Kelly Wachel is an 18-year school communications professional with experience in small urban, large urban, and large suburban school districts in the Kansas City region. She currently serves as the Chief Communications Officer for Park Hill School District. Prior to her work in school public relations, Ms. Wachel worked in sales and in the corporate communications sector as a senior associate at Ernst & Young LLP.
Ms. Wachel has served as the Missouri School Public Relations Association (MOSPRA) president. She has been a keynote speaker at the Missouri DESE Administrators’ Conference, a multi-year presenter at the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) annual seminar, a presenter at local, regional and national conferences, a member of the Missouri/Kansas Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP) and has her professional APR accreditation, Accredited in Public Relations.
Ms. Wachel has led school districts through comprehensive engagement series processes through which the communications efforts garnered over tens of thousands of individual pieces of feedback used to help determine community and school district strategic initiatives. Through in-person engagement series, multi-layered surveying strategies and chronicling the process transparently and openly, the communications efforts have led to a Golden Achievement Award from NSPRA – the National School Public Relations Association.
In 2021, Ms. Wachel was named an NSPSA Front Runner, an emerging leader demonstrating professional leadership at the state and national level and/or have been recognized for innovation and excellence through NSPRA award programs or presentations.
A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism, with an emphasis in Strategic Communications, Ms. Wachel has also written two books about school communications - Parents and Schools Together and Having an Impact on Learning.
Kent Mayfield arranged for this program.
