What is the Parent Choice Award?

The Parent Choice Award is a prestigious honor awarded only to the highest tier of "parent-centric" private and independent schools. This award is presented annually to schools that log an overall Net Promoter Score of 70 or greater for the period from Sept. 1 through May 31 (which roughly aligns with the academic year for most schools). Schools with a score of 80 or higher receive a Premier Parent Choice Award. Additionally, the Platinum Parent Choice Award is presented to a single school with the highest Net Promoter Score – the winner for 2023-24 is Christ Lutheran School in La Mesa, California with a score of 90.

 

What is Net Promoter Score?

Net Promoter Score is a universal metric (expressed as a single number on a scale from -100 to 100) that seeks to measure overall customer satisfaction by asking survey respondents a single question – "How likely are you to refer us to a friend or colleague?" The Net Promoter Score was developed by Bain & Company, an international management consulting firm, in 2003, and is used by thousands of organizations across just about every industry.

 

What is a good Net Promoter Score?

Most researchers and survey providers classify Net Promoter Scores of 30-50 as "good," 50-70 as "excellent" and 70+ as "world class." With a score of 70 as the minimum requirement, every Parent Choice Award winner has recorded exceptionally high scores during the 9-month period – with Premier Parent Choice Award winners (80+) entering truly elite territory. (In 2023-24, fewer than 7 percent of our schools earned Parent Choice Premier awards.)

 

Why is it important?

For a number of reasons! First, schools with high Net Promoter Scores have lots of happy parents, and that generally leads to higher retention rates and healthier school culture. Second, most private and independent schools depend on word-of-mouth marketing to drive new enrollment, and the more likely parents are to recommend a school (the variable measured by the Net Promoter question), the faster the school can grow. Third, a focus on Net Promoter Score generally indicates school leaders view parents as "customers" – and that's a good thing! Leaders at those schools are more likely to ask for feedback often and adapt to changing needs. You can read more here about the importance of Net Promoter Score for private and independent schools.

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How does a school qualify?

To be eligible for a Parent Choice Award, a school must be an active ParentPulse client and the school must have surveyed parents for at least one full 90-day cycle between Sept. 1 and May 31. Unlike most survey platforms – which measure Net Promoter Score with a one-time survey blast – ParentPulse ask parents the Net Promoter question ("How likely are you to refer our school to a friend or colleague?") through a gradual "drip" survey, so a school's score is not reflective of just a single moment in time. 

 

Does a school have to "enter to win?"

No, we do not require schools to enter. Any school that meets our eligibility requirements (see above) is automatically a candidate for the award.