Don’t Quit! Improving Your District’sCommunity Engagement & Communication

Is PossibleWednesday, July 23, 2014

Presented by

Join the Parent Involvement & Community Engagement in K-12 community: www.edweb.net/engagement

Check out these key resources:

Parent & Family Engagement Infographic –http://offers.schoolwires.com/peinfographic 

A Checklist for Family Involvement – http://offers.schoolwires.com/k12checklist 

Schoolwires supports parent engagement

with community management technology

solutions that keep your K-12 district stakeholders connected.

Join our community: Parent Involvement &

Community Engagement in K-12 www.edweb.net/engagement

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Don’t Quit!Improving Your District’s

Community Engagement & Communication Is Possible.

Presented by:Andrew Swickheimer, Director of TechnologyMichele Turner, Data Integration Manager

Our vision for our website:• Community information hub• Reliably operate 24/7• Aesthetically pleasing• User-friendly• Mobile compatible

Attempts at different solutions:• First website built in-house

We outgrew it• Second website was a commercial solution

Didn’t live up to promises Bought out by larger company Didn’t invest in solution any more

Unfortunately, we had challenges:• Significant downtime – crashed often• Slow hosting – server issues• Bought by another company – didn’t support 

solution any more• Text heavy – not a lot of engaging photos

Two strikes, but did we quit looking?No! 

And this time we weren’t going to settle.

Best practices for findingthe right solutions…

#1. Identify your non-negotiable items. 

Our non-negotiables were:

1.Reliable hosting and uptime

2.Innovative design3.Creative options for content editors

4.Regular upgrades5.Mobile-compatible6.Proven excellent customer service

#2. Work with a committeeof stakeholders

extOur search & evaluation committees were made up of:1. Teachers2. Parents3. Technology Leaders4. Administration5. PR/Marketing Dept. 

#3. Develop an evaluation rubric

Some of our evaluation metrics included:1. Technology infrastructure

2.Community based infrastructure

3.Content management4.References

5. Communication and collaboration tools6. User experience7. Performance8. Service and support9. Company considerations

#4. Request in-person product demonstrations

Why are in-person product demonstrations important?• Questions answered• Interactive walk-through of features• Relationships

#5. Ensure the website is mobile-

compatible

extWhy is mobile-compatibility important?• Google analytics – 70% of traffic is mobile• That’s where our parents are• Dynamic creation of content• Lose stakeholders

After one year, here are some of our exciting results…

Happy community members love the look and navigation of our site

Site traffic is averaging 120,000+ views per month just on our district home page

No site stability issues – hosting handles traffic volume without a problem

We’re one of the first districts in Indiana to have our own district website mobile app for both Apple & Android

• Social Media Outreach– Facebook

• Social Media– Twitter

• Social Media– Instagram

• Video Content– Vimeo and YouTube Channel– Website– Examples – Board Meetings, Livestream– Video - https://vimeo.com/89705941

• Community Events– Back to School Bash– Elementary - Ice Cream Socials

– Meet at the Middle– Open House– Education Foundation Events– Learning Showcase

• Parental Engagement– PTOs– CAC– Chamber of Commerce – State of Schools– Volunteers – SchoolMessenger– Online surveys – Balanced calendar, start times

• Business Partnerships– Riverview, City of Noblesville– Internships– Partnerships

• Print– Newsletters– Strategic Plan– Pocket facts– Annual Report

• Student Information System, Learning Management System– Give parents access– Progress monitor– Attendance, discipline

• PR and Marketing– Success Stories, Recognitions– Speaking opportunities: Lions Club, Kiwanis – Conferences– Media Partnerships 

• Back to School issue with local paper• HCTV Interviews

– Community signage

Questions?Type your questions in the chat window

Thank you to our sponsor!

 http://www.schoolwires.com

Join our community: Parent Involvement &

Community Engagement in K-12 www.edweb.net/engagement

• Invitations to upcoming webinars• Webinar archives and resources• Online discussions• CE quizzes for archived webinars

A CE certificate for today’s webinar

will be emailed to you

24 hours after the live session.

Stay tuned for information about our next webinar!August 27 with Dr. Jill Gildea, Superintendent

Fremont School District 79 (IL)

Join the Parent Involvement & Community Engagement in K-12 community for an invitation to the next webinar: www.edweb.net/engagement