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The Superintendents to Watch award recognizes up to 25 school district leaders each year who have fewer than five years of experience as a superintendent and who demonstrate dynamic, fast-paced leadership with strong communication at its core.
Dr. Royal A. Gurley, Jr. became the superintendent of Charlottesville City Schools in October 2021. Before his first on-camera interview, he asked his new communications team how to appear best while signaling support for pandemic public health practices. (He removed his mask, dangling it over an ear.)
In that early moment, he was already aware of the value of communications, the way symbols can support your leadership and the partnership between a superintendent and the communications staff. Eight months later, the team shared lessons learned from its successful partnership in a presentation called, “New Supe, New Start: Changing Leadership in Challenging Times” at the NSPRA 2022 National Seminar in Chicago.
In three years, Dr. Gurley has led the district and community through many challenges, including pandemic impacts, a severe bus driver shortage, streamlining supports for transgender and non-binary students community shootings, reworking the code of student conduct, the groundbreaking (and management) of the first significant school construction in 50+ years, a cellphone policy overhaul, four out of seven Board members retiring and more.
This churn and change would test any superintendent, even with years of experience. First-time superintendent Dr. Gurley managed these and other challenges even while growing his personal and organizational capital. (He also became a dad during this time!)
Dr. Gurley succeeds – and helps those around him succeed – because he is informed. He is relationship-oriented. He combines attention to detail with focus on systems and big-picture thinking. A longtime NSPRA member and leader, he puts two-way communications at the forefront.
Mainly, he succeeds by leading with vulnerability. He creates an atmosphere of care because he trusts people and models the idea that “I don’t have all the answers, but together we can figure this out.” He is willing to admit and address the district’s (or his own) mistakes.
One small story. At a Board meeting, he gave a shout-out to a teacher. After struggling with her name, he said, “I pronounced that name wrong, and Ms. Croce, I’m going to make it right.” The next morning, the communications lead walked into his office and said, “You handled that well, but next time you’re at her school, maybe stop by to say hello.” He replied, “I went there this morning and gave her an apology and a gift card.”
It’s a small story, but it captures Dr. Gurley’s big leadership.
Dr. Gurley's communications background was a boon from the start when even prior to his employment was announced, he emailed his fully designed, thoughtfully prepared 100 Day Plan that could be distributed as part of launching his superintendency.
He is a skilled relationship-builder, a faithful writer of his weekly “Board Briefs” and a savvy Twitter/ X user. He has facilitated conversations via webinar, met parents at bus stops and he convened student advisory boards. Almost everyone in Charlottesville has (or can get) his cell phone number, and if you write him an email, you’ll hear from him within 24 hours. He elevated the communications supervisor to a cabinet-level position and was fully supportive of the communications team's priority of upgrading the district website.
And now he – and the district – have one more tool in its belts with the implementation of ParentSquare and its associated web platform (SmartSites). ParentSquare unifies various communications channels (district, principal, teacher, club leader, PTO and even the website and social media). Dr. Gurley was one of the first staff members to download the app and make a post. Since then, the district has achieved 99.5% contactability with families, and its most recent monthly newsletter (featuring a letter from Dr. Gurley) was opened by 82% of staff/parents/guardians. Topical messages have even higher open rates. Two-way communications (in dozens of languages) have skyrocketed thanks to the social-media-like comments on posts and the text-like direct messages.
In short, Dr. Gurley “gets” school communications. As the former communications lead at his old school district, he understands that everything – from routine to urgent matters – gets better with mutual understanding and open communication. And Charlottesville City Schools has definitely gotten better with Royal Gurley.
A year after Dr. Gurley became superintendent, a new strategic plan was developed. While this timeline was driven by the end of the old strategic plan, the timing was fortuitous – it allowed the district's new leader to put his stamp on the district’s work for the next five years.
The first steps were to define the mission, vision and values. Dr. Gurley’s personal values and commitment to working and communicating together informed these key statements. From the vision’s emphasis on community, to the mission’s reflection that we are all interconnected, to the values’ inclusion of relationships and mutual well-being, his leadership set a tone. In fact, the tagline that we are #bettertogether sums up these guiding principles.
Next the attention turned to the Portrait of a Graduate, which features four communications-related student competencies, from planning ambitiously to thinking critically, and especially communicating effectively and building community. In many ways, this Portrait of a Graduate is also a portrait of the district's superintendent.
As for the goals and action steps of the plan itself, communication undergirds all four focus areas, but it especially animates the area of “Provide a Culture of Safety, Wellness, and Belonging.” The most related strategies include:
The strategic plan and many of its strategies have been communicated through channels such as media coverage, website messaging, stand-alone communications to families, staff and students, School Board presentations, social media and the printed handbook/calendar distributed to families as a “welcome back” before the start of school.
Progress is shown in updates to the School Board, in monthly community newsletters, placed media stories and more. Importantly, it’s also shown on the strategic plan dashboard, created for internal and public accountability. For instance, the most recent data dashboard stats on the “contactability” of families via ParentSquare indicated 99.5% (and this includes families who are served at non-district specialty programs). Most recently, 81% of elementary families reported a strong sense of belonging.
Dr. Gurley’s commitment to communications shows up across the strategic plan, including in the “supporting staff” section, where one of the strategies is to annually review and update a teacher-centered handbook, including training and expectations for communications. In the “operational efficiencies” section, one strategy is to “offer timely, accurate, and transparent communication of financial information to the members of the community.” One measure of this strategy is winning the Meritorious Budget Award from the Association of School Business Officials. As the dashboard indicates, the district won this award in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Dr. Gurley’s leadership is highlighted by his ability to navigate complex situations with clear communication and a steady demeanor. When a recommended change to the student cellphone policy was brought forward at an August board meeting, Dr. Gurley quickly responded. The district released a revised policy prior to the start of the school year: instead of the previous policy of cell phones being “off and away during instructional spaces,” the policy was revised to “off and away the entire day" while exploring the recommended Yondr cellphone pouching system. Dr. Gurley engaged with families, staff and students through clear communications, face-to-face meetings, a webinar and open channels for feedback. His calm approach helped settle initial concerns and foster understanding during a time of uncertainty.
Later in the fall, Dr. Gurley faced another pivotal moment of leadership during a difficult period at the district’s high school. He remained highly visible and proactive, meeting directly with stakeholders, addressing the media and making both public and written statements. His hands-on approach and commitment to transparent communication helped retain community trust and support.
Through his leadership, he – and the schools – retained community support and trust, so that after June graduation, he penned another op-ed with a different theme: “It’s not the fall that matters, but how you get up.” That’s the power of a communication-informed, relational leader.
B.A. - Mississippi State University; MPA - University of Georgia
I believe school PR/communications is what I was born to do! One of the biggest decisions a parent can make is where to send their child to school, and it’s an honor to share with our parents the engaging work that their children are doing under the guidance of world-class teachers and leaders. On any given day, in any given school, there are many stories to be told and I take that charge seriously. As school communicators played a key role in COVID-19 communications, storytelling was more important than ever – not only did I share information with parents about our protocols, but I also made over 80 visits to schools last year and told a variety of stories about how students were thriving with both in-person and distance learning options. I also worked with principals to determine best mitigation practices and helped make those pervasive, because positive action must be the foundation of what we are ultimately communicating. School public relations is incredibly complex and I love that each day brings a new challenge.
My greatest school PR success was completing 11 nationally-innovative school communication audits using a process of research, planning, implementation, and evaluation. I am now in phase two of this project and am attending school council meetings to garner feedback from parents about school-level communication and how I can better support the work of their schools. One of the most significant findings is that as students take more ownership of their learning, they also take more ownership in parent communication. Therefore, next steps are to better prepare parents for this transition and to also determine best practices from exemplar teachers and coaches at the secondary level so we can strike the right balance with parents feeling informed and fostering student independence.
My greatest school PR challenge is overcoming rigidity. Like many PR professionals, I am detail-oriented and a self-described perfectionist. It’s a blessing and a curse to see when something is one pixel off, but the greatest challenge I have faced in my 13 years in this field is to learn to be more flexible. I might have an aversion to Comic Sans or Curlz, but it’s not the end of the world if those are a font favorite elsewhere. What’s more important is the bigger picture – staff and parents feeling well-informed and students growing and learning in positive school cultures. Instead of telling someone their website isn’t formatted properly, I now make a 2-3 minute screencast if I think there’s a quick tutorial I can offer to provide ongoing professional learning. By being much more flexible, I have deepened relationships and become better at supporting the most important job that occurs in our school system: teaching.
My favorite part of my job is the relationships. I often say that there is no substitute for showing up, and that’s why I make so many school visits each year. From getting to hold a gorgeous monarch butterfly to watching a vibrant student musical to seeing 3-D printing in action from engineering students, I have witnessed countless unique opportunities, and these experiences are just a small piece of what our students get to take part in each and every day. If I didn’t take the time to form relationships, I wouldn’t know that what students value is knowing that the photos I take may show up in their yearbooks. I wouldn’t know the myriad of annual activities that teachers do across our schools because I wouldn’t have witnessed them firsthand. I wouldn’t know about the families of our principals or what they believe makes their school unique. All of that is invaluable because at the end of the day and at the end of this career, relationships are what will remain – both professionally and personally.
The communication tool I use the most is Canva! I would be a brand ambassador if they asked! I am not very mathematically-minded and it can be challenging for someone with an eye for good design – but not an eye for rulers and gridlines – to be a graphic designer. However, Canva has made it possible and I am able to create aesthetically-pleasing graphics with short turn-around times. I have trained communication ambassadors at our schools how to use it as well. Right after Canva, the tool I most use is iMovie. I am completely self-taught in videography and using iMovie and Canva together has made me someone who can add “videographer” to their list of expertise.