Hmmm, maybe communication isn't a top priority after all.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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8 comments:
The school calendar indicates that the Friday Packet isn't due home until November 13th which is this Friday. It also indicates that the prior Friday Packet should have made it home on 10/23... which it did.
If it's called the Friday packet...why does it only come like every third Friday? I wish that we had the weekly communication of the Friday packet like we did a couple of years back. I gotta agree with the original posting that communication is still not a priority with Pleasantdale! I loved knowing what my kids were doing every week in K and 1st grade and then it just stopped. It seems the district really doesnt want us to know too much. Feeds into that Blind, Dumb and Happy theory I've read about hear. Does seem true.....
While it’s great that we can all read the school calendar, I think that the point of the first blog post is that there is only one packet for the entire month of November.
For those new to the school, the Friday packet used to be sent out weekly. Several years ago the school administration felt that bi-weekly was sufficient and the decision was made to send it on the second and fourth Friday of the month. Apparently it is just too confusing to send it out every other Friday – hence we only receive one packet during months of November & December due to the holiday schedule.
I personally felt that I was more “connected” to the school when I received my packet weekly.
Was the frequency of the Friday Packet discussed as an issue within the Communication Committee last year? That would have been the perfect arena to address this and make adjustments to the Friday Packet schedule if deemed necessary by the committee. On another note, does anyone know how much work goes into getting the packet out?! Last look at the calendar shows 1 PTA committee chairperson on Friday Packet. I hope she has allot of help and I commend her for her hard work.
You are absolutely correct; that is what the calendar says. However, if you were on the communication team last Spring, you would have learned that the goal was to increase communication in our district, not scale it back. In years past, the Friday packet came every Friday, then it was every other Friday. Now it is November and we only get one packet this month and the same again next month. After this packet, your next Friday packet won't arrive until December 11. Does that sound like an increase in communication? Frequent communication helps bolster and improve school and community relations. It sends a message to stakeholders that they are valued and their presence is important. When you look at how few people attend district functions such as board meetings and town hall meetings it all begins to make sense. People don't go because they don't feel their presence is valued. Finally, it has also been said that the frequency of the Friday packet has a direct correlation to the money our PTA earns through fundraising. The PTA does a lot for our kids with money earned through fundraising. So the more Friday packets you receive, the greater the benefit to the community and the kids.
What do other schools do to increase communication and make it easier to have timely information.
At present, at pleasantdale, multiple groups all have stuff to put into the packet. The packet is then assembled and distributed. This is time consuming, labor intensive, and is difficult to put forth timely information, and look at all that paper thats used.
Other schools at present do everything on line. Real time information that can be added by multiple groups continually and always available for all the stakeholders. Now thats communication.
So instead of slamming everyone all the time, work to get some change to this ever shrinking Friday packet.
Get in touch with communications committee and voice your concern. Who is on communications committee?
Ed,
I was on the communication action committee. We met for several hours a week, several times a month for four months. Below please find the end result statements (ERS)and action plans created by the communication action team to address the following communication strategy:
Strategy:
Evaluate and adjust our communication system to efficiently and effectively convey information to our school community critical to the success of our strategic plan.
End Result #1:
Ensure that all community members are engaged in meaningful communication
Action Plans:
•Define content used for meaningful communication
•Create preferred list of plausible communication methods
•Create a list of community members who we are going to offer the communication preference choice to
•Distribute preferred list and collect communication preferences
•Build distribution database
•Match preferred communication method(s) to ERS 2, 3, 4
•Create a list of people who will be in charge of distributing the information in each method
•Develop alternative communication preferences for those who do not fall into a sub group of preferred methods
End Result #2:
Implement the shared responsibilities for delivering and receiving communication between the district and community.
Action Plans:
•Determine the communication expectation the community has as it relates to the school district
•Develop and publish protocols based on the expectations of the community and the availability of district members
•Implement protocols based on the expectations of the community and the availability of district members
End Result #3:
Expand the district’s utilization of the automated outbound phone communication system.
Action Plans:
•Investigate cost effective automated outbound message phone system
•Establish content criteria for messages that can be sent using the automated phone system
•Develop a procedure to release an acceptable phone message
•Communicate the criteria and procedures to all the district – staff, PTA and school families
•Resolve problems with phone numbers that do not connect
End Result #4:
Utilize an effective and efficient electronic communication system.
Action Plans:
•Research and identify capabilities for our desired integrated communication system.
•Utilize a new integrated electronic information system in conjunction with our current systems
•Increase enrollment/access of the paperless Friday packet through training and orientation
•Increase utilization of our electronic communication system through training and orientation
ERS #4 was a plan to change our communication method to an integrated and comprehensive learning community management system similar to what you would find at schoolfusion.com or edline.com.
The board of education voted not to include end result statement #4 in the superintendent's goals for the 2009-2010 school year because the superintendent felt it would be too much to accomplish in one year.
So, as you can see, the communication committee did their best to work for change to utilize an electronic method of communication for our district as you have suggested, only to be placed on the back burner once again.
Mom22,
The communications committee from last year has a comprehensive set of well thought out action steps to increase the communication. It sounds like we could be on track to eventually phase out this paper method of communication. I think the communications committee this year needs to “get on” the computerized system and get it replaced.
Gina was on the committee last year and will have the connections to the communication committee members. Then the board and superintendant can begin this process this year. I agree with Gina and the board and superintendent that all of the communication points were probably too much to bite off all in one year. But a couple of years or so and it can all be streamlined.
Thanks to the communications committee last year for putting together the comprehensive plan. The eventual removal of the Friday packet and phase in of an electronic system would be a huge time saver for all groups involved and for the school and will be in real time.
I believe that the communication in other areas is going up. Just yesterday we knew what grade our student got on a test before they came home from school on STI. They walked in the door and we were able to say “good job” on that test. They did not even know the grade yet!! I received calls directly from the superintendent to my house electronically last year for school related cancellations, etc. That is pretty forward.
So in my opinion, it is getting better and better and communication seems to be a “priority” for our Pleasantdale elementary and middle schools.
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