Back to School Office Hours: Vertical Planning & Learner Pathways

Thanks to everyone who joined our Back to School Office Hours on vertical planning and learner pathways! This was an open Q&A follow-up to the Back to School Prep webinar, and educators brought great real-world questions. Highlights:

• Reading your data: Marketplace views (showing up in search), class page views (someone clicking in), and enrollment conversion each point to a different fix — refine your listing copy/thumbnail if views aren’t converting to clicks, or check for open sections if clicks aren’t converting to enrollments.
• Scheduling far in advance: Opening classes months ahead (e.g., August classes listed in January) captures families using ESA credits before they expire, families with inflexible schedules, and families motivated by price-lock. You can toggle a class open early and adjust based on performance without being locked in.
• Courses vs. ongoing: One educator ran a head-to-head test of identical content as a course vs. an ongoing class and found the course outperformed by about 75% — a good reminder to test rather than assume, and to let the format fit the class (ongoing tends to work better for flexible/transient periods like summer).
• Building pathways without over-planning: You don’t need a fully mapped curriculum to list a class — start with an idea, gauge interest, and only invest heavy planning time once families show up. Use “bookending” (What came before? What comes after?) to sequence classes, and let strong classes spawn natural next steps (e.g., a popular map-making class leading into creative writing, then peer feedback/critique).
• Looping and predictability: Keeping a class in the same day/time slot as it moves up a grade year over year builds parent trust and drives repeat enrollment, while also protecting your own planning time.
• Communicating with parents: Send direct enrollment links broken out by day/time rather than asking parents to search — reducing friction increases enrollment. Framing next-step recommendations as guidance (not a sales pitch) is well received. Consider building a recurring calendar for when you open enrollment each term/season.
• Learner choice: Techniques like a learner-driven “Math Lab,” where students submit topics/questions that shape the next class, can boost engagement (UDL-style choice) while keeping planning manageable.
• Build your educator network: Office hours and coffee chats like this one are a great way to find educators to refer students to (and vice versa) and to bounce around new class ideas.

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