Developing best public relations practices for academic after-school programs (2010)

Undergraduate: Elisa Greenwood

Faculty Advisor: Jane Brown
Department: Journalism & Mass Communication

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Academic after-school programs exist to decrease educational inequality, or disparities amongst educational opportunity in low-income and affluent neighborhoods. Studies suggest that academic after-school programs have the potential to improve their students’ academic performance. Parents, however, admit that they experience difficulty when searching for after-school programs for their children. Media theories suggest that parents may turn to the media and other sources to get help with choosing and identifying after-school programs in their communities. Research indicates that after-school programs are not filled to capacity. A gap may exist between parents in search of academic after-school programs and after-school programs in need of interested parents who will enroll their students. This study seeks to fill that gap by developing best public relations practices for academic after-school programs. Under-enrolled programs can implement these strategies and increase their student enrollment numbers.