Families Don’t Leave Schools. They Leave Experiences. How Communications Leaders Stop Enrollment Loss and Win Trust Back
Date: 7/21/2026
Time: 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Room: Grand Ballroom A (Floor 1)
Skill Session - Live lecture, panel discussion or interactive session with time for Q&A. 60-minutes.
MARKETING–Marketing/branding for school systems, student enrollment, employee recruitment
Session Description
Enrollment loss is no longer a distant concern. It is an immediate threat to district funding, staffing stability, program access, and public trust. Across the country, families are quietly leaving not because of one bad headline, but because the enrollment experience feels confusing, slow, and disconnected at the moment trust matters most.
This workshop is built for K–12 communications leaders who have been pulled into enrollment challenges without clear authority, shared ownership, or a practical roadmap. Co-presented by Justin Elbert of Klein ISD and Greg Turchetta of Apptegy, the session shows how enrollment becomes a districtwide responsibility led through communications, branding, and customer experience.
The session is anchored in Klein ISD’s ongoing Operation 54K initiative, a multi-year effort to restore pre-pandemic enrollment levels by focusing on retention, trust, and experience rather than short-term recruitment tactics. Participants will see how Klein reframed enrollment as a customer experience issue, not simply a marketing or registrar function, and how that shift reshaped internal alignment, leadership engagement, and messaging discipline.
Attendees will learn why continuity rate, the percentage of students who choose to stay year over year, must be the starting point for enrollment strategy. Using real-world examples, the session examines common drivers of enrollment loss including middle school churn, growth in online schooling, homeschool decisions tied to safety perception, and fear-based non-enrollment among Hispanic families. The workshop addresses how communications leaders can responsibly message success, safety, and belonging without legal paralysis or political escalation.
This is a highly interactive session designed for practitioners. Participants will conduct live enrollment journey audits, evaluate district websites for enrollment clarity, identify trust-breaking friction points, and build a practical 30-60-90 day enrollment action plan they can execute immediately.
The session also tackles leadership and governance dynamics. Participants will learn how to brief boards on enrollment without creating panic, how to frame enrollment work in ROI terms leaders understand, and how to coordinate communications, registrars, IT, and academics without restructuring the organization. Klein ISD examples demonstrate how internal branding, clear ownership, and disciplined messaging move enrollment from concern to action.
Attendees will leave with actionable tools, shared language, and confidence to lead enrollment work as a strategic communications function. The core message is simple and urgent. Families do not leave schools lightly. They leave when the experience stops earning their trust.
Presenter(s)
Justin Elbert
Executive Director of Communications
Klein ISD
Strategic Communications Executive with 15+ years of successful leadership in public relations, crisis management, and digital engagement. Proven track record in driving stakeholder trust, enhancing brand reputation, and transforming communications functions for large institutions. Recognized nationally for communication excellence, including multiple TSPRA Star Awards and the NSPRA 35 Under 35 honor. Adept at leading cross-functional teams, executing award-winning media campaigns, and navigating complex public affairs landscapes. Frequent presenter at state school communications conferences and past presenter at the NSPRA Annual Seminar.
Klein ISD
14 yrs 1 mo14 yrs 1 mo
Executive Director Of Communications
Executive Director Of Communications
Full-timeFull-time
Feb 2022 - Present · 3 yrs 11 mosFeb 2022 to Present · 3 yrs 11 mos
Klein, TXKlein, TX
• Led a 12-member communications team supporting over 54,000 students and 7,500 staff across 52 campuses.
• Drive strategic communication initiatives, including reputation management, crisis communication, digital engagement, and stakeholder messaging.
• Cultivated state and national recognition through proactive media relations and award-winning storytelling. LinkedIn Profile
Greg Turchetta
Strategic Communications Advisor
Apptegy
Presenter: Greg Turchetta, Strategic Communications Advisor, Apptegy
Greg has spent his entire 32 career practicing and then teaching the art of branded storytelling. For 22 years, he produced Emmy award-winning television news programs and then taught reporters and anchors how to do it as a newsroom editorial leader. Looking to make a greater impact, he then took that media and marketing experience to K-12 serving as a Chief Communications Officer for 10 years at 4 different school systems. Since joining Apptegy, Greg has trained K-12 school districts to tell their own success stories and proactively build their brands to recruit students, staff and create authentic community engagement. Greg has been a K-12 thought leader and a featured presenter at state and national conferences since 2014.
LinkedIn Profile
Families Don’t Leave Schools. They Leave Experiences. How Communications Leaders Stop Enrollment Loss and Win Trust Back
Category
Skill Session - Live lecture, panel discussion or interactive session with time for Q&A. 60-minutes.