For Stephanie Hawkins, Austin ISD’s Community Relations Coordinator, the crisis wasn’t born from apathy but from overwhelm. Many families were juggling multiple jobs, long commutes, and a tangle of communication tools. “They weren’t disengaged because they didn’t care,” she says. “They were getting messages from five different places: emails, texts, apps, newsletters. By the time they figured out where to look, it was too late to act.”

That fragmentation, she adds, deepened long-standing divides. “Our Black and Brown families told us they didn’t always feel included. They didn’t feel like we saw their kids the same way. If families don’t feel seen or heard, communication breaks down before it even starts.”

When she was tapped to lead community relations, Hawkins didn’t begin by installing new tools or writing new policies. She started by listening. Her path to communication leadership wasn’t linear. She joined the district years earlier as a wellness and employee assistance coordinator. “I never thought I’d be in communications,” she laughs. “It’s been a journey.” Her work in wellness taught her to see systems holistically. To spot where breakdowns occur and to approach every problem through the lens of human behavior. “Whether it’s health or attendance or communication, it’s all about engagement,” she says.

When a mentor encouraged her to take on a role in community relations, she hesitated. “He told me, ‘You relate to people.’ And I said, ‘I don’t even like people!’” she jokes. “But he said, ‘No, you hold everyone accountable, including yourself. You get things done.’ And he was right.” That relentless, strategic mindset became her calling card. “I’m a very organized person,” Hawkins explains. “If I see a fire, I’ll hold everyone to it, me included. I’ll say it in a nice way, but I’m going to make sure we fix it.”

When Hawkins began assessing Austin ISD’s communication systems, she found what she calls “a patchwork quilt.” Teachers used ClassDojo or Remind. Principals ran their own newsletters. The district sent alerts through a separate system altogether. “We had good tools,” she says, “but no unified strategy. We made it easy for us, not for families—and that had to change.”

So she gathered her teams and started asking questions:

Where does communication break down? What do families actually need? Her approach mirrored the public-health models she’d studied in graduate school.

“Listen first,” she told her team. “Tell me your needs, not your wants. Wants are noise; needs are the truth.” That discovery process revealed the root cause of Austin’s disengagement: complexity. Families weren’t ignoring messages. They were drowning in them. “Austin didn’t need another tool,” Hawkins says. “We needed a new communication culture built on simplicity, consistency, and ease of use.”

The answer came in the form of Apptegy’s unified platform, which allowed Austin ISD to consolidate text messages, calls, emails, newsletters, social media, and mobile-app notifications under one branded system. Every message now came from one recognizable voice: Austin ISD’s.

“Families were telling us, ‘We’re tired of logging into 14 apps just to know what’s going on,’” Hawkins says. “So we said, We heard you. Now, there’s one platform for you to communicate with us.”

For the district, the shift wasn’t just operational; it was cultural. It meant putting the district’s brand—not a vendor’s—front and center. Every school and every family would now interact with the same consistent, trustworthy voice.

Change began in an unexpected place: a parent meeting. “One parent said, ‘We love the attendance notifications, but can we get them earlier in the day?’” Hawkins recalls. “That one comment shifted everything.” Previously, attendance calls went out late in the afternoon. By then, parents couldn’t fix the problem. It was too late to bring their child to school or call in an excuse.

Through a collaborative effort with the district's IT, Attendance, and Communications departments, they were able to redesign the entire process.

Step 1: Official attendance recorded

Step 2: Data synced from Frontline to Apptegy

Step 3: Automated notifications sent to parents.

“If parents know sooner, they can troubleshoot that day,” she says. “And they did.”

The team built a tiered system: daily robocalls and emails for every absence, followed by three-day and ten-day email notifications for ongoing issues. “That simple change turned compliance nudges into real-time interventions,” Hawkins explains. “We moved from punitive to proactive.”

Within weeks, the results were visible. The number of unverified student contacts dropped from more than 1,000 to 688. Better data means more effective message delivery. More families began receiving and responding to attendance messages the same day they received them. Principals gained visibility into when and how messages were delivered.

The system change was just one part of a bigger attendance plan that drove change and results! In just one school year, attendance rose from 91.35% to 92.41%, generating roughly $4.5 million in additional state revenue, critical funds for a district facing budget cuts. Chronic absenteeism fell from 26.3% to 21.2%, and families submitted more than 18,000 absence notes online in a single month. But Hawkins says the real victory was human. “Families are finally hearing from us in a way that works for them,” she says. “This isn’t just about technology. It’s about access.”

Even as communication improved, Hawkins continued to train principals and staff personally. She explained not only how to use the system, but why message discipline and clarity mattered. “One teacher told me, ‘Convince me why I shouldn’t use ClassDojo,’” she says. “I told him, ‘Because families shouldn’t have to track 14 different logins.’”

She laughs remembering it now. “Adoption is a contact sport,” she says. “You can’t email your way to culture change. You have to be in the room.” That hands-on leadership: showing up at campuses, sitting with principals, joining calls with IT to build trust internally as well as externally.

Hawkins’ work ethic and empathy are deeply personal. “My grandmother taught us we’re here to serve,” she says. “I’ve seen so many kids, especially Black and Brown kids, be ignored. I want them to be supported the way they deserve.” She views communication as a form of equity. “If a parent can’t understand or access the message, that’s inequitable,” she says. “We made it easy for us for years. Now we’re making it easy for families.”

Her background in public health shapes that philosophy. “Engagement runs across everything,” she explains. “Health disparities, education disparities—they’re connected. When you remove barriers to communication, you give families power.”

Austin’s challenges aren’t just technical—they’re systemic. Hawkins points to historical factors, from housing segregation to bus-route design, that still affect students today. “It’s not just about attendance. It's about access.” She describes how the removal of a single public transit bus stop once forced students to walk over a mile to catch a different bus. “If you can’t get to school, attendance campaigns don’t matter,” she says. “That’s why communication has to connect departments: transportation, enrollment, family engagement. It’s all one ecosystem.”

By using the Apptegy platform to centralize alerts, newsletters, and attendance updates, Hawkins helped transform fragmented processes into coordinated outreach. “Every role now plays a part,” she says. “Teachers, secretaries, and principals, we all share one voice.”

With district alerts unified, Hawkins turned her focus to culture. “We’ve made it easy for our families,” she says. “Now we have to keep them engaged.” Her next initiative centers on Rooms. Apptegy’s messaging center within the district app, enables safe, direct conversations between staff, students, and families in one secure place. When teachers and guardians are on the same page, students are more successful.

Four pilot schools are testing the product for a full academic year. “I told our principals, ‘You have the power to drive change for the whole district,’” she says. “Your success will show everyone what’s possible.”

Hawkins personally trains teachers at pilot campuses. “Change is hard for educators,” she admits. “So I provide the training myself. I want them to see how this helps their families, not just their workload.”

As the Rooms pilot unfolds, Hawkins is clear about what success looks like. “I need metrics and data,” she says. “For me to get buy-in from leadership, I have to show engagement rates, not just anecdotes.” She’s already tracking usage patterns, message response rates, and logins across the 4 East Austin campuses. “When families engage faster and teachers communicate more clearly, attendance improves, academics improve, trust improves,” she says. “That’s what the data will show.”

In many ways, Hawkins’ work reframes communication as infrastructure—the foundation for equity, not an accessory to it. “Families can’t participate in learning if they don’t know what’s happening,” she says. “Communication is access. It’s how we make public education public again.”

By consolidating tools, building shared language, and empowering every employee to communicate with confidence, Austin ISD is strengthening the connective tissue between schools and families. “We used to have too many voices,” Hawkins reflects. “Now we have one clear voice that sounds like Austin ISD. And that builds trust.”

Looking ahead, Hawkins’ vision is simple yet profound. “My ultimate goal is for families to say, ‘You heard us,’” she says. “That’s it. We heard you. We listened. We built something around what you said.” Parents now see tangible proof: alerts arriving earlier, attendance improving, teachers communicating consistently, all under the same district brand. “It may have taken two or three years,” she says, “but we finally got here.”

In a city defined by growth, Austin ISD’s story is one of rediscovery—not of expansion, but of connection. It’s proof that when school leaders listen deeply, design systems around families, and communicate with empathy, they can turn around more than attendance. They can turn around trust.

As Hawkins puts it, “We made it easy for families, not just for us. That’s what changed everything.”