Harnett County Schools Transforms District-Wide Communication with Affordable Cloud-Based Digital Signage from Arreya 

Harnett County Schools, a public K-12 district in North Carolina serving 20,033 students across 29 schools, has successfully modernized how it communicates important information to students, staff, families, and campus visitors.

Faced with the challenge of keeping multiple locations informed in real time — from daily announcements and lunch menus to safety alerts and special events — the district implemented Arreya, a cloud-based digital signage platform designed specifically for education environments.

After more than two years of use, Chief Technology Officer Jennifer Byrd shared a strong endorsement of the solution in a verified 5.0-star review posted on February 26, 2025.

The Communication Challenge in Large School Districts  

Managing consistent, timely communication across 29 campuses spread throughout Harnett County is no small task. Like many mid-to-large districts in North Carolina and beyond, Harnett County Schools previously relied on traditional methods such as printed flyers, static bulletin boards, manual TV announcements, and email blasts. These approaches frequently resulted in outdated information, delayed messaging, and a heavy reliance on already-overloaded IT staff for even simple content changes.

In today’s fast-paced educational environment, the need for instant, consistent, and engaging communication has become critical for daily operations, emergency preparedness, parent engagement, and overall school spirit. When information changes quickly — whether it’s a schedule adjustment, a lunch menu update, a weather-related delay, or a celebratory announcement — districts need a solution that can keep every screen current without creating additional burden for technology teams.

Arreya Delivers a Seamless Cloud-Based Solution

Under Jennifer Byrd’s leadership as Chief Technology Officer, Harnett County Schools selected Arreya for its combination of affordability, ease of use, and powerful remote management capabilities that directly address the pain points of large districts.

In her February 26, 2025 review titled “Great and Affordable Digital Signage Solution for School Districts,” Byrd stated after 2+ years of use:

“Arreya provides a seamless cloud-based digital signage solution, allowing easy access and updates from anywhere. Its remote management capabilities make content scheduling and deployment effortless, ensuring real-time communication across multiple locations. Additionally, its third-party integrations enhance functionality, enabling smooth connectivity with various platforms and tools for a more dynamic experience.” Byrd’s feedback highlights several core strengths that education technology leaders consistently seek:

• Full cloud access so administrators can update content from any device or location, whether they are in the central office, at a school site, or working remotely.
• Simple scheduling tools that eliminate the need for constant IT intervention.
• Reliable real-time delivery so every screen across the district stays synchronized.
• Strong third-party integrations — especially valuable in Google Workspace-heavy districts like Harnett County — that allow dynamic content such as calendars, news feeds, and live streams to appear automatically.

Real-World Implementation: Triton High School

One clear example of Arreya in action is visible today at Triton High School in Erwin, North Carolina. The school’s digital signage display runs live and accessible at a dedicated to a specific URL.

It now serves as the central hub for school information, featuring daily announcements, event details, lunch menus, safety information, and direct links to key events such as the 2025 graduation livestream. As of March 30, 2026, the screen is actively displaying real-time schedule blocks (“HAWKTIME = 1st Block”) and urgent student notices, confirming it remains in daily operational use across the district.

This implementation shows how Arreya enables individual schools within a larger district to maintain localized, relevant content while still benefiting from centralized cloud management and district-wide consistency.

Key Results and Benefits Observed

After more than two years of district-wide deployment, the practical benefits reported by the district align directly with Jennifer Byrd’s review and are visible in everyday operations:

• Effortless remote management — Front-office staff and communications teams can now handle content updates themselves from anywhere, reducing the workload on the central technology department.
• Real-time multi-location communication — Updates appear instantly across all displays, ensuring every campus receives the same timely information simultaneously.
• Improved workflow efficiency — Scheduling and deployment have become streamlined processes rather than time-consuming tasks, freeing up valuable IT resources for other strategic initiatives.
• Enhanced functionality through integrations — The ability to connect seamlessly with other platforms creates richer, more dynamic displays that go beyond static text to include images, videos, calendars, and live feeds.

The result is a modern communication ecosystem that has replaced outdated static boards with vibrant, always-current digital displays — all while remaining cost-effective for a public school district of Harnett County Schools’ size.

Why This Matters for Other School Districts

Harnett County Schools’ experience provides a practical, real-world model for other K-12 districts that are evaluating digital signage options. Many districts of similar size (5,000–50,000 students) face the same combination of tight budgets, limited IT staff, and the need for reliable, scalable communication tools.

Arreya’s cloud-native design, education-specific features (drag-and-drop content creation, instant safety overrides, and live-stream embedding), and affordable structure make it especially well-suited for public school environments that rely heavily on Google tools and cannot afford complex hardware installations or per-device licensing fees.

District technology leaders looking for a proven, user-friendly system that has already been successfully implemented in a North Carolina public school district can draw confidence from this implementation.