Vision-in-focus Archives | CEL Marketing PR Design https://www.celpr.com/category/vision-in-focus/ Creative. Effective. Lasting. Wed, 28 May 2025 15:22:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 https://www.celpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/CEL-Favicon.ico Vision-in-focus Archives | CEL Marketing PR Design https://www.celpr.com/category/vision-in-focus/ 32 32 Cambridge-Isanti Schools: Communications https://www.celpr.com/c-ischools-communications/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=c-ischools-communications Thu, 02 May 2024 02:50:16 +0000 https://www.celpr.com/?p=15885

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CAMBRIDGE-ISANTI SCHOOLS

Designing a District Communications Program

Hired as an interim superintendent in August 2019, Cambridge-Isanti Schools Superintendent Dr. Nate Rudolph prioritized effective communications. The district was experiencing significant change, controversial facilities and finance issues, and low morale following $4 million in budget cuts only months earlier. A neighboring superintendent suggested partnering with CEL. Working with the district leadership team, we outlined a communications plan, streamlined communication tools, and supported community engagement work.

“The best decision I made as a superintendent that first year was partnering with CEL. We were facing complex issues, and I don’t think I could have found that level of expertise anywhere else. The ability to connect and access their expertise allowed us to be successful.”

~ Nate Rudolph, Superintendent

referendum mailer for C-I Schools

Establishing A Communications Plan

Cambridge-Isanti Schools had a well-established brand, mission and core values as the foundation for a communications plan. New to the community, Dr. Rudolph focused his transition plan on listening and learning; relationship building was his top priority. He quickly learned about budget, transportation, and facilities concerns that would require significant staff and community engagement.

With a largely new district leadership team and uncertainty ahead, CEL’s Vision in Focus communications service provided proactive planning, ongoing support and on-call consultation. “We were able to navigate complexity and communicate effectively,” said Superintendent Rudolph. “while only accessing what we needed when we needed it.”

We collected public opinion research, prioritized access to and training for staff on existing communications tools, and developed a consistent cadence for communication. A District Communications Plan now outlines key audiences, the purpose and frequency of ongoing communication, and monthly priorities in a communications calendar. 

Superintendent Nate Rudolph out in the community

Photo credit: JoJo Spencer Studios

Staff Recruitment & Enrollment Marketing

In Cambridge-Isanti Schools, education is all about the people. Relationships are at the core of learning and inspiring students. In this growing community, an integrated marketing communications plan supports the district’s goal of being the “schools of choice” for families and staff. Both staff recruitment and student enrollment are important priorities for the communications team.

"The School Board understands the district’s communication program can only be effective if everyone in the organization accepts responsibility for communicating effectively, building relationships, marketing the organization, and serving as ambassadors of the district as they meet and greet people during their daily work."

~ Cambridge-Isanti School Board Policy 910

Engaging the Community

Following $4.5 million in budget reductions in 2019, the District’s Financial Audit indicated a declining fund balance and the need for additional budget cuts. Mapping out a budget reduction communication plan prioritized face-to-face meetings with all employee groups, which started in February 2020 before being interrupted by COVID-19 closures. 

Distance learning and all communications quickly shifted online in a community that lacked broadband access in many areas. The challenges of the pandemic presented new learning opportunities: jumping into Facebook Live, more video, more texting, and facilitating online meetings to ensure two-way dialogue with staff and families. The district asked for patience and grace, and the community responded in kind.

With a belief that public schools are owned by their communities, the district sought to engage families and community members actively. The Board expanded its finance and communications committees to include more citizens. Updating the District’s Public Information policy, the Board set guiding principles for ensuring a planned and effective two-way communications and public relations program and asked everyone in the organization to be a communicator.

Working with actively engaged community members and opinion leaders, the district engaged more than 60 staff and community members in a Strategic Planning process that focuses all district efforts on four strategic priorities.

strategic plan document
website for C-I Schools on laptop, ipad, and iphone

CEL-ebration!

The district’s partnership with CEL also expedited migrating the website from Blackboard to Finalsite, integrating school newsletters into the website and the mass communication tool, and adopting the Canva for Education graphics tools districtwide. Celebrating its success, the website received a 2024 NSPRA Publications and Digital Media Award. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding achievements in education publications, including newsletters, videos, podcasts, websites, social media, and more.

2024 publications and digital media award

Building Communication Capacity

Teamwork makes the dream work for Cambridge-Isanti communications. A highly collaborative communications committee includes representatives from the superintendent’s office, teaching and learning, community education, and human resources. The committee meets twice monthly to implement a communications plan that prioritizes employee engagement and public trust.

The District Communication Plan includes goals, message pillars and consistent communication tactics to share the district’s story and report on priorities.

      • Monthly Bluejacket Family & Staff Communications 
      • Board Briefs & Updates
      • School Newsletters (biweekly)
      • Advisory Committees
      • Community Education Catalog (3x per year)
      • Direct Mail Community Postcard (3x per year)
      • Regular Website Updates
      • Social Media Posts (3x per week or more)
      • Family & Staff Survey (every other year)
      • Presence at Community Events

Building capacity in a district where staff have many responsibilities has meant deploying effective communication systems and providing ongoing training and support on mass notification tools, newsletter & website tools, digital marketing, and effective communication strategies.

A Two-Year Referendum Effort

Community engagement about school finance needs during the pandemic and the 2020 Presidential election extended into a two-year effort to secure local funding. District leaders gave more than 60+ presentations in backyards and at small businesses during the first six months of the pandemic. A 2020 referendum failed in the fiscally conservative rural district but provided opportunities to meet more people and start to share the budget story.

In January 2021, the district engaged a Community Task Force of 38 community and staff members to study the challenges and propose solutions. The diverse group, including doctors, farmers, finance professionals, educators, elected officials, and staff eventually recommended a second referendum, which gained broad community support (63%) in 2021. A blend of face-to-face and virtual meetings, surveys, feedback loops, and strategic planning helped the district secure local funding and stabilize finances.

strong communities. strong schools. vote on or before nov 2
Cambridge-Isanti Schools voting flyers
it's a great day to be a bluejacket thank you voters c-i schools

Related Work

An employee recruitment brochure for Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 reading "No Matter What You Do, WE NEED YOU!"

Fountain Fort Carson District 8
STAFF RECRUITMENT

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]]> Nova Classical Academy: Defining Communication Strategies https://www.celpr.com/nova-communications-audit-strategic-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nova-communications-audit-strategic-plan Wed, 07 Feb 2024 17:33:17 +0000 https://www.celpr.com/?p=15510

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NOVA CLASSICAL ACADEMY

Seeking Excellence: Defining and Refining Nova’s Communications Strategies

From employees to families, Nova Classical Academy has discerning audiences with high expectations for excellence. Recognizing an opportunity to improve communications, Nova Classical Academy sought a partner to audit communications and provide actionable strategies to meet the needs of stakeholders.
slide deck designs for nova classical academy

Decoding Nova Classical’s Communication Effectiveness

Our partnership with Nova began with a thorough Communications Audit (including focus groups, secret shopping, and competitive analysis) aimed at enhancing communication effectiveness. This process uncovered strengths and opportunities within Nova’s existing communication channels. Our approach prioritized transparency, alignment with organizational goals, and exceeding stakeholder expectations.

The audit confirmed high trust levels but also uncovered misconceptions about the school’s identity and lack of understanding about classical education. To address these findings, we tailored recommendations to bridge communication gaps and align messaging with Nova’s strategic objectives.

student smiling
flyer for nova strategic plan

Our overarching goals for Nova Classical Academy were clear: to develop a practical communications plan that could be implemented within their organizational structure and resources. Effectively describing and communicating classical education principles, we sought to engage a diverse audience. Furthermore, we aligned communications with four main messaging pillars: inspiring the highest level of learning and growth, building awareness and understanding of their educational offerings, celebrating successes, and strengthening organizational values. With strategic alignment and targeted messaging, Nova Classical Academy could further its reputation and foster meaningful connections with its stakeholders.

"Choosing CEL for communication support has proven to be an outstanding choice for our small public charter school. Their attentive listening enabled them to craft a tailored plan that leveraged our limited resources and precisely met our needs. From evaluating the effectiveness of our existing communications to developing our capacity and strategy for sharing our vision, their dedication and expertise were evident throughout, culminating in impactful and engaging communications that resonate with our community."

~BRETT WEdLUND, Ed.d., executive director
brett wedlund ed.d.
Nova Classical Academy newsletter

In addition to refining messaging, we provided Nova with tailored solutions designed for both immediate impact and long-term success.

Our recommendations ranged from quick fixes to address pressing communication challenges to strategic roadmaps for sustained growth. By providing flexible recommendations tailored to Nova’s unique requirements, we ensured a communications program within time and budget constraints while guiding Nova toward its communication goals.

At Nova Classical Academy, the individuals responsible for communication wear many hats, juggling multiple responsibilities in their daily roles. Recognizing this dynamic, our approach focused on delivering concise and actionable messages, reputation management tactics, and a streamlined communication plan that busy administrators could execute with consistency. We reduced their communications platforms from three to a single solution and developed branded templates to ensure easy deployment for all content creators.

Nova Classical Academy Vision & Virtue Smore Newsletter Banner

From Now to Next: Crafting Solutions for Every Horizon

With communication goals in place, we designed Nova’s social media strategy to support its learning goals, cultivated a culture of recognition, and fostered collaborative communication practices.

A year later, when Nova Classical Academy embarked on Strategic Planning, we re-engaged to ensure robust stakeholder engagement and participation in the planning process. A strategic two-way communications plan ensured stakeholders would embrace and support emerging priorities for the charter school. Once adopted, we supported the Strategic Plan with visual communication elements that keep the school’s values and priorities highly visible to all.

Our partnership with Nova exemplifies our commitment to delivering strategic solutions that drive meaningful results. When school communication aligns with learning goals, achievement takes center stage.

Through an insightful communications audit, practical recommendations, and a structured approach to communication, Nova Classical Academy achieved newfound clarity in its messaging, strengthened stakeholder engagement, and strengthened its position as a premier educational institution poised for continued success in its communication endeavors.

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]]> Richfield Public Schools https://www.celpr.com/richfields-school-marketing-agency/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=richfields-school-marketing-agency Fri, 27 Sep 2019 18:24:32 +0000 https://www.celpr.com/?p=8468

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Integrated Marketing for Richfield Public Schools

Despite a long history and a strong sense of community, Richfield Public Schools had never engaged in a districtwide branding process. Each school had its own mascot and a rather complex district logo looked dated and tried to communicate too much. For a district often referred to by realtors as “an up and coming community for young families,” the district brand needed to inspire confidence. Richfield Public Schools engaged CEL as their school district marketing agency to lead the rebranding process and integrated marketing communications.

national school public relations association golden achievement award
NSPRA Golden Achievement Award
2020 Branding

richfield stationary, business cards

Branding

Stakeholder engagement is key to CEL’s branding process. Originally contracted as a partner, CEL was to facilitate four meetings with key stakeholder groups and design a new logo and brand assets to unify the schools, define brand promises and key messages, and leave the district with a brand style guide and suggested roll-out plan. Mid-project, when the district’s communications director transitioned, the project-scope expanded to include more than a dozen community meetings, online feedback tools and webinars to engage stakeholders. Richfield also turned to CEL to fill interim communications needs for the district.

Focused on enriching and accelerating learning, Richfield’s brand promises communicate high expectations for students, staff, parents, and community members. In Richfield Public Schools, you will find real community – rich in diversity and relationships; personalized learning; rich opportunities; and innovation in action. A custom-designed Richfield logo and brand assets communicate a modern and inclusive community. The brand roll-out included storytelling; an Op-Ed in the local paper; a brand guide; digital assets shared widely through the district’s Google Suite; updated website, social media and stationery; an online apparel store; and a welcome back video, which quickly became the district’s most shared social media post.

DOWNLOAD OUR BRAND CHECKLIST TO INSPIRE YOUR BRAND EXPANSION
all richfield logos
sports apparel at richfield
richfield calendar
richfield middle school common area

"From facilitating listening sessions and engaging different perspectives from our community, CEL made it happen. They helped us to develop priorities and roll-out the extensive list of brand items in a strategic way."

– STEVEN UNOWSKY, SUPERINTENDENT

Website Design & Content Migration

Website Content Management System powered by Finalsite

Richfield Public Schools is a multilingual, progressive community that attracts young families. The district needed a mobile-first website that would support storytelling and be easy to maintain in multiple languages. Sharing content from the district site across multiple school sites was critically important for their one-person communication office.

CEL led the district through a website redesign and content migration. Our six-step MissionIgnition™ process engaged a variety of stakeholders in setting project goals, content assessment, site mapping and design feedback. When the global pandemic hit mid-project, the CEL team worked behind the scenes to keep things moving, migrate content and launch the site on time.

Website Features:

  • Mobile-first design.
  • Shared content — from news items to policies and handbooks, the site is designed with a create once, publish everywhere mentality.
  • School district marketing focus for all content.
  • The entire site is multilingual and easily changes the content to one of three languages that are translated authentically (i.e. not Google Translate).
  • The Academics page is aligned with integration communication goals, promoting high expectations for academic achievement for all students.
  • Advanced search, Find it Fast icons, and the main menu open together to encourage the use of the search functionality to easily locate relevant content.
  • A vibrant, photo-filled enrollment page walks school shoppers through their information-gathering experience.
  • Micropermissions allow school content managers access to only the areas they need to change.
  • The athletic/activities area is fully integrated with the athletic conference scheduling system, so updates are automated and school staff update content in only one location.
  • As its school marketing agency, CEL knows the importance of an online style guide to protect the brand, while easily sharing assets with internal and external partners and vendors.
  • ADA compliance and search engine optimization are built into every page of the site which now has clear brand authority.
richfield high school website scrolling on laptop

Interim Communications Director

When the district’s communications director resigned in April, CEL, a school marketing agency, stepped in to create an emotional connection to the brand and to support the district through the busy summer months. Completing the branding project was followed by a brand roll-out plan, summer publications, social media, and media relations. CEL also consulted on the recruitment and selection process to hire a new (Rockstar) communications director.

Deliverables

  • Brand Style Guide and Brand Toolkit for all district employees and vendors.
  • More than 336 logo files available for employee and vendor use (e.g. horizontal and stacked lock-ups; .eps, .jpg, .png files; one-color, two-color, four-color and reversed).
  • Website news items,  stakeholders announcements of the new brand assets and promises.
  • Partnering with Captivate Media, CEL scripted a brand roll-out video (see next) with engaged students and families.
  • Updated and maintained all social media accounts.
  • Branded apparel and welcome back swag for all staff.
  • Sample athletic team mock-ups, design files and online spirit-wear store.
  • Design and copywriting for City-School District Calendar, district newsletter, business cards, district name tags
  • Google Suite and Office templates for letterhead, slide decks, and message cards
  • Collaborated with architects for interior and exterior environmental signage for architects and facilities projects.
  • Created and implemented a strategic social media campaign for back to school.
  • Digital assets: banner templates, social media frames, email headers and signatures.
  • Letter to the editor, news release, trade show tablecloths, outreach to youth associations and community groups.
  • Updated external review sites, local media, state high school league, third party technology systems.
  • Homecoming t-shirt and signage designs with the new school mascot.
student in cap and gown at graduation
richfield social media posts on phones
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