Enrollment Marketing Campaign: Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191
The challenge
In 2019, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191 faced a challenge shared by many districts nationwide: declining enrollment projections. Leaders wanted to better understand the “why” behind the trend and proactively strengthen family confidence in the district’s schools. Rather than focusing solely on numbers, District 191 sought to uncover and address perception issues that might be influencing family decisions and roadblocks to enrollment. The district knew they were creating unique pathways for all students, but those stories weren’t always reaching the community. They needed a clear strategy to showcase the opportunities their students have access to through their nationally recognized Pathways program to tackle their declining enrollment.
Our approach
CESO Communications began by helping District 191 uncover what made them stand out from neighboring districts and then identified the challenges they were facing when it came to enrollment. Working collaboratively with district leadership, CESO built a comprehensive enrollment marketing plan that combined research, brand strategy and creative execution:
Through surveys and focus groups, we identified key insights: there were real and perceived issues affecting the reputation of the district’s middle schools. That revelation became the starting point for a multi-year communications strategy focused on positive storytelling at the middle schools, improved and personalized communication as students transitioned to 6th grade and reinforcing the district’s robust Pathways program.
We helped the district embrace a powerful brand archetype — the Trailblazer — and developed a unified narrative that connected every stage of a student’s journey from pre-K through graduation. These came to life through the 50+ feature stories and student journey stories we’ve written for them.
The initial campaign, “Spark. Fuel. Blaze.”, drew inspiration from their Trailblazing archetype and perfectly aligned with the district’s high school mascot, the Burnsville Blaze. It celebrated curiosity sparked in elementary school, passions fueled in middle school and blazing new trails as they entered high school.
While District 191’s enrollment center was generally a positive experience and an effective part of the overall enrollment process, the district knew there were opportunities for improvement. Our team interviewed enrollment team members, reviewed existing documents and materials and surveyed recently enrolled families, then provided recommendations and actionable steps for the district to consider and implement.
CESO created a new graphic identity for the district’s nationally recognized Pathways program, giving it distinction and visibility within the broader district brand.
We supported the redesign of the district’s Pathways microsite and collaborated on digital advertising, drip campaigns and targeted communications to families at each transition point.
Over the years, the collaboration has evolved to include new campaigns such as “Fan the Flame” and “Trailblazers Start Here,” which continue to highlight District 191’s culture of removing barriers and forging unique pathways for learning and enrichment to create a future-ready community.
Our impact
Since launching the enrollment initiative, District 191’s trajectory has shifted dramatically. While projections once predicted steep declines of hundreds of students per year, the district has instead seen enrollment stabilize. For example, the district budgeted for 7,021 students for the 2025-26 school year and enrollment is ahead of predictions at 7,066 students. They’ve also seen their focus on the middle school transition begin to pay off. In total the middle schools are up over 130 enrollments in November 2025 from the previous year.
The work has also transformed how the community perceives the district:
- An increased number of families are somewhat or very familiar with the Pathways model and see District 191 as a place where students can discover their passions early and follow them through graduation.
- The district’s Pathways storytelling and brand language, rooted in the Trailblazer archetype, has become a unifying force across schools and programs.
- Digital advertising and Google campaigns have delivered measurable engagement, including increased calls to the enrollment office and sustained traffic to the district’s enrollment and Pathways sites.
Today, District 191’s communications reflect the same forward-thinking energy that drives its classrooms. With a clear message, cohesive brand identity and data-informed strategy, the district continues to blaze its own trail — proving that strategic storytelling and authentic partnership can reshape community perception and strengthen student enrollment for years to come.
Services provided
2024-present
Branding
Brand clarification, architecture and strategy
Community Engagement
Focused Conversations, Focus Groups, Strategic Planning Workshops
Creative & Digital
Digital advertising, graphic design, logo design, storytelling, video, website redesign, feature writing