The Limestone District School Board has received two BRAVO! awards for excellence in communications from the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education (CACE).
The CACE BRAVO! Awards Program, presented by SchoolBundle, is the only Canada-wide awards program specifically designed to recognize excellence in school board communications. CACE recognizes and honours exemplary work in all aspects of school public relations, communications, marketing and engagement. Awards are presented annually. This year’s winners include 24 Coup de Cœur and 23 Communications Project recipients.
Limestone's communications team of Maddie Crothers and Jane Douglas submitted and received two awards.
The board’s “See Yourself in Limestone - Workplace Census and Belonging Survey” was awarded a Coup de Coeur. The accompanying WCBS media included 5 stylized staff videos, and commanding social media campaign.
Under the Communications Project category, Limestone received the highest award, the Award of Excellence, for the submission “Renaming: École Kingston East Elementary School This award is highly competitive and the highest recognition for education public relations programs and campaigns in Canada. This year, CACE received 33 applications for the Communications Project category and Limestone was 1 of only 5 five submissions that received 90 points and higher from the judges.
The communications strategy involved multiple phases. The first phase was to build understanding of Sir John A. Macdonald's legacy with school community stakeholders, as well as, the reason for the renaming. The second phase sought input from the school and the greater Kingston community through a year-long consultation, including three online community surveys, a week-long collection of student voice, and regular communication to families. The final phase involved the committee short listing names for the Board's consideration, organizing a school tour, and Walk on the Land for trustees. École Maple Elementary School was selected as the new name by trustees after a year-long consultation process at a regular Board Meeting May 18, 2022.