Office of Public Affairs and Communications

Overview

We support Seattle’s students and schools by providing accurate, up-to-date information about student achievement, school events and District initiatives. We build understanding and public support for our schools and strengthen relationships with students, staff, families, and community members so that together we can ensure an excellent education for every student. We support the District in offering multiple opportunities for staff, families, and community members to share their success stories, ideas, and feedback on the District’s priority projects. We work collaboratively with central office and school staff to help them communicate clearly and effectively.

Goals

We work to tell the story of Seattle Public Schools and to engage families and community members in our schools. Specifically, we aim to:

• Share information about our schools and students through multiple forms of media and in many languages.
• Build support for our schools by forming partnerships with families and community members.
• Engage community members by organizing many opportunities for people to share their thoughts, provide input, and partner with us to serve all students.
• Build capacity for school and central staff to share information through newsletters, web sites, phone messages, and community gatherings.
• Provide clear and timely crisis communications during inclement weather, natural disasters, or other emergencies.

Current Initiatives

We are working to expand our outreach efforts through our school-family partnerships and by using new types of media so that we can more effectively reach out to and hear back from the members of our diverse school communities. Our initiatives include:

• A twice-a-month e-newsletter, School Beat, that updates staff and families on school news and achievements.
• School-family partnerships, currently in 37 schools, provide families and staff members opportunities to work together to ensure student success. Our goal is to train and support all schools in this model.
  School reports for each school that provide easy-to-use information about our schools’ achievements, progress, and what is happening at each school to boost student achievement.
• A communications toolkit that gives school staff resources to communicate clearly and effectively with students and families.
• An online Calendar and Family Guide that provide more timely and relevant information for families.

Accomplishments

We are striving to reach out to our many diverse communities to help them become more involved and engaged with our schools. Specific accomplishments include:

• 84 percent of School Family Partnership schools have met their objectives.
• Careful adherence to our Crisis Communications Protocols has helped staff share important information in an accurate, timely, and efficient manner.
• Nearly half of subscribing families click open and read our School Beat e-newsletter every two weeks.

Resources

We work directly with schools, District staff and the media to encourage engagement, share information, and solicit input. Some of the resources we provide include:

• School Beat, a twice a month newsletter for staff and community members.
• Principal Communicator, a weekly internal bulletin for school principals.
  Distribution of education and family non-profit flyers through individual schools.
• Regular updates on our five-year strategic plan, Excellence for All.
• A regularly updated summary of current issues on our homepage and in our pressroom.
• An online calendar and a comprehensive list of resources for families, including an annual printed calendar for families.
• Resources for bilingual families at our Bilingual Family Center.
• Regular News Releases on school and district issues, as well as a summary of local media coverage of Seattle Public Schools.