<![CDATA[General Background Educational institutions operate as service organizations that must meet community educational needs and maintain student enrollments to ensure institutional survival amidst intense competition. Specific Background This descriptive qualitative study investigates the strategy of strengthening school programs to increase new student admissions at SMP Al Falah Deltasari, Waru, Sidoarjo, where student numbers experienced an average annual decrease of around 10% from 2015 to 2023. Knowledge Gap Although declining enrollments threaten operational sustainability and service quality, comprehensive evaluations on how to manage school programs to reverse downward trends through leadership, branding, marketing, and facility improvements require detailed empirical analysis. Aims This study aims to explain strategies for strengthening school programs to increase the number of new student admissions. Results The findings indicate that effective strategies include optimizing the principal's leadership role, creating school branding and superior programs like student exchange and Cambridge curricula, improving marketing strategies for new student admissions, and completing educational facilities and infrastructure. Novelty This work details the practical synchronization of principal managerial actions with comprehensive school branding and marketing techniques in a private secondary school facing enrollment drops. Implications These findings establish that strategic management of school programs is vital for transforming declining institutions into competitive, high-achieving schools favored by the community. Highlights: Strengthening school programs requires optimizing principal leadership and managerial strategies to improve teacher performance and overall educational quality. Implementing school branding through superior programs such as student exchanges, tahfidz, Cambridge curricula, leadership training, project learning, and home stays attracts prospective parents. Improving marketing efforts and completing facilities and infrastructure directly support successful new student admission drives. Keywords: Strategy, School program strengthening, New student admissions, School branding, Educational management]]>
