Groundwork Outreach, Houston ISD Launch Door-to-Door Pre-K–5 Enrollment Campaign
Groundwork Outreach Continues Partnership with Houston ISD to Bring School Enrollment to Families’ Doorsteps
Door-to-door campaign expands to support Pre-K through fifth grade enrollment across four feeder patterns
Houston, TX – Groundwork Outreach has announced an expanded partnership with Houston Independent School District to launch a door-to-door student recruitment campaign designed to bring school enrollment directly to families’ doorsteps. The initiative supports enrollment for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students across the Chavez, Milby, Sterling and Yates feeder patterns.
The campaign builds on recent district efforts to strengthen early childhood access and expands outreach beyond Pre-K to ensure families with older elementary students receive personalized enrollment support. These efforts include the 2025 campaign that contributed to the largest enrollment increase of any grade level in the district for Pre-K.
Groundwork Outreach hires and compensates residents from the very neighborhoods it serves to conduct multilingual and multicultural outreach. Community advocates are trained in the full enrollment process and offer hands-on support removing language barriers and helping families complete required paperwork, set up email accounts, or other tools that can otherwise complicate accessing school services.
“We are at a fever point with districts facing shrinking enrollment. Meanwhile, families who would like to apply encounter challenges in accessing quality education and other essential resources. Therefore, it is critical that we innovate in how we reach families,” said Marie Appel, CEO of Groundwork Outreach. “Moreover, we have the results. We know this works…We are excited to expand on this previous success with Houston ISD & Good Reason Houston to connect more children to high quality public schooling.”
“Our families want what every family wants: a clear, simple path to a strong education for their children,” said Kelsey Lippitz, Executive Director of School Choice at Houston Independent School District. “By bringing enrollment support directly into neighborhoods, we are responding to community needs and making it easier for parents to access the opportunities available to their students.”
The door-to-door approach has already demonstrated measurable impact in previous campaigns. In 2025, canvassers reached over 63,000 households to inform them about no-cost Pre-K in neighborhoods in the Sterling, Yates, and Austin feeder patterns. These efforts are jointly funded by Houston ISD and Good Reason Houston.
"As both a Houston parent and an education leader, I understand how important — and sometimes overwhelming — those early education decisions can be,” said Courtney Isaak Pichon, CEO of Good Reason Houston. “But these early years matter. They lay the foundation for everything that comes next. By bringing enrollment directly to families, we’re helping more Houston kids start strong and stay on a path to long-term success."
By expanding the scope of the campaign to include all elementary enrollment through fifth grade, as well as additional feeder patterns, Houston ISD and Groundwork Outreach aim to ensure more families can access the district's academic programs and resources. The partnership represents a strategic investment in removing systemic barriers and building stronger connections between schools and the communities they serve.
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About Houston Independent School District
The Houston Independent School District is the largest school district in Texas and the eighth largest in the United States with 273 schools and nearly 170,000 students. The 333-square mile district is one of the largest employers in the Houston metropolitan area, with more than 27,000 employees.
About Good Reason Houston
Good Reason Houston is an education nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that every child, in every neighborhood, excels in a world-class public school and thrives in the Houston of tomorrow. The organization builds awareness of, advocates for, and advises school systems on measures aimed to improve the quality of education available to all. Today the organization partners with 25 public school systems that collectively serve 700,000 students across 900 public schools in the Houston region. Learn more at goodreasonhouston.org.
About Groundwork Outreach
Groundwork Outreach is a nonprofit organization committed to increasing access to essential resources through data-driven community engagement. Their team of over 60 canvassers knock 200,000+ doors across Dallas, Tarrant & Harris Counties annually to spread awareness through strategic and authentic outreach. Learn more at www.GroundworkOutreach.org.
Media Contacts:
Houston Independent School District
Good Reason Houston
Jessica Young
Managing Director of Public Affairs & Engagement
jessica@goodreasonhouston.org, 979-373-6467
Groundwork Outreach
Marie Appel
Founder & CEO, Groundwork Outreach
