Transcript:
Developing a communication/public
relations plan for a school district is imperative to the success of the school.
Communication is the key. In the plan I created the number one communication platform
was an alert system. The system would be used to notify students, teachers,
staff, and community members of school closures or incidents. The alert system
would alert each person by a text message through their cell phone, an e-mail,
and a recorded telephone message.
For
news and “school happenings” the school district would have a Facebook page and
Twitter page for each school. The schedule for athletic events and other events
such as picture day, Winter extravaganza, grading periods, school calendar etc.
would be posted on these social media sites for students and parents. I would
encourage teachers to supply parents with an email address that they could use
to communicate with them. Each schools’ newspaper as wells as the local newspapers
would print a list of school activities as well. I would encourage teachers to
have students submit articles for print in the school newspaper. Thomas (1932)
believes that public relations is not about securing publicity for the school,
but telling the community facts about the school so that the community itself
can gain from them.
It is
important to have various means of communication. Not everyone will want to
utilize all communication options, but if they do have these options they can
be sure to know what is going on in the school district. The pros to having
various forms of communication is the option feature. People can choose how
they would like to be contacted. The con to using all communication platforms
to be contacted is that notifications will become too numerous. One of the pros
of social media is that a lot of school age children have access and accounts
to these platforms and they stay connected. A con to social media is the many
distractions that can occur while on social media sites. Having an alert system
is a benefit to the school, because it allows one message to be sent to multiple
people via multiple ways all at one time. A con to an alert system is that
everyone will not sign up for it and there is no way to make them sign up for
it. The benefit of using the school newspaper and the local papers to communicate
is the number of people it will reach. The con is the cost of printing and
having something printed in the paper. Teachers
should be very cautious when communicating with parents through email. It is
very easy and quick, but it should be monitored. Parents can become a problem
if they contact the teacher to often. It also may cause the teacher to be adding
to their already busy schedule. It is important to have communication and
providing options helps ensure that the community stays connect to the school.
Reference
Thomas, J. S. (1932). The principal’s plans or public
relations. Education, 53(2), 69-73.
This post is spot on Tiffani. A communications plan is so important in a school. Connecting and communicating is one of the elements for driving change. With all of the social media available to us now, communication should not be too difficult. I like your point about alert systems. The college where I work at has an alert system that students, teachers, and staff can sign up for. We actually require all new students to sign up for it when they attend a new student orientation at the beginning of the semester. It will send a message either as a text or email notifying of any emergency or important information like snow days! This has been one of the best initiatives our school has done regarding communication.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we utilize social media like facebook, instagram, and twitter to post announcements and important information. Like you mentioned, though, not everyone may use these specific sites. Teachers and students use a course management system for their classes, and this is a great tool for communication as well. The down side would be that students may not check their CMS at all times. Even emails, we have discovered, go unread by students these days. The key we have found to be the best communication tool with this generation is texting or messaging that goes directly to the student's phone. They have their phones with them at all times.
The important thing is to just have a communications plan in place. we can't guarantee that every person will receive it or read it, but we as leaders must do our part and develop one. The twenty-first century has supplied us with so many different options to stay connected and communicate. We must do what we can to communicate properly to those around us.
This is a great post, Tiffani. As you stated, a public relation (PR) plan is a critical part of a school's ability to communicate. For a public school system, an adequate alert system is a necessitate, especially if in a location where snow days are a possibility. For a private school, this is also important, but slightly harder to accomplish. While public schools often participate in a statewide alert system, private schools do not have this luxury and must find other ways to communicate critical information such as school closure. One such way is an effective email system, but as you mentioned, not everyone communicates in the same way. Schools must be willing to communicate with parents in a way that works for them, whether they are public or private.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, social media is a great way to communicate with parents about school events. It is important to advertise these events through social media to increase participation. When parents participate in school events, they are more likely to want to participate in other aspects of school life, thereby increasing volunteerism. Social media has continued usage surrounding events even after the event is finished. Pictures from the event can be published on various social media platforms. Publishing such photos after an event has various uses. First, it lets participants relive the event and be reminded of how good it was. Second, it shows school families that might not have participated what is to be gained by participation in such events. This might increase participation in future events. Finally, it shows members of the community that are unaffiliated with the school what the school is doing. This may lead more members of the community to be willing to assist the school with future projects, even if they have not previously had ties with the school. This is especially true if the event benefits the community.
Tiffani
ReplyDeleteHi Tiffani, I agree communication is key. Communication has been one of the biggest challenges I have had as a parent with some of my daughter’s schools. Improvements in this area make such a huge impact for everyone. I like the alert system. We have something similar. Originally it was just a message on your answering machine but now that they have added a text message to it it’s much more efficient. Facebook updates are also a great way to utilize social media to keep students and parents informed! My daughters school now does that and I love being able to share the events as well. As far as posting a schedule/calendar your not going to be able to do that with Facebook and twitter. What you could do is have that on a school website and distribute the link to it through Facebook and twitter. A website with built in communication tools would be great too. Kids and parents have a hard time keeping track of those emails from the teachers that get sent home on the first day. It would be super efficient to use web forms to reach the teachers through the site. While I agree its great to use lots of different tools, a school website would also give you a place to have all info in one place.
TeachThought Staff. (2016). The Benefits Of Creating A Website For Your Classroom. Teach Thought. Retrieved from: https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/benefits-creating-website-classroom/
Unknown. (2017). Five Reasons Your School Needs a Website. Alpha Omega Publications. Retrieved from: https://www.aopschools.com/blog/five-reasons-your-school-needs-a-website/