Coordinator, Marketing & Communications
Reports To: Director, Engagement
12-Month Employee
Hybrid Role
Adelante: Who We Are
Adelante Schools is redefining what’s possible in public education. Based in Indianapolis, we serve K–8 scholars through exceptional neighborhood schools that are academically rigorous, deeply joyful, and rooted in community. Our goal is simple and ambitious: to prepare scholars for the paths they choose, including college, leadership, and a life of impact.
We don’t just talk about great schools. We build them. That means strong academics, meaningful relationships with families, and a scholar experience that is both challenging and full of joy. Our core values of Optimism, Swing, Ownership, and Solidarity are not posters on a wall. They show up in how we work, how we lead, and how we show up for each other every day.
We are Crew.
At Adelante, Crew is how we define our team. It is a group united by purpose, values, and commitment. No one here is just along for the ride. We are not passengers. We are colleagues, mentors, and thought partners, each actively contributing to something bigger than ourselves.
We focus on what matters.
-
Curriculum and Teachers: We pair the strongest curricula in the country with excellent teaching. That foundation allows our scholars and our team to achieve at the highest levels.
-
Great People: Great teaching builds great schools. We hire and retain exceptional people so every scholar experiences rigorous, high-quality instruction every day. We offer competitive compensation and meaningful benefits because taking care of our team is essential to taking care of our scholars.
-
Driven by Values: We have built a place where scholars and team members can be fully themselves and celebrated for it. Our values of Optimism, Swing, Ownership, and Solidarity drive our decisions, our culture, and our results.
Our team is the heartbeat of our mission. We invest deeply in our people through continuous development, real-time coaching, and a culture where feedback fuels growth. If you are looking to do meaningful work alongside a team that is collaborative, ambitious, and all in, Adelante is that place. This is an opportunity to build something that matters, to grow in your craft, and to love the work you do every day.
About the Role
The Marketing & Communications Coordinator owns how Adelante Schools shows up — to prospective families, prospective staff, and the broader Indianapolis community. The position is managed by the Director of Engagement, with communications and design work managed in partnership with the President & Chief Operating Officer. Working closely with the Operations and Talent teams, this role is responsible for the organization’s brand presence across every channel: managing social media and the website, designing marketing and recruitment materials, running digital advertising campaigns, and driving both scholar enrollment and staff recruitment toward explicit targets. The role also owns Adelante’s community partnerships and the enrollment-analytics function that connects every communication to a measurable outcome — both year-round responsibilities that run independent of enrollment season.
This is a builder’s role for someone who can move fluidly between strategy and execution — drafting a campaign one hour, designing the asset the next, and standing at a community event handing out flyers the same evening.
Recruitment, marketing, and advertising are not run as separate efforts. They work together to amplify one core brand — Adelante Schools — including through Love Your School, with down-funnel alignment so that scholar enrollment, staff recruitment, marketing, and paid campaigns reinforce one another and tell a consistent story.
General Duties and Responsibilities (including but not limited to)
Time allocations below are annual averages and will flex seasonally — student recruitment and enrollment work increases significantly during enrollment season.
Brand & Communications (10%)
-
Steward the Adelante brand, ensuring consistent voice, visual identity, and messaging across all channels and materials.
-
Develop and execute communications that tell Adelante's story to families, staff, and community partners.
-
Maintain brand and messaging guidelines and produce templates and assets for school and central teams.
-
Support Spanish translation of communications and marketing materials.
Digital & Social Media (20%)
-
Curate Adelante's digital and social channels to showcase the very best of the organization — celebrating scholars, staff, families, and community in a way that builds the brand. These channels are aspirational and brand-forward, not a venue for operational or administrative notices (e.g., "report cards go home today").
-
Manage Adelante's social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, and others) — content calendar, posting, engagement, and community management.
-
Maintain the Adelante Schools website: page creation and layout, content and photo updates, accuracy, and accessibility.
-
Capture and curate photography and short-form video at schools and community events for use across channels.
Marketing & Advertising (10%)
-
Plan, build, and optimize digital advertising campaigns (Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads) to drive scholar enrollment and staff recruitment, including audience targeting by ZIP code, budget management, and A/B testing.
-
Track campaign performance and report results, conversions, and cost-per-acquisition against enrollment and hiring targets.
-
Coordinate print and physical marketing — flyers, banners, signage, mailers — and Adelante's presence at community events.
Public Relations & Earned Media (5%)
-
Build and maintain relationships with local and education-beat reporters, outlets, and community newsletters.
-
Draft and pitch press releases, story ideas, and op-eds; draft responses to media inquiries and prepare leadership to serve as the organization's spokespeople.
-
Amplify organizational wins and recognition (awards, honors, scholar and staff stories) across earned and owned channels.
-
Track media coverage and report reach and sentiment.
Student Recruitment & Enrollment (30%)
-
Represent Adelante as a visible “face” in the communities we serve, building relationships and credibility with prospective families from diverse backgrounds.
-
Research and identify key community events to participate in, prioritizing those that reach prospective families.
-
Execute on-the-ground recruitment in assigned areas: door-to-door canvassing, flyering local businesses, contacting community groups, and reaching families at high-traffic locations and events.
-
Support families through the application and enrollment process; record contact information and provide regular reporting to the Operations Team.
-
Plan and staff open houses and information sessions; lead and follow up on school tours for prospective families.
-
Manage the re-enrollment process for current families.
-
Support the Operations Team in preparing 8th-grade scholars to apply to high school.
Community Partnerships (5%)
-
Build and steward genuine, two-way partnerships with youth-serving community organizations — early childhood centers and preschools and youth- and family-serving nonprofits — grounded in a shared commitment to the families and neighborhoods we serve.
-
Cultivate these relationships year-round as ends in themselves, not seasonal asks: regular check-ins, showing up for partners’ events and priorities, and serving as a dependable point of contact who follows through.
-
Look for ways Adelante can give as well as receive — sharing space, resources, expertise, and visibility — so partners experience the relationship as mutually beneficial.
-
Co-create events, resource fairs, and neighborhood initiatives where Adelante shows up as a contributing community member, not only a recruiter.
Data, Reporting & Enrollment Analytics (10%)
-
Collaborate on a regular reporting cadence that ties communications and marketing activity directly to enrollment outcomes — connecting channels, campaigns, events, and partnerships to inquiries, applications, tours, offers, and confirmed enrollments.
-
Maintain a clean, current contact database/CRM of prospective families, ensuring every touchpoint — canvassing, events, digital, partner referrals — is logged and attributable to a source.
-
Analyze cost-per-acquisition and channel performance across paid, organic, earned, and on-the-ground efforts, and recommend where to shift time and budget.
-
Translate data into weekly and monthly reporting for the Director of Engagement, the President & COO, and the Operations Team, flagging risks to enrollment targets early enough to act.
-
Track re-enrollment and retention signals alongside new-family acquisition to give leadership a complete picture of enrollment health.
Staff & Talent Recruitment (5%)
-
Partner with the Talent and Operations teams to amplify open roles and build hiring pipelines.
-
Design and run recruitment marketing — job posts, social campaigns, careers-page content, and hiring events.
-
Represent Adelante at job fairs and recruitment events.
General (5%)
-
Attend marketing and recruitment team meetings to refine strategy and provide feedback.
-
Stay informed on community events and the education landscape of Indianapolis and our respective neighborhoods.
-
Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
-
Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, graphic design, or a related field required.
-
Demonstrated graphic design skills and proficiency with design tools (Adobe Creative Suite and/or Canva).
-
Proficiency managing social media channels and building/maintaining a website in a CMS (e.g., WordPress, Squarespace).
-
Experience building and optimizing digital ad campaigns (Meta and/or Google) preferred.
-
Strong written and verbal communication and copywriting skills.
-
Media relations or public relations experience preferred.
-
Bilingual English/Spanish strongly preferred.
-
Photography and/or short-form video skills a plus.
-
Comfortable working with data and reporting performance against targets.
-
Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills, with the ability to navigate difficult conversations and demonstrate empathy and discretion around sensitive information.
-
Able to stand or walk for 2–3 hours at a time and carry 10–20 pounds as needed (recruitment and event materials).
-
Flexibility to work weekday afternoons and occasional evenings and weekends as needed.
-
Comfortable using technology, including a laptop and cell phone, and able to learn new programs quickly.
-
Ability to work in a team and follow through independently; able to shift priorities, multitask, and maintain meticulous attention to detail in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
-
A passion for or understanding of Adelante's mission to provide an excellent education in partnership with scholars, families, and the community.
-
Reliable transportation to travel between campuses and to and from community events and meetings.
