Community Engagement

At a recent meeting with several members of the community we discussed the issue of school communication and community engagement.  I expressed my interest in looking at what I called “high yield” methods of communicating with the Saline Area School community.  My intention was to discuss what types of communication that would best connect with a wide range of community members.  I asked the group, “What is the best example of communication from Saline Area Schools over the past few years?”  We discussed a variety of methods with the current technology driven options like websites, emails, Twitter and Facebook updates, etc.

The one idea that kept resonating with the group was decidedly low tech – personal meetings.  Getting together with groups, away from the school if possible to discuss issues related to Saline Area Schools.  It could be a building principal meeting at a neighborhood location.  It could mean the superintendent visiting local Senior Housing Centers to discuss the current issues facing our district.  It could be working with families to host informal gatherings where school staff are present to share information about the district.  Overall, the idea was to communicate face to face and allow for two way communication.

With the local media landscape in transition and families as busy as ever, clearly there is no “one way” to communicate.  Today’s discussion highlighted the need to think about how we can connect and communicate with the greater community.