The Chesapeake School Public Relations Association (CHESPRA) is a professional organization that recognizes and promotes excellence in communications and public relations among school districts and education organizations throughout the region. Through its annual awards program, CHESPRA honors outstanding communications initiatives that effectively inform, engage, and connect school communities.
CHESPRA recently recognized Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) Office of Communications for its #IAmCitySchools video productions and campaign, as well as its special campaigns for Student Icons and Celebrating the Class of 2026. These awards recognize the creativity, strategic planning, and impact of communications efforts that highlight the accomplishments and experiences of students and the broader school community.
The honors included:
Award of Excellence, Video Production or Program (TV & Streaming): “#IAmCitySchools”
Award of Merit, Special Campaign: “Student Icons”
Award of Merit, Special Campaign: “Celebrating the Class of 2026”
#IAmCitySchools: Building on the success of its inaugural run, City Schools launched Season 2 of #IAmCitySchools for the 2025–26 school year. This video series highlights the inspiring paths of City Schools alumni across local, national, and global stages. To ensure maximum accessibility and engage our Spanish-speaking community, videos were also dubbed in Spanish. By spotlighting graduates who are making significant contributions in media, civic leadership, entrepreneurship, technology, education, law, athletics, and public service, Season 2 connected current students with living examples of what is possible. See the YouTube playlist here.
Student Icons: The Icon program publicly celebrates student leadership and character and cultivates school pride beyond areas that are emphasized through other student awards, such as academics and athletics. Schools were asked to nominate a student Icon who demonstrated one of the strategic direction’s competencies: creativity, global citizenship, communication, confidence, and adaptability. In this way, we promoted our strategic competencies as embodied by students throughout the school year, while honoring 24 outstanding students who may not have otherwise received recognition. Our 2025-26 winners represented pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in traditional, charter, and special public day schools. Winners were announced in three cohorts to reinforce diversity of gender, grade level, and city quadrant so that all students could see themselves as Icons across platforms: the Icons page, mobile app, social media, “5 Things to Know” videos, family e-newsletter, internal video monitor, and internal e-newsletters.
Celebrating the Class of 2026: City Schools launched a comprehensive district-wide campaign dedicated to honoring and celebrating the graduating Class of 2026. City Schools sought to uplift seniors through a multi-touchpoint initiative that blended physical installations, digital interactive platforms (including our Graduate Spotlight page), digital ads, social media, and video storytelling. The campaign brought together the entire school community, students, families, and staff to ensure every graduate felt seen, supported, and celebrated.
These awards highlight City Schools’ commitment to communication strategies that uplift the stories of our students, families, and staff. Many thanks to the City Schools team for elevating the great news and successes that occur in our schools, classrooms, and offices daily.