Dalton, Georgia, known nationally as the “Carpet Capital of the World”, is a tight-knit community of 7,500 students and a fiercely loyal alumni base spanning multiple generations. Here, school spirit runs deep. Friday night football is a community gathering, and the district’s ten schools all carry cat-themed mascots like Pumas, Cougars, and Wildcats.
Dalton Public Schools (DPS) Executive Director of Communications Kendra Pannell says she sees that school spirit on display throughout the community, “We have our 70 year old men who were in the band all those years ago, still showing up in school gear at games and marching in our local parade.”
In early 2024, that Dalton pride was being tested. As enrollment climbed and the district grew more diverse, the communications systems struggled under the weight of the growing parent demands like message translation. Outdated tools forced families to hunt across multiple platforms for even basic updates. Parents looking for something as simple as a back-to-school list found themselves clicking through incorrect or outdated webpages and even lingering COVID-era bulletins.
“When I got here,” recalls Pannell, “I quickly realized we didn’t have a cohesive plan or the tools to share our story. Our team was talented, but the systems actually made it harder to communicate.”
A Patchwork That Couldn’t Keep Up
Dalton Public Schools’ communication problems stemmed from a patchwork of outdated and inefficient tools that forced staff into redundancies, created brand inconsistencies, and left families disengaged.
Disconnected Tools, Inconsistent Messaging
Website: The existing site was outdated and difficult to navigate. Pannell was frustrated that support from their vendor took weeks not hours. The Content Management System was antiquated and required a homegrown instruction manual just to operate.
Mobile App: A third-party app housed broken links and outdated pages, leaving parents skeptical of its reliability.
Social Media: Dalton’s previous brand could not keep pace with the district’s growth and evolution. As the district outgrew its old identity and began shaping who it was becoming, campaigns and content no longer aligned with the brand, making it harder to authentically tell Dalton’s story.
Staff Burden & Inefficiency
The complexity of juggling multiple systems, from the website to a separate mass messaging system, meant the communications team spent too much time fixing tools instead of creating meaningful content. The underlying issue was clear: the tools were working against the communications team rather than empowering them.
From Frustration to Focus
When Pannell took over in January 2024, the first step was a comprehensive communications audit. Her background in collegiate athletics branding gave her a sharp lens for identifying opportunities, This wasn’t just a technology upgrade. DPS needed to design systems that built brand trust in every message. “We needed tools that could match the speed of communication today,” Pannell explained.
Setting Clear Goals
The communications team identified three non-negotiables:
A Unified System – One platform to handle all external and internal communications.
Accessibility for Families – Parents should find any piece of information within two clicks. Information should be available in multiple languages on all platforms.
Brand Consistency – Every communication should reinforce the Dalton Public Schools identity.
The "What If" Moment
Having worked with Apptegy in her previous role at Gordon County Schools, Pannell already had used the Apptegy platform to unify her entire communications ecosystem. She showed her Dalton Public Schools leadership team how the district could tell its success stories consistently, while pushing updates simultaneously to the website, social channels, and a mobile app in seconds. The turning point came when her superintendent was supportive and gave the green light to make the necessary changes.
Stakeholder Buy-In
Initial reactions from staff and parents were cautious. Many staff and families were wary of change. Parnell tackled this head-on with an intentional rollout:
QR codes & posters were strategically placed in schools and community centers.
Targeted outreach to local media outlets and influencer networks.
Principal encouragement in weekly school communication.
“We made it clear,” Pannell said. “If you want to know anything happening in Dalton Public Schools, this app is the place to go.”
The Solution & Implementation
DPS rolled out Apptegy’s Thrillshare platform, a centralized communications hub designed to manage everything from website updates to emergency alerts, newsletters, and social media posting. The district’s communications team could now draft a single update and publish it simultaneously to:
The district and school websites
Facebook and Instagram
The parent mobile app
Phone calls, texts, email and App push notifications
Email newsletters
Even notify media for press coverage
This eliminated extra work, reduced errors, and ensured every communication was both fast and consistent across all channels.
A Community Reconnected
Website Overhaul
Launched in August 2024, the new website prioritized user experience with the “two-click rule” guiding navigation decisions. Parents should be able to find what they are looking for in just two mouse clicks. The results were immediate. Page visits skyrocketed a whopping 734%, with over 729,641 additional clicks in just the first year! Parents praised being able to “actually find my kid’s back-to-school list” without digging.
Mobile App Success
DPS achieved a 40% parent adoption rate for the new district app in just a few days, even outpacing the previous system’s entire usage history within a week. Integration with Rooms, Apptegy’s two-way messaging tool, meant families didn’t just receive updates, they could directly connect with teachers and staff all in one place.
Social Storytelling at Scale
Apptegy empowered school and district content creators to contribute significantly more brand-aligned and student engaging content. By scheduling and targeting posts, DPS increased Facebook interactions by 492.6% and Instagram reach by 550.5%!
Perhaps more important than any metric, families now view DPS communications as timely, accessible, and trustworthy. Staff feel empowered rather than burdened, and the district’s brand is now consistent across every message.
As Pannell puts it: “We didn’t just make plans. We built systems. And those systems have changed everything. Right now we are flourishing!” All of this work completed in just 18 months earned Kendra Pannell the Georgia School Public Relations Association 2025 Communicator of the Year Award.
Making Your Mark
In August of 2025, Dalton Public Schools launched the final piece of the plan: A refreshed logo and slogans to unify the entire brand effort. Gone was the old logo with 10 leaves representing their 10 schools:
It was replaced by a fresh new homegrown design that capitalized on their unifying cat mascot theme. The “D” in the Dalton now had a cat scratch mark built in. The district now markets itself with the slogan “ Make Your Mark” at Dalton Public Schools.
Pannell explains, “We want our students to leave their mark. We want to know how our alumni are out there leaving a mark. We want our teachers to leave a mark on our community. “
