July 27, 2026

- A Special Request from GSPRA

- Fall Conference UPDATE, Hotel Registration, and a Call For Presentations (DEADLINE APPROACHING!)

- Membership Renewal 2026-2027

- Spring Leadership Retreat

- Blue Ribbon Awards UPDATE

Our friends and colleagues in the Georgia School Public Relations Association (GSPRA) need our help! Each year, they are so willing to help us by judging our Blue Ribbon Award entries. Now it is time for us to help them.

If any of you would be willing to serve as a volunteer judge in the 2026 GSPRA contest, please let us know by adding your name to this list. The categories are below. A judge may take on multiple categories if desired and can reliably handle the workload.

We need judges' names and email addresses by August 14, 2026. The (tentative) judging window is September 2-18, 2026.

PLEASE consider helping out GSPRA. They always return the favor for us in the fall.

· Comprehensive, Strategic, Year-Round Communication Program

· Crisis Communication Campaign

· Bond/Finance Campaign

· Marketing Communication Campaign

· Public Engagement/Parental Involvement Campaign

· Internal Communication Project/Campaign

· Special Communication Project/Campaign

· Annual Report

· Audio Media

· Calendar

· Excellence in Writing

· Handbook

· Image/Identity Package

· Newsletter/Newspaper/Newsmagazine

· Photography

· Social Media

· Special Event

· Special Purpose Publications

· Videography

· Website

Registration for the 2026 NCSPRA/SCNSPRA JOINT FALL CONFERENCE is open! We can't wait for you to join us November 11 - 13 for some incredible professional development, fun activities, fellowship with colleagues and much more! Register HERE or click on the REGISTER NOW button.

For budgeting purposes, the registration fee for NCSPRA members will be $225 for Early Birds (before August 28) and $240 after that. Non-member attendance is $300 for Early Birds and $350 after August 28.

The conference will be held at the Embassy Suites Riverfront in Wilmington, NC! Special rates are being offered to NCSPRA members starting at $179/$199 per night.

You may now book your rooms! They have set up a special page just for NCSPRA. Make your reservations HERE. If you are a Hilton Honors member, be sure to sign in first.

As we prepare for the sessions, speakers, events and ALL the excitement of this year's Fall Conference, we want to extend an invitation to YOU to submit your ideas for presentations. You'll be sharing your expertise with members from across North and South Carolina.

Some possible topics include AI, boosting enrollment, event planning, FOIA requests, social media engagement, crisis management, or your original idea! Please fill out this form by July 31 if you would like to present this year in Wilmington!

Invest in your future today! Be sure to renew your NCSPRA membership here.

As a new school year approaches, it's vital to make sure you're prepared for everything that comes your way. That means renewing your membership in NCSPRA! As an NSPRA Exemplary Chapter, NCSPRA will make sure you have the resources to respond to crises, controversies, mandates, public records requests, social media storms, legislative curveballs, funding cuts, enrollment challenges, attacks on public education, parent issues, and more. We also will make sure you get the recognition and support you deserve through our awards and scholarship programs. You won't want to face the year ahead without NCSPRA's support, resources, and expertise at your fingertips.

Even as our member benefits increase, our dues remain the same. Membership is only $125 for the first person from each organization, and $50 for each additional person. It's the best investment you can make to ensure that you and your colleagues are ready to face the challenges ahead.

As you may remember, the NCSPRA Spring Leadership Academy has been held at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in beautiful Cullowhee, NC. They've been going through some renovations, so we held the event virtually this year.

Those renovations and upgrades will be complete in February 2027, so once again, NCCAT has generously offered to host our Spring Leadership Academy at no cost to our members! We will release more details and a link to sign up early next year.

Until then, and in an order to help you prepare and have a say in when the event takes place, we want to hear from you! We have been offered three sets of dates:

1. Thursday and Friday April 1 and 2
2. Thursday and Friday April 8 and 9
3. Thursday and Friday April 15 and 16

Which set of dates would you prefer? PLEASE let us know HERE and we will tally the votes and book the most popular Thursday and Friday for next year's Academy.

NSPRA 2026 was a huge hit! Thanks to everyone who came to see us while we were in New Orleans. NCSPRA was well-represented and we're already looking forward to NSPRA 2027 in Indianapolis. Next year's event will be held July 11-14.

Next year's Blue Ribbon Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday, February 12, 2027 at the Guilford County Schools Community Education Center. Once again, a special thanks to GCS for their generous offer to host us!

Key dates, holidays and events all in one place

Do you have colleagues in neighboring districts who should join NCSPRA? Tell them about us! We want our chapter to be not only the best, but the most active in the country! Share details with those who may not be part of our chapter, but who could benefit from the camaraderie and professional development. Tell them to sign up here.

NCSPRA is an Exemplary Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). For five consecutive years, NCSPRA has been honored with the prestigious Mark of Distinction Award for delivering outstanding professional development to members and to school PR professionals throughout the country.