Reclaiming a grassroots success

With 56 campuses and more than 35,000 students, Corpus Christi ISD serves a large, diverse population of families and teachers across the Texas Gulf Coast. Like many districts, they’ve faced budget uncertainty and competing tech priorities in recent years. But one tool continued to show up—quietly, persistently—across their classrooms: ClassDojo.

“Even when it wasn’t officially supported,” says Denis Wisner, “teachers kept using it. As a parent, I saw firsthand how valuable it was. And when I stepped into this new role, I knew we had to take a second look.”

Driven by teacher demand

Despite a past push toward an all-in-one LMS, thousands of teachers across Corpus Christi ISD continued using ClassDojo. “That grassroots usage told us something powerful,” Wisner explains. “It wasn’t just inertia—teachers were choosing Dojo because it worked.”

After meeting the ClassDojo team at TCEA, Wisner took a fresh look at the platform. What he found changed the district’s direction: robust translation tools, read receipts for messages, classroom culture tools like Points and feedback, and leadership features that let principals and staff actively shape schoolwide climate.

“It’s not just about messaging,” he says. “It’s the way you can build community. It gives teachers, families, and school leaders shared visibility and a way to celebrate kids together.”

A solution that meets real constraints

Like many Texas districts, Corpus Christi ISD was navigating tight budgets. But ClassDojo’s model—free for districts, with optional upgrades around 5% of families choose—removed a major barrier. “That was the first domino,” Wisner says. “Once I understood the pricing model and the value we were already seeing in usage metrics, it was a no-brainer.”

Wisner brought the idea back to district leadership, where it was quickly approved. “We weren’t asking teachers to start something new. We were supporting what they’d already built.”

Districtwide consistency, real-time engagement

Today, ClassDojo is being rolled out districtwide across Corpus Christi ISD, starting with K–5. School leaders now have tools to set behavior expectations, track progress, and engage families directly. Real-time translation supports multilingual communication, and the ability to link existing accounts ensures families stay connected year over year.

“The more I learned, the more I appreciated how intentional the platform is,” Wisner says. “Even things like scheduling quiet hours for notifications—it’s all designed to respect teachers and families.”

Support that scales

Wisner’s been hands-on in the rollout, attending training himself and working closely with ClassDojo’s onboarding team. “Our rep, Madison, has been amazing,” he says. “This is a true partnership, and it’s clear they’ve evolved the product by listening to districts like ours.”

For other school and district leaders weighing tough choices—navigating budget cuts, supporting overwhelmed teachers, and trying to unify systems—Wisner offers a reminder: listen to your teachers..

“Our teachers didn’t need convincing. They were already there. We just had to meet them where they were. And once we did, everything else—the training, the leadership buy-in, the momentum—it all started to fall into place. Sometimes the best next step is simply supporting what’s already working.”