Coppell Independent School District said a marketing campaign to increase student enrollment is working as they try to combat declining numbers.
Tuesday morning more than 12,000 students went back to class and the district said they had more than 100 new enrollments.
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““We are really excited to welcome our families back,” said Coppell ISD Superintendent Leanne Shivers, Ph.D.
Shivers said the district’s theme this year is ‘Together We Unite’ and that’s exactly what the community has done behind the scenes.
“What you see is truly the work of an entire community embracing their schools and coming together. It’s incredible,” said Shivers.
Last November Coppell ISD launched “Cowboys United” a grass roots effort to shed light on the district’s success and market what it has to offer.
“Cowboys united was our effort to go on the offense and really engage our community and what our needs were,” said Shivers.
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That includes tackling the challenge of declining enrollment, which directly impacts the budget since districts receive funding based on average daily attendance rate.
“Once you have kids in the district and see their experience, you realize what a great experience it is in Coppell ISD,” said Jen Newton, a parent of a high school senior and an alum of the district.
Newton and her family, including her 12th grader, hit the pavement with dozens of other volunteers to reach 10,000 homes over the last few months. They spoke with neighbors about why they should choose Coppell ISD.
“We just knocked on doors and talked to people,” said Newton.
“People are putting so much energy into making sure that our district stays as good as it’s been. It’s really, it’s just an eye-opening experience,” said her daughter, Hazel.
Between fliers, billboards, a dedicated website and word-of-mouth, the district is highlighting why families should chose them.
Coppell earned an ‘A’ rating from the Texas Education Agency. On Niche.com, the district ranks first in Dallas County for 2026.
All accolades Coppell ISD is showcasing as it competes with private schools, charter schools and home schooling.
The district said a drop in school aged children living within the district’s boundaries is another obstacle. Coppell ISD opened student transfer enrollment for kids whose parents graduated from Coppell ISD. They also did the same for children whose grandparents live within the district. Families can also transfer from one campus to another.
“We see that the effort truly did work. It did produce what we were looking for,” said Shivers.
She said the district budgeted for 12,850 students, but was project to have around 12,680 students, but after this campaign, it saw about 128 new enrollments. Shivers said she expects that number to grow in the next two weeks by about 200.
Coppell ISD spearheaded the marketing campaign to prevent closing any more schools.
Two years ago, parents and studentstried to save Pinkerton Elementary, the oldest school in the district. Because of low enrollment numbers, Coppell ISD voted to shut it down, a difficult decision that was met with a lot of emotion, heartbreak and frustration.
“It was very clear in this community that there is a strong connection to our neighborhood schools and there’s a lot of ownership in those schools. And so doing anything and everything we can possible to help support our local community schools and our neighborhood schools was really important to us,” said Shivers.
The district is crediting the community and staff for the current increased numbers.
“For me, Coppell ISD, it’s a family,” said Newton.
She hopes this movement of action serves as a life lesson for her daughter.
“I hope that she takes away that it’s also her responsibility to give back to this community that has given so much to her,” said Newton.
“I’ve learned amazing skills of how to talk to people, how to campaign for things that you believe in,” said Hazel.
One family at Cottonwood Creek Elementary said the district’s top ratings are what motivated them to move to Coppell ISD.
“Everybody says that Coppell ISD is great, so we decide to try the best for them (the kids),”said Valencia Lopez whose son started the 4th grade.
The elementary school had quite the roll out for the first day.
““Thank you to our friends here at McLaren, they’re helping us support our theme of Unstoppable,” said Principal Andra Penny who has worked at the school for 35 years. “
The sports cars greeted families, which was a great surprise.
““It is exciting its amazing to see a McClaren the first day of school especially for them (her children) who love the car,” said Lopez.
“It’s pretty awesome, they are pretty neat cars, Cottonwood Creek always does something fun for the first day of school,” said Ashley Moses, a current parent.
“I’m just so excited and so jittery about the first day of school,” said Principal Penny.
She said they currently have about 350 students, but that number has bene in the 600s int he past.
““This is a community that’s built around the schools, that’s why people move here, that’s why we strive to do the best we can, but I think we need to do a better job of telling people how great this district is,” said Penny.
Coppell ISD said at a time when families have many options for education, they will continue the campaign.
