Tip 36: Survey parents as part of your planning for reopening

As the 2020-21 school year wraps up, planning for when, how and what reopening would look like is at the top of everyone’s mind.

Tip 31: Organize virtual events for parents and families to increase engagement

How can K-12 schools and districts create shared experiences and deeper connection with their families, without face-to-face on campus events? Live interaction is still possible with large school groups! Here are 4 examples of schools and districts running large group events through virtual means.

School Community, operations, social mediaKatherine EngelApril 29, 2020parent engagement, virtual events, school communication, school communityComment

Tip 29: Address digital equity issues with school-provided wifi

How do you help level the playing (or in this case, educational) field? Over the past six weeks, districts and schools took action to tackle digital equity issues and provide internet access to everyone — opening up school wifi that students and parents can use to download materials in school parking lots. Some have even brought wifi to needed areas by rigging their school buses with wifi systems. Here are several examples to explore.

Tip 25: Survey parents to assess the success of remote learning

There are tons of questions when it comes to distance learning — and the answers widely vary depending on district, school, neighborhood and individual family. So to answer these questions, why not get to the source?

Remote Learning, community support, operationsKatherine EngelApril 21, 2020k12, k12 communications, survey, school survey, distance learning, distance learning tip, remote learning, remote learning tip, school closure, school closure tip, school 2020, school communityComment

Tip 22: Address webcam background equity issues

Consider using a neutral background like a wall or window, or showcase fun school-related items or artwork! Try your best to avoid showing your whole room. Teachers can set the example with their background and encourage their students to follow suit!

Tip 19: Use FAQs to Support Your K-12 Parents and Save Staff Time

We’re noticing great examples of FAQs going out to students and their families. The question-answer format is easy to absorb and a great way to make sure the most important information gets through. Here are many examples worth a look.

tech tools, community support, operations, Video, websiteKatherine EngelApril 13, 2020k12, k12 communications, school, school closure, school closures, school closure tip, remote learning, distance learning, FAQ, School FAQ, k12 communication tipComment

Tip 16: Make it easier for parents to get the help they need

More than ever before, parents need help. Parents have a lot of questions. And many don’t know where to go for answers. Here are a couple ideas on how to set up your own help desk.

community support, operations, tech tools, websiteKatherine EngelApril 8, 2020k12, k12 communications, school closure, school closures, school closure tip, remote learning, remote learning tip, distance learning, distance learning tip, help desk, questions, questions for school, help your school communityComment

Tip 14: Send important information (like passwords) securely

The transition to remote learning and working has been a little bumpy, and we’re all learning as we go and tackling new challenges (zoom-bombing, anyone?).

operations, tech toolsKatherine EngelApril 6, 2020k12, k12 communications, K12 COVID-19 Communication Tip, school, school closure, school closures, password security, remote learning, remote learning tip, secure messaging, zoombombing, school communication, school communication platformComment

Tip 13: Use spare time to improve your contactability

At Fortune Schools, some administrators (who usually would be working face-to-face and handling on-site activities) now have spare capacity — and they’re using this time to tackle the project of improving the accuracy of their contact records.

operationsKatherine EngelApril 3, 2020k12, k12 communications, K12 COVID-19 Communication Tip, school, school closure, school closures, contactability, communications, school communication platform, remote learning tip, undeliverable messages, bounced emailsComment

Tip 10: Stagger packet pickups to ensure social distancing

As schools work to ensure equitable remote learning, many are turning to learning packets. While a great solution, there are a couple things to keep in mind to best practice social distancing while distributing packets.

Remote Learning, operationsKatherine EngelMarch 31, 2020k12, k12 communications, K12 COVID-19 Communication Tip, school, school communication platform, school closures, school closure tip, learning packet, schoolwork packet, school packet distribution, remote learning, remote learning packet, distance learning, distance learning packetComment

Tip 8: Set up a school communications schedule

As you adjust to remote learning, think about how to get organized with a communications schedule. This way, your community knows what to expect from you — and if they’d like to look back at information — they can easily find what they are looking for.

School Community, community support, operationsKatherine EngelMarch 27, 2020k12, k12 communications, K12 COVID-19 Communication Tip, school communication, school closure, communications schedule, staying organized with communication, school closures, school closure tip, too much information from schoolComment

Tip 5: Consolidate remote learning resources

Try to organize all of your remote learning resources into one place. Things are already uncertain enough — so having one clear, consolidated, and updated source of communication can mitigate stress and confusion. Here are some great examples we’ve seen:

Remote Learning, tech tools, website, operationsKatherine EngelMarch 24, 2020k12, k12 communications, K12 COVID-19 Communication Tip, school, school closure, remote learning, school communicationComment

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