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Clay launches digital and outreach push to recruit families and simplify enrollment
Summary
The district's new communications team described a multi-pronged plan to use Apogee rooms, a refreshed website and targeted outreach to increase enrollment, surface career/CTE pathways and streamline registration.
The Clay County School District's newly formed community relations team presented a multi-year plan at the Jan. 27 workshop to sharpen the district's messaging, simplify enrollment and use teacher and school-level channels to increase family engagement.
Bridal Thomas, the district's chief communications and community engagement officer, described three priorities: digital excellence and brand storytelling (including a "Why I chose Clay" testimonial campaign), capturing entry points (simplified "Enroll Now" pathways on the website and early-learning pages) and a stronger family experience (school tours, registration assistance and a planned "Ask Clay" concierge button to route parent inquiries).
The team highlighted a recent technology rollout: a district-wide move to Apogee rooms and a OnePlay app that centralizes teacher-family messaging; they reported 94% teacher adoption of rooms and tens of thousands of messages and announcements across the district since July. Thomas said the communications group will prioritize making the website content easier to find for parents (organize by family needs rather than internal departmental structure) and instructed schools to craft elevator pitches for their special programs such as Cambridge, CTE pathways and fine arts.
The presentation included targeted marketing cost estimates (billboards, radio, mailers) and a recommendation to first maximize owned/district channels before spending on external buys. Board members urged micro-targeted mailers and community event presence (fairs, festivals) to recover students who left for charter or private options, especially at secondary levels where district career and CTE offerings can be a competitive advantage.
What happens next: the communications team will refine the website's enrollment pathways, continue Apogee adoption and coordinate targeted outreach and event presence for spring recruitment.
