{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Chalk and Code","title":"Building Stronger School Communities Through Enrollment and Retention with Benjamin Welbourn","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3010,"description":"\nIn this episode of Chalk and Code, host Theron Davis is joined by Benjamin Welbourn, CEO of Schola, a Phoenix-based edtech platform helping families find the schools that fit them best. What began as a startup helping parents navigate school options has evolved into a full ecosystem, streamlining enrollment, managing community programs, and even using AI to help schools build stronger relationships with families.\n\nBen shares his own experience as a learner who didn’t feel at home in traditional classrooms, and how that journey shaped his commitment to personalized, student-centered education. From hiking the Appalachian Trail to launching Virto Education and now leading Schola, his story is one of building bridges between students, systems, and meaningful outcomes.\n\nThis conversation explores how school choice, AI, community engagement, and human connection intersect and what it takes to make education feel less like a system and more like a fit.\n\nKey Moments\n\n\n03:47 Global College Pathway Expansion\n\n08:24 Expanding Enrollment Through Extracurriculars\n\n11:23 Improving School Enrollment Practices\n\n14:28 Family School Engagement Strategy\n\n20:13 Prioritizing Psychological Safety in Schools\n\n22:08 Enrollment Challenges and Cycles\n\n24:30 School Consolidation Necessity\n\n28:57 \"Real-Time School Engagement Insights\"\n\n32:55 Parent-School Connection Challenges\n\n37:07 AI-Powered School Program Recommendations\n\n39:31 Ed Tech Challenges and Growth\n\n41:03 Esser Funds' Aftermath on Schools\n\n47:31 Substance Over AI Hype\n\nWhy You’ll Love This Episode\n\n\nYou’ll hear how Benjamin and the team at Schola are flipping the script on traditional K–12 marketing by helping schools build trust, communicate value, and become hubs for their communities. If you're in education, product, policy, or just want to know how schools can thrive in an era of rapid change, this episode offers a playbook for putting families first and using data, tech, and empathy to make it happen.\n\nYou’ll walk away...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/3axgf2SSmiMFxyolDWwFFSNcakWI6mxP4Mv3QdmXP4A/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80Zjhk/Y2I1ODg2MjlhZTQx/OWYyM2Q2NzFlYjBl/ZGE1ZS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}