Telling Your School’s Story during National School Choice Week

Every year, hundreds of journalists call and email us wanting to do a story about how NSCW is celebrated near them.

That’s where you come in!

Reporters want to talk to you, the community leaders and local voices that bring the message of School Choice Week to their readers, watchers, or listeners.

Participating in the All Star program means that you’re on our shortlist of schools celebrating National School Choice Week for reporters who are covering the Week.

Usually, we’re talking to the same reporter to give them all the details they need to know about the Week at-large, and how school choice is changing on the state and national level. Their questions for you will center around your plans during the Week, and how families choose your school.

You can always reach our team at pressoffice@schoolchoiceweek.com if you have questions, or need assistance, along the way.

In the meantime, here’s some information you may find useful!

NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK 2024

• National School Choice Week will take place January 21-27, 2024.
• This is the fourteenth annual National School Choice Week
• More than 26,000 schools and homeschool groups are celebrating National School Choice Week 2024. You can find state celebrations using the map on our participant homepage.
• In addition to tens of thousands of events taking place at local schools, activities include school fairs, movie nights, capitol rallies, field trips, parades, talent shows, and more. Across the country, dozens of iconic state landmarks will light up in School Choice Week’s official colors, red and yellow. You can find out more in our guide to NSCW 2024.

ABOUT SCHOOL CHOICE

• School choice means giving parents access to the best K-12 education options for their children. These options include traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online learning, homeschooling, and microschooling and mix-and-match learning. National School Choice Week is an annual effort that helps parents raise awareness of these options.
• School choice is important because every child deserves an effective, challenging, and motivating education that inspires them to be successful and achieve their dreams. However, children learn in different ways and have different talents, skills, and challenges. What might be a good school for one student might not be a good fit for another child. School choice allows parents to identify the best learning environments for their individual children.
• You can find out more about what’s changed, and what’s possible, in individual states by checking out our trends roundup or state roadmaps.

ABOUT THE MISSION

• National School Choice Week is organized by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit.
• The goal of the Week is to raise public awareness about the school choice options available to families, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online learning, homeschooling, and microschools.
• The week is nonpartisan and nonpolitical and does not advocate for any legislation.
• You can find out more about the Week across our website.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• It’s a good idea to have a clear idea of families who can talk about why they’ve chosen your school, so you can connect them with a reporter if they decide to feature your celebration.
• TV coverage is a great boost for any school. Sometimes, all it takes is emailing a news tip to a local news station (you can find this email on their website) letting them know that you’re planning an event as part of a national awareness week.
• More parents look up school choice information during January than at any other time of the year. Plan to post about the idea on your school’s social media using the term “school choice” as a keyword.
• If you are interviewed by a journalist about you celebration, think of your comments as part of a larger story they’re trying to tell. They’ll likely summarize the key features of your school for you, then use a quote for you that captures the feel of the event or the reason you celebrate. Your quotes are more likely to get used if they capture the heart of the story, rather than details about your school.

GREAT SCHOOL STORIES (Get inspired!)

• Sometimes, TV stations will simply share event details with their viewers.
• Othertimes, they’ll send a TV crew to give your school the star treatment.
• Occasionally, they’ll focus on students and their dreams.
• Or they may focus on a unique feature of the school, and how it helps students.