Thousands of school PR, marketing, and communications professionals joined Finalsite for its annual School PR Day, a virtual conference focused on one shared goal: helping schools communicate with more purpose and impact.

The event brought school communicators together for a day of inspiration, how-tos, tips, and advice, building on the message that while tools may change fast, strong school communications still depend on human connection.

There's a lot to take in, and we know you’re busy, so if you missed any of the live sessions, you can still collect your free All-Access pass and catch up on all the recorded sessions and resources!

Here are just a few highlights from the 10+ hours of content!

Key Takeaways From School PR Day

From Joe Lazer’s keynote on storytelling in the AI age to sessions on leadership alignment, short-form video, AI chatbots, accessibility, and high-traffic website pages, the day gave attendees new ways to think about how every message, page, post, and click shapes the family experience.

This year’s event focused on a few major themes for school communicators, like:

• Storytelling is one of the strongest ways schools can build trust and stand out in the AI age.
• Better communication starts with stronger alignment between district leaders and comms teams.
• Families need stronger messages that are targeted, timely, and easy to act on.
• AI can support school teams, but human judgment and voice still matter.
• Accessibility, analytics, and family-first content all help schools strengthen trust at every touchpoint.

Joe Lazer on Storytelling as the Super Skill for the AI Age

Joe Lazer, best-selling author of The Storytelling Edge and Super Skill, headlined the day with a message for school communicators: AI can create more content, but people create connections.

In his keynote, “Super Skill: Unlock Your Storytelling Superpowers for the AI Age,” Lazer explained why storytelling has become one of the most valuable skills in modern communication.

Families are surrounded by emails, alerts, newsletters, short videos, social posts, search results, and AI-generated content, but a strong story helps a school’s message feel human. It gives people a reason to care.

His keynote served as a reminder that school communicators already have powerful stories all around them: student growth, teacher dedication, leadership decisions, family experiences, community support, and the everyday moments that show what a school values.

Leadership and Communications Need the Same Playbook

Another major theme was the relationship between district leadership and the communications office.

The session “Setting the Tone: What Leadership Needs From Communications (and Vice Versa)” focused on what happens when leadership priorities shift quickly, and communications teams must keep families and staff informed.

Tone may start with leadership, but it eventually lands in an inbox, app alert, social post, website update, or staff newsletter. Superintendent Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt and the Alexandria City Public Schools team shared their expectations around decisions, timing, responsiveness, and message planning.

That alignment supports one of the biggest goals of school PR: building trust before, during, and after major decisions.

Message Fatigue Is a Trust Issue

School communicators know the signs of message fatigue: lower open rates, rising complaints, missed updates, and families saying they never saw the message.

The session “Managing Message Fatigue in a 24/7 Communications Job” looked at how schools can send fewer, stronger messages without losing visibility for urgent or required information.

The focus was on smarter targeting, reducing repeat updates, and helping families choose the information they receive. The session gave attendees ideas for newsletters, alerts, app messaging, and data-informed decisions, but the larger takeaway was that every message should have a purpose, an audience, and a channel that fits the need.

School Storytelling Has Become Faster, More Visual, and More Ongoing

School social media keeps changing, but the goal remains the same: help people see what makes a school community worth believing in.

The session “Communications for the Era of Fast, Visual, and Always On” focused on short-form video and social-first storytelling. School communicators don’t need to chase every trend, but instead, they can use simple, repeatable formats to share people, moments, updates, and stories in ways that match how families already consume information.

AI is Moving From Experiment to Everyday Support

AI was another major thread throughout the day. In “Your New Front Office Team Member,” attendees saw how AI chatbots can support school websites by answering common family questions about bell schedules, forms, enrollment, calendars, and “where do I find…” moments.

Instead of sending every question to the front office, an AI chatbot can help families get answers on the website, in multiple languages, at the moment they need help.

The session also showed how chatbot questions can provide insights into content gaps, confusing navigation, or pages that need an update.

High-Traffic Website Pages Deserve More Attention

The homepage often gets the most attention during a website project, but families may spend more time on pages like the calendar, lunch menu, staff directory, transportation page, or enrollment information.

Improving these pages can reduce repeat questions, support mobile users, and help families feel more confident using the school website.

• That was the focus of “Stop Babysitting the Homepage: Fix Your High-Traffic Pages,” which helped attendees think about the pages families rely on most when they need an answer fast.

• "Behind the Redesign with Northville Public Schools" gave the inside scoop from the district as they walked through their website redesign from kickoff to launch. They shared their decisions on navigation, content cleanup, and accessibility, as well as the results they’ve seen since going live.
   
• The session “Put Your Schools on the Map: Creating a Parent-Friendly Search for Schools” added another family-first lens. For districts with many schools, a school finder can help families understand options, locations, programs, boundaries, and next steps without calling multiple offices.

Together, these sessions reinforced the idea that the best school websites are built around the tasks families most often need to complete.

Accessibility and Analytics Help Schools Serve Families Better

“The Accessibility Deadline is  Was TOMORROW. What You Can Fix (Right Now) to Improve Accessibility” focused on updates schools can make to improve access to online information, while “Follow the Clicks: A Starter Guide to GA4 for Districts” helped school teams better understand how families use their websites.

Together, accessibility and analytics help school communicators answer two important questions:

• Can families use this information?
• And can we see what they need next?

When schools use both lenses, they can make better decisions about website content, navigation, message placement, and family support.

Thanks for the reminder that we need to slow down and ask the question "What does the data tell us?" and if we don't have the data, we need to put that back into the process!

School Communicators are Learning from Each Other

Some of the most valuable moments at School PR Day came from peer conversations.

• “I’d Never Do THAT Again: What School Communicators Would Change Next Time” gave attendees space to learn from school PR professionals who have been through high-pressure moments and hard decisions.
   
• “Staying Inspired, Grounded, and Energized in School Communications,” with Lesley Bruinton, put mental health in the spotlight and shared helpful strategies for staying motivated, engaged, and present in school communications.

Watch All the School PR Day Sessions

Missed a session or want to revisit your favorites? Register for the free All-Access pass to watch the School PR Day 2026 recordings and catch up on the sessions, resources, and ideas shared throughout the event!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connor has spent the last decade within the field of marketing and communications, working with independent schools and colleges throughout New England. At Finalsite, Connor plans and executes marketing strategies and digital content across the web. A former photojournalist, he has a passion for digital media, storytelling, coffee, and creating content that connects.