About NSPRA
The Superintendents to Watch award recognizes school district leaders who have fewer than five years of experience as a superintendent and who demonstrate dynamic, fast-paced leadership with strong communication at its core.
Dr. Karla Loría leads Adams County School District 14 with a clear vision, strategic communication, and unwavering commitment to unity, equity, and student success. In fewer than five years as superintendent, she has guided a district in the midst of transformation by using communication as a central tool for building trust, celebrating progress and aligning the community around a shared vision.
A Districtwide Story of Progress
Superintendent Loría leads not just through directives, but through visibility, collaboration and example—always ensuring her actions align with the district’s strategy.
A prime example of her excellence is the creation and implementation of Rising Together, a comprehensive, bilingual communication campaign designed to celebrate milestones, strengthen trust and unify the district around four shared focus areas: Student Achievement, Academics and Innovation, Community and Culture, and Financial Well-Being. She worked side-by-side with the communications team to craft a storytelling framework that reaches all audiences using a balance of digital and traditional communication methods. The campaign highlights more than 120 major milestones reached from 2021–22 to 2024–25 and serves as a public, evolving record of the district’s progress.
Key components of Rising Together include:
Integrating Communication Into Strategy
In 2022, Dr. Loría led a districtwide listening tour that reached nearly 500 stakeholders, including more than 100 students, using focus groups, surveys and system audits to inform the development of the district’s five-year strategic plan. Two of the plan’s five priorities, Priority 3a and 3b, are directly focused on equity-centered communication, trust and transparent practices.
Communication goals are reinforced and reported through:
Visible, Hands-On Communication Leadership
Dr. Loría is the face of the district’s communication efforts. She personally shapes key messages for major events, interacts directly with families, staff, and community members before and after public gatherings, and models high standards of openness, empathy, and professionalism in every interaction.
At the State of the District Address, Dr. Loría is not just a speaker, but a communicator who unites the community around a shared vision. She crafts key messages highlighting district progress, student achievement and future goals. Her remarks balance celebration and accountability, recognizing areas of growth while clearly outlining next steps. Rather than delivering a scripted speech, she speaks from the heart with authenticity and warmth, sharing personal stories and real examples that make data come alive. At the venue—before, during and after the event— she interacts directly with students, families, staff and community partners by answering questions, listening to concerns, and encouraging dialogue. This open, approachable style has strengthened trust across the district through respect and inclusion.
Dr. Loría’s leadership at the district's Back-to-School Rally reflects the same level of preparation, collaboration and personal involvement. From the planning phase, she works closely with the communications team to build a theme that energizes staff for the new school year. She reviews visuals, talking points and program flow to ensure that every element connects to the district’s goals and culture. On the day of the rally, she engages with hundreds of employees in person—welcoming new staff, celebrating returning educators and setting a positive tone that motivates everyone for the year ahead. Her energy, warmth and genuine appreciation for staff make this event one of the most inspiring moments of the year, reminding everyone that they are valued and part of something bigger.
B.A. - Mississippi State University; MPA - University of Georgia
I believe school PR/communications is what I was born to do! One of the biggest decisions a parent can make is where to send their child to school, and it’s an honor to share with our parents the engaging work that their children are doing under the guidance of world-class teachers and leaders. On any given day, in any given school, there are many stories to be told and I take that charge seriously. As school communicators played a key role in COVID-19 communications, storytelling was more important than ever – not only did I share information with parents about our protocols, but I also made over 80 visits to schools last year and told a variety of stories about how students were thriving with both in-person and distance learning options. I also worked with principals to determine best mitigation practices and helped make those pervasive, because positive action must be the foundation of what we are ultimately communicating. School public relations is incredibly complex and I love that each day brings a new challenge.
My greatest school PR success was completing 11 nationally-innovative school communication audits using a process of research, planning, implementation, and evaluation. I am now in phase two of this project and am attending school council meetings to garner feedback from parents about school-level communication and how I can better support the work of their schools. One of the most significant findings is that as students take more ownership of their learning, they also take more ownership in parent communication. Therefore, next steps are to better prepare parents for this transition and to also determine best practices from exemplar teachers and coaches at the secondary level so we can strike the right balance with parents feeling informed and fostering student independence.
My greatest school PR challenge is overcoming rigidity. Like many PR professionals, I am detail-oriented and a self-described perfectionist. It’s a blessing and a curse to see when something is one pixel off, but the greatest challenge I have faced in my 13 years in this field is to learn to be more flexible. I might have an aversion to Comic Sans or Curlz, but it’s not the end of the world if those are a font favorite elsewhere. What’s more important is the bigger picture – staff and parents feeling well-informed and students growing and learning in positive school cultures. Instead of telling someone their website isn’t formatted properly, I now make a 2-3 minute screencast if I think there’s a quick tutorial I can offer to provide ongoing professional learning. By being much more flexible, I have deepened relationships and become better at supporting the most important job that occurs in our school system: teaching.
My favorite part of my job is the relationships. I often say that there is no substitute for showing up, and that’s why I make so many school visits each year. From getting to hold a gorgeous monarch butterfly to watching a vibrant student musical to seeing 3-D printing in action from engineering students, I have witnessed countless unique opportunities, and these experiences are just a small piece of what our students get to take part in each and every day. If I didn’t take the time to form relationships, I wouldn’t know that what students value is knowing that the photos I take may show up in their yearbooks. I wouldn’t know the myriad of annual activities that teachers do across our schools because I wouldn’t have witnessed them firsthand. I wouldn’t know about the families of our principals or what they believe makes their school unique. All of that is invaluable because at the end of the day and at the end of this career, relationships are what will remain – both professionally and personally.
The communication tool I use the most is Canva! I would be a brand ambassador if they asked! I am not very mathematically-minded and it can be challenging for someone with an eye for good design – but not an eye for rulers and gridlines – to be a graphic designer. However, Canva has made it possible and I am able to create aesthetically-pleasing graphics with short turn-around times. I have trained communication ambassadors at our schools how to use it as well. Right after Canva, the tool I most use is iMovie. I am completely self-taught in videography and using iMovie and Canva together has made me someone who can add “videographer” to their list of expertise.