Focus groups (6th/7th graders, 8th staying, 8th leaving)
🏢
Board & Consultants
4
1 board president, 1 board member, 2 consulting team debriefs
Methodology: Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with thematic coding. Findings triangulated against a 365-response quantitative survey across parents, middle-school students, and high-school students.
8Core Problems Identified
5Illuminating Findings
6Messaging Angles
4Risks Tracked
8 Core Problems
Critical
1. The High School Is Too Small to Feel Like High School
Approximately 10–15 students total in HS, roughly 3 per class. Size is the single most cited concern across every stakeholder group.
👥 Parents🎓 Students🏢 Board💼 Consultants
+
“There’s three people in a class right now in high school. Fifteen people in total.”
— 6th/7th grade focus group student
“It’s pretty small, and I like sports and stuff like that.”
— 8th grader, likely leaving
Critical
2. Recruiting and Retention Are Broken at the Secondary Level
No outreach in over a year; known leads not followed up. Missed opportunities include Vandegrift IB closure and AIS French immersion ending at 8th grade.
“There has been no effort to actually keep us.”
— Kerry, Board President
“I’ve been screaming into the void…”
— Sarah, HS working group parent
Missed opportunities: Vandegrift IB closure could have driven enrollment; AIS French immersion ending at 8th grade leaves families with no continuation path.
High
3. IB Value Is Invisible to Students and Many Parents
Zero students could articulate IB’s post-secondary value. Even committed families are staying for community, not IB understanding.
“They haven’t really said a bunch of things about IB.”
— 8th grader, likely leaving
“She got a five and she was devastated because she thought she was failing.”
— Kate, parent
High
4. Operational Overstretch: Too Few People, Too Many Roles
Staff wearing multiple hats with no dedicated HS coordinator. Things fall through the cracks regularly.
🏢 Board President👥 Parents💼 Consulting Team
+
“Things are just falling through the cracks a lot.”
— Kerry, Board President
“I feel like there’s a position that we need to hire…”
— Sarah, parent
High
5. Communication and Transparency With Parents Is Too Low
Raised by every parent interviewed. Tattle/TOTL software is cumbersome; parent-teacher conferences feel minimal.
👥 All Parents
+
“Any communication, frankly. I feel like we get almost zero from teachers.”
— Kate, parent
Kevin proposed a ‘student recipe card’ system to give parents structured insight into each child’s learning profile.
Medium
6. Grading Inconsistency Is Creating Stress and Eroding Trust
Some teachers treat a 5 as good; others as failure. Inconsistency across classrooms confuses students and parents.
🎓 All 3 Focus Groups👥 Parents
+
“She splits the class into advanced and beginner…”
— 6th/7th grade focus group student
“We were giving the new teacher the same quality work but getting threes and fours instead of sevens.”
— 8th grader
Medium
7. Schedule Design Creates Bunched Stress, Not Sustained Learning
Eight 40-minute classes per day create assessment pile-ups and prevent deep learning.
🎓 Students👥 Parents
+
“I’ve had nine summatives due on the same week…”
— 8th grader, likely leaving
“I really wish they would go back to A/B days.”
— Kate, parent
Medium
8. Discipline Culture Feels Punitive, Not Developmental
Detention-heavy approach; consequences feel arbitrary to students and parents.
🎓 Students👥 Parents
+
“They threaten with detention too much…”
— 6th/7th grade focus group student
“If they don’t give them that freedom now, they’re never going to develop it later.”
— Kate, parent
5 Illuminating Findings
01
The Most Loyal Families Are Doing the School’s Marketing—Unprompted
Three 8th-grade moms formed a guerrilla marketing group. Sarah personally coaches prospective families through enrollment.
Strategic Implication: A structured referral engine built on these advocates could yield 100+ leads.
02
Students Who Are Leaving Still Love Magellan—They’re Just Done
The 8th-grade ‘leaving’ group was uniformly positive about their MS/ES experience.
“Magellan is a great school, and if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t still be here. I just feel like the high school needs more time.”
— 8th grader, likely leaving
Strategic Implication: Retention messaging must shift from ‘Magellan is great’ to ‘here’s what HS will be.’
03
Kids in the ‘Likely Stay’ Group Don’t Know What IB Is
Even committed students cannot articulate IB’s post-secondary value. They are staying for community and friendship, not IB understanding.
Strategic Implication: The value proposition is dependent on soft factors that break at scale. IB credential education is urgent.
04
The New Campus Has Reduced Community Cohesion
The campus is nicer but has stricter parent access restrictions. The emotional openness of the old campus is gone.
“We’ve kind of lost the community feel since we moved campuses.”
— Kerry, Board President
Strategic Implication: Kevin suggests a dedicated open-house event for veteran families to rebuild connection.
05
The Board Has a Structural Governance Gap
Approximately 95% parents, no external advisors from education or nonprofit sectors.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a board comprised of ninety-five percent customers.”
— Sarah, parent
Strategic Implication: Limits strategic capacity and institutional credibility. External advisory voices needed before next board cycle.
Quote Bank
Click any quote card to copy to clipboard.
Pain Points
“There has been no effort to actually keep us. There’s been no explanation of what this is actually going to do for your kid.”
— Kerry, Board President
"There has been no effort to actually keep us. There's been no explanation of what this is actually going to do for your kid." — Kerry, Board President
“I have been screaming into the void. We’ve been talking about the same things since the beginning of the year and I have not seen measurable movement.”
— Sarah, parent / HS working group
"I have been screaming into the void. We've been talking about the same things since the beginning of the year and I have not seen measurable movement." — Sarah, parent / HS working group
“There’s three people in a class right now in high school. Fifteen people in total.”
— 6th/7th grade focus group student
"There's three people in a class right now in high school. Fifteen people in total." — 6th/7th grade focus group student
“It wasn’t that they didn’t see her. It was that they couldn’t see her—there just aren’t enough people to have resources to do everything.”
— Kerry, Board President
"It wasn't that they didn't see her. It was that they couldn't see her—there just aren't enough people to have resources to do everything." — Kerry, Board President
“Every single class had a formative and a summative due on the same week, and the play was that week too.”
— 8th grader, likely leaving
"Every single class had a formative and a summative due on the same week, and the play was that week too." — 8th grader, likely leaving
“Any communication, frankly. I feel like we get almost zero from teachers or the learning specialists.”
— Kate, parent
"Any communication, frankly. I feel like we get almost zero from teachers or the learning specialists." — Kate, parent
“Things are just falling through the cracks a lot. And the board member version of me is like we need to cover this up as much as we can, which sounds terrible.”
— Kerry, Board President
"Things are just falling through the cracks a lot. And the board member version of me is like we need to cover this up as much as we can, which sounds terrible." — Kerry, Board President
Desire & Vision
“I literally feel like I’m sending my kids to school in a warm hug.”
— Kerry, Board President
"I literally feel like I'm sending my kids to school in a warm hug." — Kerry, Board President
“Education really maps with self-discovery. One of the main roles of school is to create an environment where kids can discover themselves.”
— Kevin, parent and board member
"Education really maps with self-discovery. One of the main roles of school is to create an environment where kids can discover themselves." — Kevin, parent and board member
“Magellan will set you up to take on the world in whatever form you want. That’s all any school can offer without bribing and breaking laws.”
— Consulting team debrief
"Magellan will set you up to take on the world in whatever form you want. That's all any school can offer without bribing and breaking laws." — Consulting team debrief
“We’d love to stay. We just want to see some changes—and we need to know they heard us and are making steps.”
— Kyle, parent of 7th grader
"We'd love to stay. We just want to see some changes—and we need to know they heard us and are making steps." — Kyle, parent of 7th grader
Student Voice
“I know my friends’ first and last names, and I can try to get along with everyone. That’s not something you get at other schools.”
— 8th grader, likely staying
"I know my friends' first and last names, and I can try to get along with everyone. That's not something you get at other schools." — 8th grader, likely staying
“The electives are not graded, so you don’t have to make an A. You can try new things. That’s honestly my favorite part.”
— 8th grader, likely staying
"The electives are not graded, so you don't have to make an A. You can try new things. That's honestly my favorite part." — 8th grader, likely staying
“I like Magellan for the three years I’ve been here. I don’t really think there’s anything I’d want to change about middle school. I’m just ready for something new.”
— 8th grader, likely leaving
"I like Magellan for the three years I've been here. I don't really think there's anything I'd want to change about middle school. I'm just ready for something new." — 8th grader, likely leaving
“If the promises they made actually happened when I’m in eighth grade—their own space, better Go Guardian, the no-dress-code thing—I would consider going to high school. If not, I’m probably going to leave.”
— 8th grader, likely staying
"If the promises they made actually happened when I'm in eighth grade—their own space, better Go Guardian, the no-dress-code thing—I would consider going to high school. If not, I'm probably going to leave." — 8th grader, likely staying
Tracked Risks
Volunteer Burnout
Red
Kerry, Sarah, and Kevin are overextending to compensate for institutional gaps. If any one of them disengages, critical advocacy and operational support disappears overnight.
Perception Death Spiral
Red
If the incoming 9th-grade class is the same size (~10 students), skeptical MS families will see it as confirmation of failure. Each year of small cohorts makes the next year’s recruiting harder.
Community Fracture Post-Campus Move
Yellow
New campus is less accessible emotionally, with parent engagement restrictions reducing the sense of belonging that once defined Magellan.
Teacher Culture & Retention
Yellow
Five Spanish teachers in three years. Staff don’t feel “part of the team.” Turnover undermines academic consistency and parent trust.
Open Questions
What does Jonathan Silver’s 90-day communication plan look like?
What is the actual conversion data for families who toured but didn’t enroll?
What would it take to pilot a formal ‘parent ambassador’ program?
What is the real story with the AIS French feeder opportunity?
Is there capacity to bring external board advisors before next board cycle?
How do Magellan MS alumni assess their decision to leave for HS elsewhere?
What is the path to A/B block scheduling?
Active Objections & Counter-Strategies
“The high school is too small.”
Counter-Strategy
Show credible roadmap to 50+ per grade with milestone dates.
“I don’t want my kid to be a guinea pig.”
Counter-Strategy
Frame IB as the internationally recognized ‘floor’—the curriculum is proven, the school is growing into it.
“Will a Magellan diploma look good on a college app?”