By John Chambless
Staff Writer

The best way to reach an audience online is with a compelling video, and the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District will be putting itself in the spotlight with six videos that will be filmed during the coming school year.

The U-CF School Board approved the $20,000 proposal as part of their brief meeting on July 17. Allied Pixel, a company based in Media, will produce six videos, which will run three minutes each, between September 2017 and May 2018.

Dave Listman, who leads the district's communications efforts, said that while the district has its own video production capabilities, Allied Pixel can easily produce a higher-quality result with a sleek, engaging, professional look.

“The series of videos will complement our 'Success for All' presentation,” Listman said. “That helps us to achieve some of our communication goals – specifically, more effectively engaging with our community. We have a goal to enhance communications within the community, targeting the taxpayers who are not parents. These folks pay for our program, and we all benefit by working closely together.”

The videos “will feature students, teachers and administrators,” Listman continued. “We expect the first video will focus on our shift to earlier school start times. The videos will be used on our websites, in emails and throughout social media. We plan to send a postcard mailer to the community that will focus on topics from our 'Success for All' presentation.”

District superintendent John Sanville, who has shown the Powerpoint presentation to several groups around the school district this year, said, “Responses to the presentation were great, and the initiative will grow in the coming year, enhanced and supported by these videos. 'Success for All' tells the story of the district as a place focused on its mission to empower students for success in life, while at the same time understanding its obligations to the community and respecting taxpayer support.

“We excel in academics and we excel as good stewards of taxpayer dollars and operate in a transparent manner,” Sanville said. “The 'Success for All' initiative backs all of this up with numbers and with stories. The video pieces will enhance our ability to tell the stories.”

Listman added, “We know that video is an effective communications vehicle, and personal stories are better than charts and numbers.”

Allied Pixel is owned by a local community member, and the business focuses on telling the stories of educational organizations and non-profits. “They have a great portfolio and have previously done pro-bono work for one of our schools,” Listman said.

The district has approved spending no more than $20,000 for the six videos, which Listman said “is a considerable discount and a great value to the district.” The company is discounting its usual costs by at least 25 percent. For its high-definition editorial work alone, the cost would normally be $16,200. The company has cut the cost by 65 percent, to $5,670, for that line item.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email [email protected].