Supporting Sandy Spring Friends Private School
Just nine days after announcing it would be closing its doors, Sandy Spring Friends School experienced something extraordinary. What could have been the end of a long-standing educational institution quickly turned into a powerful story of community resilience. Parents, alumni, faculty, and local supporters rallied together and raised an incredible $15 million to keep the school open. It was the kind of moment that restores your faith in what a committed community can accomplish.
But once the funding was secured, a new and urgent challenge emerged. The school needed to quickly rebuild awareness and trust. Families had already heard the news about the closure, and uncertainty can move fast. The priority shifted from fundraising to communication. Prospective and current families needed clear, immediate reassurance that enrollment would continue as planned and that Sandy Spring Friends School was not going anywhere.
I partnered with the school to develop and execute a focused digital advertising strategy designed to restore visibility and drive enrollment inquiries within the Sandy Spring area. Timing was critical. Messaging needed to be clear, confident, and consistent across every touchpoint.
Through highly targeted Google Search campaigns, we captured high-intent families actively researching private school options. By aligning keyword strategy with updated messaging about the school’s reopening and continued operations, we ensured that families searching for answers found accurate, up-to-date information immediately.
In addition, we launched Performance Max campaigns to expand reach across Google’s full ecosystem, including Search, Display, YouTube, and Gmail placements. This allowed us to reinforce the message at scale while maintaining geographic precision in the Sandy Spring community.
The results were both immediate and measurable. The campaigns generated more than 314,200 ad impressions locally and drove an average conversion rate of 25.26 percent. Most importantly, they helped restore confidence, increase inquiries, and support continued enrollment during a critical transition period.
