Graham ISD (TX)
When Graham ISD partnered with CESO Communications, it set out to build a stronger, more intentional approach to keeping staff, families, and the community informed, engaged, and connected.
The Story
The Challenge
Graham Independent School District in Young County, Texas, is a small rural district serving five campuses. Like many smaller districts, Graham ISD did not have a dedicated communications professional to manage internal and external communications.
When Dr. Mary Johnston became superintendent, she arrived with experience from districts where communications was a key leadership priority. She quickly recognized that Graham ISD needed stronger systems to communicate consistently with staff, families and the broader community.
At the same time, the district was launching a strategic planning process and preparing to begin facility planning discussions that would require significant community engagement. Dr. Johnston wanted to ensure the district communicated these efforts with transparency and invited meaningful feedback before decisions were made.
To support that work, Graham ISD partnered with CESO Communications in early 2025.
The Outcome
Our Approach
CESO began its partnership with Graham ISD by supporting the district’s strategic planning process. CESO strategists documented the work through photography and video, developed a strategic plan logo and designed a one-page summary to help communicate the plan clearly to the community.
From there, CESO helped establish consistent communication channels for both internal and external audiences. The district now publishes two monthly newsletters: The TeleGRAHAM, a community newsletter, and The Graham Gazette, a staff newsletter. District leaders provide the content, while CESO assists with editing, graphic design and distribution through ParentSquare. CESO also provides ongoing social media messaging and helped conduct a mini-assessment of the district’s website, offering recommendations to improve navigation, accessibility and user experience.
A major component of CESO’s work has focused on increasing Graham’s authentic community engagement. CESO helped design and facilitate the Graham ISD Facility Planning Committee, a group of 50+ stakeholders representing staff, parents, community members and local leaders. CESO managed the structure of the committee process, including applications for membership, agendas, presentations and communication materials. CESO supported the monthly meetings with social media updates, newsletter articles and a dedicated webpage where community members could follow the process and stay informed.
In addition, CESO partnered with the district to launch Dollars & $ense, a finance communications initiative aimed at improving public understanding of local school finances and the district’s budget. The project provides year-round information to help residents better understand how school funding works and how the district allocates resources.
Our Impact
CESO’s partnership with Graham ISD has helped establish a more transparent and intentional communications culture across the district. Staff, families and community members now have more consistent access to information through newsletters, social media and improved website resources. Just as importantly, the district has created new opportunities for stakeholders to provide feedback and participate in decision-making processes.
The Facility Planning Committee is a strong example of this approach. By inviting community members into the planning process early, the district has created a transparent and collaborative environment for discussing the future of its facilities. Similarly, the Dollars & $ense initiative has helped increase engagement around school finance — an often misunderstood topic — by sharing information year-round rather than only during election cycles.
The partnership started in February 2025, and stakeholder response is already positive, with a summer 2026 community survey demonstrating support. Community members are engaging more frequently with district communications, and district leaders now have stronger processes in place for planning, implementing and evaluating their communications efforts.
Under Dr. Johnston’s leadership, Graham ISD is partnering with CESO to build a communications program grounded in transparency, engagement and strategic planning — one that will continue to evolve as the district grows.
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