Happy New Year, CONNECT Cohort

As we welcome 2025, it’s the perfect time to reflect on last year’s lessons and set bold new marcom goals. For those of you new to the group, the CONNECT Cohort is your space to collaborate, share best practices, and build resources with charter school marketing, enrollment, and communications colleagues across Colorado.

In this issue, we explore trends in digital marketing for education, share tips for planning the year ahead, and celebrate the incredible work happening in our schools. Plus, don’t miss our spotlight on Frontier Academy’s Kay Thompson and the inspiring events kicking off this month. Let’s make 2025 a year of growth, connection, and innovation!

National School Choice Week
Jan. 26 - Feb. 1
In honor of National School Choice Week, Governor Jared Polis issued a proclamation recognizing January 26 – February 1, 2025, as Colorado School Choice Week. Join us in making charter schools a part of the conversation! This year's events feature several celebrations, including a rally at the state Capitol and school fairs in Denver and Colorado Springs. In addition, North Star Academy, Colorado Early Colleges Douglas County North, and New Summit Charter Academy have celebrations planned, the latter two of which are open to the public. In need of inspiration? Learn more here.

Live webinar - From Chaos to Control: Mastering Crisis Communication Strategies
Jan. 29   |   9:00 AM - 10:00 AM   |   Virtual
Experts from Workday, Joele Frank and PR Newswire discuss how — by putting a proactive crisis communication plan in place  — you can better control your brand’s narrative before, during, and after the storm. Register now. 

CONNECT Lunch & Learn: The Art of Grant Writing
Feb.  13   |   12:00 PM - 1:00 PM   |   Virtual
With years of experience in both the grant writing and the education sector, the husband and wife team of Judith and Kevin Kunst, partners at TRQ Solutions, will share best practices for navigating the grant process. From choosing the best-matched opportunities to writing winning applications, you'll gain key strategies for elevating the process at your charter school, regardless of educational focus or student demographics. Add to your calendar. 

Community Engagement & Student Enrollment: Strategic Planning and Intervention
Feb. 19   |   11:45 AM - 1:15 PM   |   Virtual
This workshop focuses on strategies for boosting enrollment and community engagement. With a top-down approach, our goal is to drive best practices that help schools grow, expand and meet enrollment goals. This session will provide ample work time for attendees to start putting ideas into motion while developing policies, procedures and strategies that can exist beyond changes in staff. Book now. 

CONNECT at the 2025 Colorado Charter Schools Annual Conference
Feb. 26 - 28   |   8:30 AM - 5:00 PM   |   Denver Marriott Tech Center
Join us at the Annual Conference for our second opportunity to CONNECT in person this school year! Friday morning offers two enrollment and comms workshops — Video Content Made Easy and Attracting Latino Families to Charter Schools —  plus a special afternoon panel discussion for CONNECT members: Partners in Communication: Charter Schools and Authorizers Working as One. 

Additional highlights include: keynote speakers Maggie Jackson and Dr. Steve Perry, nearly 100 exhibitors, drone soccer demos, local author meet and greets, and an esports hub with live demos. Use code CONNECT-100-AC25 for free registration. Choose a one-day pass for Friday only or a full pass to attend the entire conference.

CONNECT Lunch & Learn
Jan.  9   |   Virtual
Guest speaker Amy Walldorf of Allyant covered what you need to know — and do — to better prepare you for HB21-1110’s digital accessibility requirements in the new year. She also touched on remediation best practices and highlighted Colorado’s new Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) grant program to assist with your accessibility compliance needs.

The session recording can be found under the Documents tab of our online CONNECT community. We hope to have Amy’s slides posted soon as well.

What Does Instagram’s Hashtag Move Mean for Marketers?
Instagram ended hashtag following this week. Some experts say it’s time to rethink your brand’s hashtag strategy, and some of their ideas may sound familiar to get your content discovered.

Real-Time Insights on the K-12 Parent Search
What if you had data to shape this year’s admissions strategy in real-time? This webinar unpacks key findings from a recent pulse survey, including the impact of AI-enabled search, what’s motivating parents to change schools, how parents first engage with the schools they’re considering and the surprising marketing channels to lean into (and away from) right now.

K-12 Enrollment Marketing Lessons from 2024 
Predictions can be fun, but experience and data are more valuable. See what we’ve learned in 2024, why it matters and what it all means for you in the new year.

Maximize Your School’s Digital Marketing on a Shoestring Budget
Many schools struggle to get the word out — out of fear of breaking the bank. The good news is that smart marketing is more about strategy than spending a lot of money. Read more. 

Transform Your School’s Campus Visit from Routine to Remarkable
Have you ever considered your campus visit experience from beginning to end? While the fundamentals of a campus tour remain the same, there are innovative approaches to elevate this experience from routine to remarkable. Read more.

Enhancing User Engagement on School Marketing Websites
Explore strategies and tactics for enhancing user engagement on school marketing websites. From intuitive navigation to compelling content and interactive features, see how schools can captivate their audience and foster meaningful connections in the digital realm. Read more.

How to Build Positive Online Reviews for Your School
Explore how you can start building positive online reviews for your school and why it’s crucial to your school’s reputation.

How to Write a Magnetic Private School “About” Page
A school website's About page often becomes a place to mention the necessities that don’t fit elsewhere—your school’s history, leadership and mission statement, for example.
While those things aren’t bad, and might belong on your website, they don’t adequately represent what your school is really “about.”

Planning your school's 2025 digital presence
Looking to ace your digital presence in 2025? These practical steps, trends and strategies will set you up for success. 

Mountain Middle School wins John Irwin award for third consecutive time
The Durango Herald   |   January 16, 2025
Mountain Middle School announced that the Colorado Department of Education had awarded it the John Irwin School of Excellence Award for the third year in a row.

Flagstaff Academy Science Teacher Awarded Prestigious Monarch Butterfly Scholarship Grant
Stacy Wolff, an elementary science teacher at Flagstaff Academy Charter School, has been awarded the esteemed Monarch Butterfly Scholarship Grant, presented by Natural Habitat Adventures in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Wolff is one of only four educators nationwide to receive this honor.

Steamboat Montessori earns top honors, takes place among state’s best charter schools
Steamboat Today   |   January 15, 2025
Felix Bradley flashed a broad smile Tuesday morning after solving a math problem using didactic materials while working with his teacher Laura Tamucci at the Steamboat Montessori Charter School west of Steamboat Springs.

Governor Polis Highlights GVA-North in Celebration of Educational Success
On Tuesday, Jan. 14, Governor Jared Polis visited Global Village Academy North (GVA-N) in Thornton to celebrate educational success in Colorado. The Governor’s visit highlights the critical role GVA-N plays in preparing Colorado’s students for success. His recognition of GVA-N in his State of the State address reinforces the importance of providing high-quality, equitable education to all students. 

Caprock Academy earns "Performance with Distinction" rating from CSI
The Daily Sentinel   |   January 8, 2025
Caprock Academy has earned a “Performance with Distinction” rating from the board of the Charter School Institute (CSI), becoming one of only 13 Colorado charter schools to earn the distinction based on 2023-2024 performance.

Have any tips or resources you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected].

Kay Thompson, Director of Community Engagement, Frontier Academy

Meet Kay—a Mexican food enthusiast with a patent-worthy love for hummus (which also happens to be the oldest item in her fridge) and a highly sensitive nose for rotten potatoes, a smell she absolutely cannot stand. (Seriously, how long does it take for them to get that bad?)

In her free time, Kay finds joy in organizing cabinets and drawers, spending quality time with family and friends, and dabbling in interior design. As both an early bird and a night owl, she often wonders if daytime naps are socially acceptable. (We say yes!)

If Kay could have one superpower, it would be the ability to fly—just like her celebrity crush, Michael Jordan, or her cosplay inspiration, Wonder Woman. She dreams of soaring through the skies to visit extended family, explore her favorite hangout (the ocean), or finally check New Zealand off her bucket list. And if she could make a pit stop in Pandora, the fictional world from Avatar, you better believe she would.

In her ideal world, Kay would be rocking out in a 90s grunge band, drumming away in neon and bold prints, or playing with her beloved childhood toy, the Cabbage Patch Doll. These days, you’ll find her channeling that energy into her local community—frequenting the Chamber of Commerce, organizing school events or learning (and wishing she could master) multiple languages. Muy bien, indeed!

You can CONNECT with this proud Northern Colorado Bear in our online community or on LinkedIn.

Upcoming Trainings The League provides a variety of quality professional development opportunities for member schools.	Our Marketplace Vendors and partners are ready to support our membership. Check out options across all categories.	Act for Charter Schools The League's ACT Network mobilizes charter school communities to strengthen and support schools statewide.
Thank you to our Premium Sponsors