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Peoria Unified lays out marketing and communications plan to shore up enrollment and community connections
Summary
District communications staff described a combined earned, paid and owned media approach on June 11, aimed at improving enrollment, recruitment and community trust; priorities include parent experience, volunteer outreach, and making it easier for prospective families to find enrollment information online.
Peoria Unified’s communications team on June 11 presented a multipart marketing and community engagement approach intended to stabilize enrollment, increase community satisfaction and strengthen outreach to families who are not currently enrolled.
The communications director framed the work as a mix of earned media (news and organic social reach), paid advertising (targeted recruitment and enrollment campaigns) and owned assets (district website, Unified magazine and Canvas/ParentSquare channels). The team emphasized a research‑driven planning process (research, planning, implementation, evaluation) and said the goal is to measure outcomes — not only raw engagement statistics — by tracking whether communications change behavior (for example, increasing kindergarten registration or attendance at family engagement events).
Examples of recent tactical work included a targeted kindergarten campaign that combined digital ads and principal toolkits, a recruitment campaign for bus drivers and teaching staff that adapted messaging to younger applicant cohorts, and plans to pilot student‑generated content through a controlled classroom submission tool for social media. The team also previewed a redesigned district website intended to make enrollment links and program information easier to find, and announced a planned community resource fair to connect families with local nonprofits and services.
Board members praised the emphasis on metrics that tie communications to enrollments and asked for briefings so the board can monitor outcomes. Several members also suggested more active outreach to retired residents and the faith and business community to broaden volunteer recruitment and to invite non‑parent residents to events.
Staff said they will bring back more detailed campaign results and requested quarterly performance summaries that connect outreach spending to outcomes the board can track.
