Child’s Play is Serious Work

Of the approximately 4,500 four-year-olds in Forsyth County each year, approximately two-thirds are eligible for publicly funded Pre-K based on family income, yet currently only half of those eligible children are enrolled due to insufficient state and local funding. The Pre-K Priority is a coalition of community individuals and organizations convened by Family Services and supported by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust that has worked over the last 5+ years to advance the goal of Pre-K for all 4-year-old children in Forsyth County. The Pre-K Priority aims to expand the mixed system of Pre-K providers, building on existing programs to ensure greater access, affordability, and quality for all families who want to enroll their child.

Our initial work with The Pre-K Priority involved immersion into primary and secondary research on the benefits of early childhood education, including an assessment of the Pre-K climate in Forsyth County.

The Discovery Phase of our work, culminated in the development of a creative brief outlining key objectives of the awareness and education campaign. The key messaging that would anchor our work was that quality Pre-K is essential in any community committed to unlocking the full potential of its children.

The Pre-K Priority awareness and education campaign was launched in August 2019 prior to the start of the new school year. Phase I campaign materials include out-of-home billboards, website, event materials (including a pop-up tent, Pre-K art tables, and selfie station), print advertising, radio, TV, digital ads, paid and organic search, and social media advertising.

We empowered community members and influencers to talk about the importance of high-quality Pre-K with a communications toolkit, fact sheets, talking points, FAQs, and shareable social media images and posts.

Measuring the impact of the campaign was important for us, our client, and the funder. Our team created the Pre-K Pledge as a way to measure the interest and support around this important cause. With over 1,000 pledges received in the first five months of the campaign, including two dozen organizations who voiced their support, our team was able to demonstrate to county commissioners the growing public will to support Pre-K for all four-year-olds in Forsyth County.

Since April 2019, approximately 1200 community members have signed the pledge, the website has had approximately 25,000 unique visits from North Carolina residents, and we have cultivated 674 Facebook followers and 568 Instagram followers.