While most schools closed due to COVID and scrambled to build remote learning systems, Twin Peaks made a choice that would define it: they stayed open.

"We said, 'No, we believe human connection is vital,'" Burns recalls. "We followed all health protocols, but we believed face-to-face learning was too important to lose."

That stance was a game changer. The school grew by nearly 100 students that year.

"Families came because they wanted human connection," Burns says. "They wanted something steady in the chaos."

It was the school's first moment of clarity: standing firm made them stand out.

From Pretzel Necklaces to Strategic Storytelling

Burns laughs when she describes all of the marketing attempts. Farmers markets. Parades. Pretzel necklaces at Oktoberfest.

"People were like, 'Why is a school handing out pretzels?'" she says. "And we said, 'Because we want you to know who we are.'"

Those stunts built visibility. But what really shifted things was how Twin Peaks Classical Academy began telling its story.

We decided to get serious about marketing, but we had no idea what that meant. We basically threw spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck.”

Burns then found Apptegy’s SchoolCEO magazine and the research there became her brand building blueprint.

"We stopped just pushing flyers and started pushing feelings," Burns explains. "We showed who we were instead of just saying it."

“If It’s Not a Smiling Kid or Teacher, It Better Be Our Logo.”

Burns’ social media philosophy could fit on a bumper sticker.

“If it’s not a smiling kid or a smiling teacher, it better be our logo,” she says. “Those are your only options.”

Scroll through Twin Peaks' social media and live feeds and you'll see kindergartners flipping pancakes, middle schoolers building catapults, teachers laughing with students. Everything feels authentic. Nothing feels canned.

"We used to post generic graphics that weren't ours," Burns says. "Now everything tells our story. Every post points back to who we are."

Her strategy: show, don't spin. "We post the great things happening in our school every day. Because when something bad happens, and something always will, it's drowned out by everything good that people already know about us."

For Twin Peaks Classical Academy’s new found clarity of mission, telling that story at scale required the right tool.

"I was copying and pasting across platforms," Burns says. "Website, Facebook, the app, alerts—it was endless duplication. I'd spend hours just making sure the same message went everywhere."

Then came Apptegy.

The platform became Twin Peaks' single source of truth. Apptegy integrates the website, social media, alerts, and mobile app into one streamlined system.

"Now I do it once and it publishes everywhere," Burns says. "I can be standing in a classroom, take a picture, write a quick caption, and publish it to every channel in 30 seconds."

That immediacy also matters in emergencies. Burns’ rule for crisis communication: beat the news home. When the school evacuated recently, Burns sent an alert from her phone in the parking lot. "One click, and it went out by text, email, and phone call. That's what families expect: speed and transparency."

The platform also turns prospective families into believers before they even visit. "We ask them to download the app when they tour," Burns explains. "That way they see how we actually communicate. They see the tone, the consistency. It's not just what we say about ourselves. It's what we show them."

District Quality Communication on a Charter Budget

For Burns, Apptegy isn't just software. It's leverage.

"It gives us the polish of a district with ten times our budget," she says. "We're a single-campus school, but our communication feels enterprise-level."

The system's simplicity eliminated bottlenecks. Before, multiple people needed access to multiple platforms. Now, Burns and her small team manage everything from one dashboard. "We move fast without tripping over ourselves," she says.

The analytics help too. "I can see what posts resonate, what times people engage," Burns says. "That turns instinct into insight."

But the biggest win is philosophical. "Apptegy helps us live our values," she says. "We're low-tech in the classroom because we prioritize human connection. But Apptegy lets us be high-tech in how we show that off. It's the tool that lets us thrive in a high-tech world without compromising who we are."

She pauses. "Apptegy has helped us find our voice. It's how we amplify who we really are."

The Word-of-Mouth Machine

Despite sophisticated communication tools, Twin Peaks Classical Academy’s real engine remains families talking to families.

"People always tell us, 'I heard about you from a friend,'" Burns says. "That's the best marketing there is."

But word-of-mouth only works when there's something worth talking about and when people can easily see it for themselves. That's where consistent, authentic communication becomes the multiplier.

"Apptegy doesn't create our story," Burns says. "But it makes sure everyone can see it. When they see it every day: real kids, real teachers, real moments, they believe it. Then they tell others."

The clarity doesn't just attract families. It attracts teachers too. "I don't struggle with teacher shortage like others do," Burns says. "People want to work here. They believe in our mission."

"We're not trying to be the biggest," Burns says, glancing at those twin peaks through her window. "We're trying to be the truest version of who we are."

That authenticity has given Twin Peaks Classical Academy something rare in education: sustained, stable growth built on trust.

Define identity first. Know what you stand for before you amplify it.

Show, don't tell. Authentic daily communication builds trust better than any brochure.

Make it easy to share your story. The right tools turn communication from a burden into a strategic advantage.

Consistency compounds. Frequent, genuine posts create a reservoir of goodwill that protects you when challenges arise.

"Apptegy helps us live our values," she says. "We're low-tech in the classroom because we prioritize human connection. But Apptegy lets us be high-tech in how we show that off. It's the tool that lets us thrive in a high-tech world without compromising who we are."

Alycia Burns, Executive Director, Twin Peaks Classical Academy