By: Rachel Nakanishi
For five years, I sat on the communications team at Seattle Public Schools. I sought out a job at a school district to tell the good stories of educators in an equity-focused public school district. What I got was a crash course in crisis management and education policy, an impervious skin to social media trolls, a deep respect for school leaders, a major caffeine addiction, and maybe a little PTSD. I left the largest school district in Washington bringing with me a toolbox full of tactics and experience to share and commiserate with other district communication leaders in my new role at Strategies 360.
School communicators are the district office staff who are working tirelessly, always on call, always in the support of students and families, to share timely and transparent information. These unsung heroes of school districts work to translate policy information into actionable family emails, track down and confirm accurate information and get it into the inboxes of those who need it, are awake at 4 a.m. on snow days, guide principals through unimaginable situations, and anticipate the communications needs of superintendents.
School PR pros approach their work with empathy and a thick skin, while predicting which issue is going to need more detail on the website and which gif will work best on social media.
It’s no surprise that our team’s favorite day to celebrate is the second Friday in May: School Communicators Day, now officially recognized by NSPRA the National School Public Relations Association.
For those who have received a timely email from your school, gotten a robocall reminder, responded to a district Facebook event, or remembered to vote for a school levy – take the time to thank your district communications team. Each tweet took hours to get approval, each event has a team working behind the scenes to lift it up, and each email has been meticulously read and translated in order to get the best information to you.
And for the Superintendents and school leaders looking to thank your superhero school communicators, a simple “thank you” will go a long way (and a latte might go even farther!).
School communicators: we see you, we salute you, and we’re here to support you.
Learn more about how the S360 Education Team can help and feel free to contact us at edteam@strategies360.com. You can also follow us on Twitter.