offer during the summer and when they will be. Some businesses have found success with week long camps. Since parents in their area typically make travel plans during the summer, the one week camps is easier to commit to and allow some flexibility with family summer plans. Another business sets this up in two hour blocks in the morning or afternoon five days a week. For some businesses, teams are still required to practice throughout the summer. Some set up mandatory “practice camps” for one week of each summer month. These are all ideas for you to think about when you’re setting up your summer season.

Tip: Offer current students a discount and an option to sign up before it’s open to the public. Getting the students who already love your business to sign up early will put your mind at ease. Then do some marketing and advertising to get new students in a class or camp. You could even give out referral credit to your current customers. What have you found successful? Leave your ideas in the comments below.

What was enrollment like last summer? 

The Enroll History Report is what you need. Just select the session from last summer and hit submit!

What was revenue for last summer’s session?

There are a few different reports you can run depending on how much detail you want.

The Revenue Summary Report will show you the revenue split up by Category 1:

How can you keep things interesting? 

This is a collection of ideas we have seen folks talk about. Do you have more? Share them in the comments

• Songs: Start each day with a song. The summer season isn’t like any other season. This is a chance to make the summer fun and get kids excited for being there.
• Sticker Challenge: Use stickers as rewards for kids when they get new skills, behaving, listening to instructions, etc. The student that gets 5 stickers by the end of the class gets to go to the treasure chest – filled with prizes. You can hit up any dollar store for some treasure chest items. Try giving out stickers to everyone for something during the first class so they all understand that they can achieve this; then bring on the competition. Stickers are a great way to keep the students engaged because they want to do the skill or behave well.
• Arts and Crafts: Carve out some time for face painting, story time, coloring and music! Get their creative juices flowing and keep things interesting. You can decorate on foam designs, cardboard frames, paper plates, brown paper bags, etc.
• Health: Talk to your students about fueling their body for the dance day, injury prevention, being confident, being positive, why warming up is important, and general self care. You don’t have to be an expert in this area to spend a little bit of time during the summer to encourage your students to be healthy mentally and physically.