Pine-Richland School District E - C O M M U N I C A T I O N P r e p - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

E - C O M M U N I C A T I O N P r e p a r e d b y E - n e w s E d i t o r , J i l l G r u b e r F o r Q u e s t i o n s , e m a i l p r n e w s l e t t e r s @ p i n e r i c h l a n d . o r g

Pine-Richland School District

Communicating to Families

 Help me help you communicate…how?

 Follow Process  Be Timely with Submissions

 For Website, Information Submitted will be posted

to the website within 3 business days

 For Enews, Information Submitted by Wednesday

morning (by Monday is appreciated), will be included the week’s enews (which includes Friday’s edition of e-news for each

school and Sunday’s The Week Ahead for grades K-6)

Enews Editor Hours

 Enews Editor position is part-time

 No set number of hours per week; rather, the editor will work

until the job is done

 The editor’s weekly deliverables and deadlines must be met

(even when people submitting information do not meet the deadline to submit information)

 Editor works every weekday during the school year  On average, emails are checked and handled every

weekday morning.

Process Important

 To meet a weekly deadline and communicate

information to thousands of people every week across six buildings and the PR Community, an

• rganized process is a must!

 Key Steps in this Process for those submitting info

 Submit information only to prnewsletters@pinerichland.org.  Submit Information by Wednesday (Monday is appreciated!)  Submit a Minimum of 2 weeks before event or a deadline.

Key Step 1: prnewsletters@pinerichland.org

 Submit information only to

prnewsletters@pinerichland.org

 Do not call, text or send to another email address.

 Why?

 With hundreds of individuals submitting information across

the entire district and PR Community, email-only to specified address is necessary to keep all submission information

• rganized.

 Information should be in writing (email) to ensure accuracy.

Key Step 2: Wednesday Submission

 To be published in the upcoming Friday-Sunday

editions, information should be submitted by Wednesday morning. Why?

 Provides time for questions if information submitted is

unclear.

 Allows time to post information to the website with time for

your review before publication in upcoming emails.

 Allows time for the office staff and parent group presidents to

see a preview of the enews being sent to families.

 It’s very important that each school’s office staff is provided an

• pportunity to review information that is going out on their behalf.

Key Step 3: Submit Info 2 Weeks Before Event

 Submit Information a Minimum of 2 Weeks before

your event or your deadline. Why?

 Ideally, we should communicate an event to families a

minimum of 2 times (3 is better).

 Submitting 2 weeks in advance ensures inclusion in at least 1

enews; and for K-6, a second time in The Week Ahead

 But, communicate no more than one month in

• advance. Why?

 Families are not looking that far ahead  If items are continuously repeated in enews, the information

will become stale and will be ignored.

How to Submit

 Email the details – who, what, when, where why,

how

 If using VolunteerSpot to recruit volunteers or donations,

include link in your detail email.

 Do not take time to provide special formatting as this cannot

be used in enews.

 Assume no one (including me) knows anything about

your event.

 Flyers – before creating, think about how you want

people to use a flyer – event may not need a flyer.

Sample of a Clear Submission

Here is a sample of a clear and complete submission; this submission included a need for volunteers.

***************************************************************

This is the info for EHUE Field Day. Here's the link for volunteers: http://vols.pt/gf3DxY EHUE field day is at Santacroce Stadium (adjacent to RES). Volunteers are needed to help with activities, and to fill water balloons and deliver them (50 per class).

 5th grade - June 1  6th grade - June 2  4th grade - June 4

Volunteers

 Use VolunteerSpot to recruit Volunteers  Contact your Parent Group VS coordinator to set up your

event.

 If volunteer times coordinate with a classroom schedule, have the

classroom teacher names listed in VS. People typically want to volunteer when their children are attending the event.

 Provide all needs including what people will be doing and when

(start & end times, when appropriate)

 Send the VS link with your event details to

prnewsletters@pinerichland.org

 Test the link before sending to ensure the link is correct.

 If you are not getting responses!

 Let the enewsletter editor know....can’t help increase responses if

unaware!

Registrations or Orders

 If people are registering for an event or placing an

• rder, submit one of two ways

 Provide the URL to the online registration or order placement  Provide in a word document the registration form or order

form.

 If people are not responding:

 Let the editor know…can’t help increase responses if unaware!  Do not extend deadline until after the original deadline passed.

(if you are going to do this, please give the editor advance notice)

 Most people respond on or just after a deadline

Special Announcements

 We must be selective about Special Announcements.

Why?

 It’s important that we encourage families to rely on and

respond to the weekly enews and the website for all information.

 If too many emails are sent, people will ignore them; in some

instances, people have unsubscribed from receiving all emails from the school….we want to minimize that from occurring.

Why Not Paper or Other Methods

 In order for families to use enews and the website, they

must be confident that all information that they need is included

 What’s wrong with paper other than not being

environmentally friendly?

 Paper doesn’t always make it home.  Paper gets lost once it’s home  For separate households, both parents are not receiving information

 If you insist on paper or other methods

 Get approval from principal  Do in addition to and not instead of enews

Understand Your Audience

 Most people have children in more than one

building.

 Most children are also involved in activities outside

• f school.

 During certain times of the year, there is an increase

in activity and demands on our families.

 A small number of parents are extremely involved in

your building and read everything; another small number are not involved and do not participate; the majority of families are interested and wish to be involved.

What to Remember

 Submit to prnewsletters@pinerichland.org only.  Submit no later than Wednesday morning for the

next edition (Monday is appreciated).

 Submit a minimum of 2 weeks before your event or

deadline.

 I’m here to help – keep me posted on your event’s

progress!