News

APPTEGY ADDS AI CHATBOT CAPABILITIES WITH ALWAYSON ACQUISITION

LITTLE ROCK, AR, April 22, 2025—Apptegy, a leading provider of communication and brand management solutions for school districts, today announced it has completed the acquisition of AlwaysOn, a startup best known for its AI-powered K-12 chatbot solution that helps website visitors get answers quickly and allows school leaders to gather valuable community insights.

In less than 10 years, Apptegy has become a dominant school communication platform for K-12 education, serving 5,000 districts nationwide.

With the acquisition of AlwaysOn, Apptegy is furthering its ability to enable districts to gather insights into how community members interact with their websites, while providing 24/7 multilingual support to families and stakeholders.

The announcement comes as Apptegy accelerates its investment in AI to further its mission of helping schools simplify communication. Upcoming AI launches will focus on empowering school staff, enabling every district to communicate with greater clarity, speed, and confidence.

"This acquisition represents a significant milestone in our mission to help schools build stronger connections with their communities," said Bob Butler, CEO of Apptegy. "By combining AlwaysOn’s K-12 industry-leading, AI powered chatbot with Apptegy's comprehensive communications platform, we can now provide school leaders with insights into their communication effectiveness."

Apptegy offers robust communications solutions including responsive websites, mobile apps, and two-way communications solutions that have transformed how teachers, coaches, and staff engage with families.

"School districts today face the growing challenge of meeting families where they are by providing on-demand access to the right information," said Teddy Daiber, founder of AlwaysOn. "Joining forces with Apptegy amplifies the impact of our AI chatbot and helps more districts create meaningful connections with families, measure what's working, and continuously improve their communication strategies."

AlwaysOn’s main product is a multilingual chatbot that integrates with district websites, allowing visitors to find information in their preferred language at any time.

"We've been using Apptegy's platform for years to keep families informed and make communication more accessible," said Alan Wilbourn, executive director of communications and public relations for Fayetteville Public Schools (AR). "Adding the AlwaysOn chatbot has given us valuable insights into what our families need while providing support regardless of when they're looking for information or what language they speak."

The integration brings several immediate benefits to school districts:

Interactive Search in users' preferred languages
Time Savings for Staff through automated responses
Community Insight Engine with analytics dashboard
Effortless Implementation within 24 hours

"AlwaysOn has been key for measuring engagement. While our website is for content, it's the chatbot that enables us to measure how that content is performing and if it's what our school community is asking for and needs to know," said Heather Daniel, director of communications and policy at Edison Township Public Schools (NJ). "In just five months, we've had nearly 8,000 chatbot engagements and over 10,000 user questions. AlwaysOn gives us real-time insight into what matters most to families."

The AlwaysOn chatbot is available immediately and integrates with Apptegy-powered websites. For more information: www.apptegy.com/alwayson-chatbot.

About Apptegy
Trusted by 5,000 districts nationwide, Apptegy empowers school districts to elevate their brands while simplifying their communications strategies. Apptegy's platform powers district websites, mobile apps, notifications, and teacher-family communication tools. With exceptional client support and intuitive solutions, Apptegy allows educators to focus on what matters most: educating, engaging, and growing their communities. Apptegy transforms how schools connect with their entire school community. Learn more at apptegy.com.

SCHOOLCEO NAMES KATHERINE CRNKOVICH, APR, CPRC, WINNER OF ITS FIRST-EVER EXCELLENCE IN SCHOOL MARKETING AWARD

LITTLE ROCK, AR, October 8, 2024—SchoolCEO, the magazine for school leaders powered by Apptegy, is pleased to announce that Katherine Crnkovich, APR, CPRC, communications officer of Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS) in Florida, has been named the recipient of its first-ever SchoolCEO Excellence in School Marketing Award.

“Katherine Crnkovich is the epitome of a passionate and innovative school communicator,” said SchoolCEO Editor Melissa Hite. “Her creative work at Seminole County Public Schools is rooted in a deep love for public education and student success. We are proud to highlight her great work, as well as that of our other three finalists.”

SchoolCEO, the only marketing magazine in K-12 public education, created the award to honor school comms professionals for innovative work that pushes the fields of school communications and marketing forward. The winner was announced at the annual SchoolCEO Conference, presented by Apptegy in Little Rock.

Crnkovich is in her 10th year as a school communicator. She is the president of the Sunshine State School Public Relations Association (SUNSPRA), which is a division of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). Under her leadership, SCPS launched “CTE Rocks on Tour,” an innovative plan to bring business partners, legislators, faith-based organizations and other stakeholders onto campuses to learn about the district’s career and technical education offerings. Crknovich’s passion for supporting students has also led her to several volunteer positions, including mentoring refugee students and acting as a court-appointed special advocate for children.

“Ms. Crnkovich is passionate about public education and motivated to do everything within her power to ensure every student has an opportunity to receive a quality education,” said SCPS Superintendent Serita D. Beamon. “She works tirelessly to reach out to our families and community.”

Three other finalists for the award were also honored:

Dr. Lauren Nolasco, APR, Chief Communications Officer at Portsmouth Public Schools, Virginia
Dr. Erica Taylor, Assistant Superintendent for Communications and Business and Community Partnerships at Orangeburg County School District, South Carolina
Kristi McNerlin, Chief Communications Officer at Blue Valley Schools, Kansas

Full stories on all four finalists will appear in print and online in the fall 2024 issue of SchoolCEO Magazine. You can read each finalist's feature here.

Earlier this year, SchoolCEO Partnered with NSPRA to conduct an original research study titled “A Seat at the Table.” Of the survey’s 600 respondents—all of whom were school communicators—47% indicated that they work as a team of one. What’s more, an alarming 77% responded that they were at least “sometimes” burned out, with 37% answering that they were “always” or “often” burned out.

“This is not an easy job, but it is truly built for people who are passionate about what education can do and about sharing that with the communities they serve,” said Crnkovich. “I am constantly inspired by what my colleagues do and the amazing work happening to tell the stories. Thank you SchoolCEO for the opportunity to share this field and celebrate the people who are in it.”

About SchoolCEO

SchoolCEO is a research and perspectives magazine for school superintendents, communications professionals, and other K-12 leaders. Published quarterly in print and online, it is the only magazine focused on marketing in K-12 public education. With more than 20,000 readers, SchoolCEO is leading the conversation on communications, recruitment, and branding in public education. For more information, visit www.schoolceo.com.

About Apptegy

Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, Apptegy is an education technology company dedicated to helping school leaders build powerful identities for their schools. For more information, visit www.apptegy.com.

NEW TEACHER RECRUITMENT SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS WHAT PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS WANT FROM THEIR SCHOOL DISTRICTS

LITTLE ROCK, AR, February 1, 2023—SchoolCEO, the only magazine focused on marketing in K-12 public education and published by Apptegy, released a new teacher recruitment study that seeks to understand what elements of a work environment teachers prioritize most, how they learn about open positions, and what schools can do to attract—and retain—the best educators in the field.

The nationally representative study, which is the largest of its kind, collected responses from more than 1,000 current public school educators who ranked which factors are most important to them in a workplace. While there have been many attempts to solve the challenges of teacher recruitment and retention, this study goes directly to the source by asking teachers how they found their job, what they want from leaders, and what they need to be happy in their position.

Aside from salary and benefits, teachers most highly value a school’s location, leadership, and school culture. Surprisingly, only 39 percent of educators responded that their selection of a position was driven primarily by salary and benefits.

“The current teacher shortage means that school districts must be strategic about how they recruit and retain educators,” said SchoolCEO editor Melissa Hite. “While districts cannot control their location, they can certainly control their leadership and school culture. This new research helps school leaders better understand what teachers want and know what to focus on as they build recruitment material for the next school year.”

Read the executive summary and download the full report at https://www.schoolceo.com/teachers-recruitment-research-report-2023/

About SchoolCEO

SchoolCEO is a research and perspectives magazine for school superintendents and other K12 leaders. Published quarterly in print and online, SchoolCEO is the only magazine focused on marketing in K-12 public education. This publication equips its community of innovative educators with the unique and actionable ideas they need to brand and market their schools in a highly competitive environment. With more than 20,000 readers, SchoolCEO is leading the conversation on communications, recruitment, and branding in public education. For more information, visit https://www.schoolceo.com/

About Apptegy

APPTEGY NAMED ONE OF FORBES BEST 500 STARTUP EMPLOYERS

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, March 10, 2020 —Education technology startup Apptegy has been selected as one of Forbes Magazine’s 2020 Top 500 Startup Employers. To make the selection, Forbes teamed up with Statista to evaluate over 2,500 companies founded between 2010 and 2017 with over 50 employees. The Forbes article explains, "Over 7 million data points were collected and employer excellence was evaluated in three ways: employee satisfaction, employer reputation, and company growth.”

“It’s an honor to be selected as an honoree on the Forbes list,” says Apptegy CEO, Jeston George. “From the very beginning, we have said that company culture is the most important element to long-term success. This award shows the result of all the hard work from our people across the company to make Apptegy a great place to work.”

Apptegy is one of the fastest growing technology companies in Arkansas, growing from one to 140 employees over the past five years. “Growing that quickly makes it difficult to keep the positive culture that was established in Apptegy’s early days,” says Ashley Coleman, Apptegy’s Chief of Staff. “We’ve had to carefully work for our values to make sure that we are walking the walk."

The Little Rock-based startup builds marketing and community engagement tools for K-12 school districts. They currently serve over 1,000 districts in 49 states. “The thing that always surprised me about working with Apptegy is how much every employee seems to care,” says Dr. Donnie Whitten, a former school superintendent who was Apptegy’s first customer. “You could really tell that they believe in their mission of helping school districts tell their story in an increasingly competitive education world.”

While this award shows the success of the company’s culture thus far, the leadership has no illusions that the next stages will be any less challenging. “Scaling from one person to 150 is one thing, but doubling that team again is a massive challenge,” George explains. “We are going to need bright, dedicated people who can take us to the next level.”

Information about career opportunities at Apptegy can be found at www.apptegy.com/careers.