As Prep enters into 2021, the school has decided to make considerable changes to the tuition costs for the upcoming school year. Instead of an increase, grades 8-12 will remain at the same cost as this year, and grades 6-7 will have a decrease in tuition.

Head of School Lawrence Coco said that the tuition decrease in grades 6-7 has been something that the board of trustees has examined over the past couple of years, and it is made possible by fundraising over the past year and a half. It is a strategic endeavour to increase admissions in seventh and eighth grades.

Mr. Coco hopes that two of the impacts that these changes will have is that it will increase enrollment and make the transition from another school easier, especially for the sixth and seventh grade, which are the two main grades for acquiring new students at Prep.

While the decrease for grades 6-7 is something that the Board of Trustees hopes to be able to continue for the upcoming years, the decision to freeze the tuition for grades 8-12 will be evaluated on a year-to-year basis. This was a change that was made mainly because of the national state of the pandemic and financial issues in the country. 

The people who were involved in the decision-making process include the Board of Trustees, Mr. Coco, and Mr. Britt, who serves as Chief Operating Officer. All of the tuition changes were presented to the Board, who then accepted them. 

Mr. Coco said, “We are excited about this new tuition plan, and we look forward to communicating that to our Jackson-metro community as we seek to offer the many experiences of Jackson Prep to as large a group as possible.”

There will be a marketing push in the months of February and April, which is also strategic. The majority of families who transfer from one independent school to another make the change in the month of February, while the majority of students who transfer from a public school to an independent school do so in April. 

This campaign will be led by Ms. Boone, and the campaign will include billboards, print ads, and social media. The main purpose of the campaign is to inform people of the new tuition changes and to inform them of the investment that families can make through choosing a Prep education. The benefits that are being advertised for the investment, or tuition, is that a Prep education prepares students for college and can help lead to scholarships. Ms. Boone said, “We have a new series of parent videos on our website that communicate the undeniable value of a prep education. You can hear in Prep parents’ own words about the impact that Prep has on their students.” 

Prep believes that the best investment is in the students, and that the best investment for a family is to send their students to Prep. Prep will continue to advertise this new change in order to attract as many prospective students and families as possible.