More Than 220 ParentSquare Districts Win Over 500 NSPRA Awards in 2026, Including 7 Gold Medallions

A new, free best-practices guide from ParentSquare distills how four award-winning districts reached every family, and what other communications teams can learn from them

SANTA BARBARA, CA., July 24, 2026—ParentSquare, the leading family engagement infrastructure for K–12 districts, today announced that more than 220 districts that use its platform were recognized in the 2026 National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) Awards, including seven Gold Medallions, NSPRA’s highest honor. To mark the milestone, ParentSquare has released a new best-practices guide featuring four of those winning districts and the strategies behind their results.

The NSPRA Awards recognize the best school communications work in North America, judged on research, planning, and measurable results. In all, ParentSquare partners earned more than 500 NSPRA awards at the Merit level and above this year, more than 600 counting all recognition levels, a reflection of how districts are pairing strong communications strategies with the right platform to reach every family. 

Newsletters were a particular strength for ParentSquare partners, who won 61 awards in the category.  That strength is backed by product: Studio Editor lets any staff member build media-rich newsletters with no coding, and a new Canva integration makes ParentSquare the only K-12 platform to connect Canva across both communications and websites.

The Guide to Award-Winning School-Home Communications features four districts, three Gold Medallion winners, and one Golden Achievement winner, all of which named ParentSquare in their award submissions:

Highline Public Schools (WA) secured roughly $333 million in local school funding on about $71,000 in communications spend, passing its 2025 operating levy with 63.37% approval, its strongest levy result in 20 years, through a strictly informational, non-advocacy campaign in a community where students speak 89 languages.

Homewood-Flossmoor High School District (IL) enrolled 100% of its 700 rising juniors in a Career Pathway by aligning staff and families around one clear story.

Clovis Unified School District (CA) moved a 56-school district onto a single communication platform, reaching 99.67% contactability and 94.8% staff satisfaction with the change.

Orange County Public Schools (FL), a 2026 Golden Achievement winner, reached 98.6% contactability across the nation’s eighth-largest district, and saved an estimated $96,000 a year, after consolidating multiple systems into one.

“Every one of these districts started with the same question: how do we make sure no family is left out,” said Anupama Vaid, President and Founder of ParentSquare. “We are proud to support the communications teams doing this work, and prouder still to see them recognized for it. Their results show what becomes possible when a district treats reaching every family as a strategy, not an afterthought.”

Written for public information officers (PIOs) and communications teams, the guide is free and ungated. Each story follows the district’s challenge, approach, and outcome, and the guide closes with a practical checklist any team can put to work.

Read The Guide to Award-Winning School-Home Communications here. Communications leaders can also see how these districts did it firsthand by requesting a walkthrough at parentsquare.com/demo.

About ParentSquare

ParentSquare is the leading family engagement infrastructure helping K-12 districts nationwide reach every family with an award-winning, all-in-one communication platform. Reaching over 22 million students, ParentSquare helps districts consolidate disconnected tools and outdated communication systems with personalized messaging, websites, forms, payments, attendance solutions, and more—in one easy-to-use platform. With powerful features for achieving 100% contactability, two-way translation into 190+ languages, and purpose-built AI enhancements, ParentSquare empowers districts to invite every family to be involved in their student’s education, no matter their home language or the device they use.

Recognized for growth and innovation by Inc. 5000, GSV 150, and more, ParentSquare was founded in 2011 in Santa Barbara, California. Learn more at parentsquare.com.