In August, I wrote about navigating two school transitions at the start of the school year and how communication, connection, and consistency shaped our confidence heading into day one.
I didn’t expect to be back in that headspace again so soon.
By early October, I was facing another set of school transitions driven by a job change and a mid-year move (before Christmas!) to a new city. Different timing. Different pressure. And a very different version of the enrollment journey. But many of the same questions resurfaced: Are we making the right choice? What can we expect? How can we make this as smooth as possible?
The experience reinforced something I’ve been thinking about more and more: school branding lives just as much in word of mouth as it does in marketing.
This move happened fast. Within about a month, my husband accepted the job, we traveled to the new city, toured neighborhoods and schools, made an offer on a house, and closed.
Like many families relocating, realtors pointed us to GreatSchools.org when we asked about schools. It’s a widely used resource, embedded directly into Zillow and other home-search apps. And I understand why families rely on it: ratings feel objective. But the deeper I went in the home-search process, the clearer it became that the picture was incomplete.
Test scores and a limited number of reviews largely drive the ratings. They don’t capture leadership changes, school culture, community involvement, academic approach, or what it actually feels like to be part of the school’s day-to-day.
I found myself hesitating, not because a house wasn’t right or the neighborhood didn’t work for the commute, but because a number out of 10 told me I should.
What ultimately changed my thinking wasn’t a website or a ranking. It was a text message.
A family connection reached out and shared firsthand insight about the school that our first-choice house was zoned for. They talked about the principal, the sense of community, how involved families were, and how their kids felt about the school.
That brief text helped us feel confident buying the house we loved: the one that worked for our family, our commute, and our life, and that was also zoned for a school and community where our kids could be happy.
After we moved, that same connection organized a playdate with other families within the school, including our new neighbors. By the time school started in January, our son wasn’t walking in cold; he already recognized faces and felt like he belonged.
That’s the power of True Believers. They don’t just influence decisions. They help families feel part of a community.
This experience made something very clear: families don’t experience school branding the way districts often think they do.
From the outside, district branding shows up in:
But parents often experience brand at the school level.
They experience it through:
In our case, we weren’t choosing a district. We were choosing a school community. District branding sets the context. School-level experience builds trust.
Public school enrollment is declining in many parts of the country. Families have more options, more information, and more reasons to pause before committing.
In this environment, word of mouth becomes even more powerful.
When families feel confident in their choice, they share it.
When they feel connected, they advocate.
When they feel like they belong, they become ambassadors; not because they were asked to, but because they want to.
Those are your True Believers:
They are the ones shaping your brand when you’re not in the room.
This mid-year move reminded me that school decisions aren’t just transactional. They’re deeply human. Families may start their search online, but confidence is built through trust. And trust is built through people.
The schools and districts that recognize this and intentionally support their True Believers are the ones whose brands extend beyond ratings and rankings. Because in the end, families don’t just choose schools. They choose communities. And that choice is often guided by the voices they trust most.
If you’d like to uncover how families experience your district and/or school brand, where friction occurs, and how to activate the voices that build real trust, we offer a 60-minute enrollment strategy session. It’s a focused conversation where we look at your current enrollment journey, identify friction points, and talk through practical ways to strengthen clarity, trust, and advocacy across your community.