Change started last spring at the Washington School Public Relations Association (WSPRA) spring conference. Gary was talking with different vendors, not expecting much, when he saw something that stopped him cold.

“One message, and it gets pushed out to the website, app, email, text, phone, website, social media all in one message,” he says. “I thought, come on. Why am I spending a half hour doing this message instead of five minutes?”

He began asking around. “I talked with colleagues in surrounding districts who had moved away from our old vendor,” he says. “They talked about what they could do. I kept thinking, why aren’t we doing this?”

After research and demos, Arlington narrowed its decision to two vendors: Apptegy made the stronger impression. “Apptegy’s team came to the superintendent’s cabinet in person,” Gary says. “They walked us through the product. It was relaxed, no pressure, all the cards on the table.”

Sometimes leadership decisions come down to instinct. “Our leadership team was super impressed,” he says. “It felt like Apptegy wanted to help us do our jobs better, not just make a sale.”

The math helped too. By consolidating vendors, Arlington would save money. “Combining everything into Apptegy’s unified platform made sense.”

Arlington went all in launching their new websites, app, mass alerts, newsletters, and Rooms for two-way communication all at the same time.

The rollout began over the summer. Training was straightforward and tailored to what schools actually do. Apptegy’s support team quickly proved the superior customer service promise was real. “Second to none,” Gary says. “I use the chat feature half a dozen times a day. If they don’t know right away, they find someone who does. I’m a one-person band. I don’t have time to mess around.”

For the first time, Gary could compose once and publish everywhere.

“I can make a live feed post, make it an app notification, send it as an alert, and put it up on social media,” he says. “Within five minutes at the most.”

That kind of speed changes everything. When the weather turns, parents get alerts before the first snowflake sticks. When a school wins a playoff game, the news goes out before the team’s bus is back.

“Our old app was just a static website on a phone,” Gary says. “Now it’s a true hub. The Apptegy app is a night and day difference and far superior.”

Apptegy’s newsletter platform, Engage, unlocked something new: scale.

“Our previous vendor only allowed a handful of users before charging more,” Gary says. “With Engage, anyone who wants to use the newsletter can use it: principals, directors, even teachers. And they do.”

It changed his own workflow. “Sometimes I’d start writing an email and realize, this should really be a newsletter,” he says. “It’s just easier to create and looks better.”

And for the first time, Gary didn’t have to upload new contact lists every week. “I used to blow out the old list and upload a new one,” he says. “Now the lists are synced nightly. I don’t have to think about it and it saves me time.”

Even better, Arlington’s brand is now consistent across all channels. “There used to be a little footer on the old third party vendor messages, and people were like, ‘Who’s this from?’” Gary says. “Now it’s clear. It’s us.”

Rooms, Apptegy’s teacher two-way communication tool, has launched as a transition year. However, about a third of the district’s teachers were using it in just weeks.

Gary intentionally started slow. “I go to schools, talk during staff meetings, and show how it works,” he says. “But the real success comes from teachers already using it. If a fellow teacher says, ‘Hey, this works for me,’ others adopt it.”

Even non-classroom staff joined in. “We have a classified employee who teaches driver’s ed after school,” Gary says. “He uses Rooms to communicate with students. It’s all documented, and it’s safe.”

The personal side of Rooms hits home. “My wife is a kindergarten teacher who uses it,” he says. “She sends announcements, field trip permission slips, important reminders but also two-way messages with parents. The interaction back and forth is awesome.”

Rooms, he believes, will become the district’s most powerful long-term communication tool. “It’s how you build trust,” he says. “When families hear from teachers often, they feel connected.”

Adoption doesn’t happen by memo. Gary calls it what it is: a campaign.

“I’m running a campaign to get people to communicate differently,” he says. “People have done the same thing for 10 or 20 years. Change can be hard. I get that. But at least give it a try.”

He’s meeting with principals, visiting schools, and talking with teachers.“I need people to believe in the system,” he says. “It’s not going to be overnight. Baby steps.”

The cultural shift is generational. “Younger parents expect app-based communication,” he says. “They don’t want phone calls. They want quick messages that don’t interrupt them.”

He laughs about the difference. “Half the time when we would send a phone call, people would call back asking, ‘What happened? What’s wrong?’”

That’s why the district now leans into push notifications and texts instead. “We live in such a quick society,” he says. “A quick text message or push notification is what parents expect.”

Many vendors look the same in a sales demo. The difference shows when you need help at 7:30 a.m.

“Compared to our previous vendor, where you’d sit on hold and maybe get a callback hours later, Apptegy’s live support chat responds in seconds,” Gary says. “As a one-person band, I don’t have time to mess around.”

The support goes beyond fixes. Gary regularly sends feedback and product ideas. “I’ve emailed ideas@apptegy.com with suggestions,” he says. “And some of the things I suggested actually got built. That speaks volumes.”

That kind of collaboration deepens trust. “Apptegy listens to its customers,” he says. “They’re always asking, ‘How can we make Gary’s job easier?’ That’s rare.”

In the first semester with Apptegy, the district saw instant returns. “Principals use it for family newsletters once a month and staff newsletters weekly,” Gary says. “Teachers are using Rooms. Directors are using Engage. Families now know where to go and where messages come from.”

Faster messages. Broader reach. Cleaner design. Authentic two-way engagement and everything in the Arlington Public Schools name and brand.

For Gary, technology is just the means. The real goal is transparency.

“I want people in our community to know how transparent we are,” he says. “Transparency breaks down barriers. When it comes time for elections or tough decisions, I don’t want mistrust. I want people to say, ‘Yeah, Arlington communicates.’”

He’s careful not to overdo it. “I don’t want to over-communicate,” he says. “I want enough communication that breaks down those barriers.”

Gary’s enthusiasm isn’t about software. It’s about what the change made possible.

“It’s really improved the way I communicate in my district,” he says. “I love talking about it because it’s made such a difference.”

His mantra is simple and fits neatly on a Post-it note: “One message. Send it. Done.”

That’s the practical win. The bigger win is cultural. Transparency stops being a buzzword when your system makes it easy to show your work in public. Arlington isn’t finished but the direction is clear, and the pace is real.

Gary laughs when he says it, but his tone is all conviction. “I’m running a campaign to get people to communicate differently,” he says. “I want people in our community to know how transparent we are. The more timely our communication, the more people trust us.”