Communications Plan Name of school: Great Hieghts High Project team: Mr. Blank (Principal), Ms. Smith (PTO), Mr. Ringer (PR), Ms. Wire (Technology Director), Joe Bagadonuts (Student Council) Date: April 13, 2010

Background and Scope Current Communication Tools – Paper News Letters (monthly) – School Website (random) – (Teacher/Parent) After completion of a communication audit the findings were as follows – Need for more up to date information (website) – Quicker means of communication – Multi-medium communication

Setting Objectives Strengthen communication between schools and families Increase community members knowledge of school news Strengthen parent/caregiver participation in school Increase use of technology within communication with parents, students, and community members

School Goals Increase integration of technology for 21 st century learners Increase % of students to pursuit post secondary education Increase technology literacy with faculty, students, and parents

Objectives (Communications) Why do you want to communicate to your audience? Is it to: raise the profile of the school in the local community; develop relationships with local businesses; enhance students career prospects; or encourage parents to read the newsletter more often? Naturally, it is difficult to do everything at once, so keep your objectives realistic. The best communications plans have no more than four objectives. These might include: increase your school enrolments change public perceptions of your school change the media’s perceptions of your school establish a network of advocates for your school strengthen parent/caregiver participation at your school establish a new identity for your school improve student attendance improve your teacher retention rate.

Target Audiences Existing Parents and Students of the system – GHSD Families who are considering the GHSD for their children, and those who may have opted out of GHSD for other educational opportunities Current staff and partners working to improve the schools Teaching candidates and other potential employees The general public – citizens, taxpayers, opinion leaders, and employers

Key Messages Highly qualified professional and support staff in key areas State of the art facility with up to date technology Community with strong family and community support Programs that prepare students for independence and entrance into college

Evaluation Plan Surveying the school community with a questionaire Measuring the increase in participation with parents Interviewing parents at parent-teacher night Tracking visits to the internet site

Budget We will dedicate 5% of the technology budget to increase communication. This will be a high priority of the technology department.

Issues/Risks Strengths – Highly qualified and experienced staff – Offer students broad subject choice – We have networked computers in each classroom Weaknesses Weak test scores We could improve communication with parents We could improve our communication with local media

Issues/Risks Opportunities – We could build upon our supportive local school network – We could attract new students by targeting newly arrived families in our area Threats The local population is changing and there are fewer households with school age children We could encourage greater parent involvement in school

Objective 1 Action Plan Strengthen communication between schools and families – Each building will have its own blog with weekly to daily updates – Implement an automated school calling system, like Connect-ED

Objective 2 Action Plan Increase community members knowledge of school news – Update website at least weekly – Add news ticker to current website – Create facebook page

Objective 3 Action Plan Strengthen parent/caregiver participation in school – Text notification of upcoming events – Listserv to notify parent of opportunities of volunteering

Objective 4 Action Plan Increase use of technology within communication parents, students, and community members – Investigate school-wide purchase of student database for parents to access student grades, assignments, etc. – Increase instruction with mobile technology