The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) was announcing that the number of charter school students nationwide has surpassed the milestone of two million, the largest single-year increase ever recorded.

Strategically position the Alliance and charter schools as a whole, as an effective and growing public school option that parents and families have the right to choose.

Larson Communications worked with NAPCS to announce the two million student milestone through proactive media relations and community-building at a state and national level to ensure this announcement was heard loud and clear. Larson Communications crafted a campaign that specifically called attention to:

• Over 500 new public charter schools which opened their doors in the 2011-12 school year, raising the public charter school count to approximately 5,600 in 40 states.
• Demand for high-quality schools which continues to rise - more than 400,000 students remain on waiting lists for public charter schools.
• The top states to add the largest number of students over the past year, which included California, Florida, Texas and Ohio.
• The charter sector becoming more transparent around school closings. Various challenges including low enrollment, financial challenges and low academic performance were some of the reason cited to provide evidence that the charter school intent works—schools that do not meet the needs of their students close.

Through strategic pre-release pitching, targeted regional and national releases, as well as leveraging relationships with the media, Larson Communications placed 64 news placements, including widespread syndication of two Associated Press stories. In addition to features in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN and PBS, the announcement gained significant traction in national and state media, and social media over several days.