"The Pipeline" Public Relations Plan Cameron Soester EDAD 631 Public Relations
Purpose The purpose of this public relations plan is to establish two way communication between our school district and its patrons. The Pipeline will ensure that the communications that take place will be informative, pertinent, honest, and consistent. The Pipeline will also ensure that the internal communication within our district is also informative, pertinent, honest, and consistent. The Pipeline is in place to achieve one goal and that is to live up to our mission and vision statements. The ability to share information about our mission statement and vision statement will allow for our constituents to follow our progress on this journey. Their ability to document successes will foster a sense of ownership and pride for our district. Vision Statement The educational team at Pipeline is committed to developing strong leaders by setting high expectations, clear and obtainable goals, and developing problem solving skills. Mission Statement The educational team at Pipeline will promote an environment conducive to cooperation, competition, creativity, and collaboration. Objectives The objectives of The Pipeline is To: Keep steady two way internal communication. Educate the staff, both classified and non classified, about our public relations goals Utilize professional learning communities to establish sharing of ideas and concerns Utilize professional learning communities to provide community outreach Develop positive working relationships with the local news media Maintain an organized method to implement our public relations strategies Monitor The Pipeline for both effectiveness and revisions Strategies To ensure that the objectives of The Pipeline are met the director of public relations will utilize many strategies. Listed below are the strategies, and their intended outcome. School Newspaper - The school newspaper will be published by the high school journalism class. This newspaper will focus on topics that are inclusive of the elementary, junior high, and high school buildings. The paper will be distributed in the school, and will be placed in business throughout the community to ensure the effective distribution of this publication. School Newsletter - The school news letter will be published once per month and mailed to all constituents of Pipeline school district. This newsletter will focus on the special topics brought forth by the district's administrative team. This newsletter will include pertinent information about the operation of the school such as legislative updates, board meetings, curricular updates, introduction of new programs.
Parental Involvement - The involvement of parents is vital to the success of any school district. The use of several activities will be used to encourage parental involvement. Parent teacher conferences (3 times per year) Progress reports sent to all students every 4 weeks Pipeline orientation night in August Parent outreach program scheduled monthly (guest speakers, staff presentations, etc) Parent/Community Focus Group (PFG) will meet monthly to offer insight in school decisions Creation of student ambassadors to give tours of the school to community members Mentioning parent/student involvement strategies in the school newsletter Organization of a booster club to support the schools Activities Organization of a parent teacher organization Alert Now - The alert now program allows for the school district to convey important information to the students and parents of the school district. Pipeline will utilize this technology to inform the community about valuable information via telephone call or email Web site - The effective utilization of Pipeline's website on the world wide web will be an effective way to market the school, and inform the general public about the school district. The web site will display important information concerning the school district. Power School - Through the use of Pearson's Power School students and parents have access to information concerning their demographics, academic information, as well as account balances. This will promote more parental involvement by allowing the parents to monitor their students progress more closely. Media Releases - Quality and timely new releases on events in the school district will be released to the media. The local newspaper, radio and T.V. station will be invited to attend school activities to promote Pipeline via television, radio and newspaper. Community Involvement - The staff at Pipeline will be encouraged to be involved in the community through various organizations. Being involved in the community allows for Pipeline's patrons to see a unified organization that cares about the community in which they operate. Recognition Programs - Pipeline will recognize excellence in the student body, staff, and community through recognition nights. Honors Banquet - To promote academic excellence among the students. Athletic Banquet - To promote excellence in the athletic arena among the students. Activities Banquet - To promote excellence in the arts.
Friend of Education Program - There will be a recognition ceremony each year that identifies and rewards a person or persons from the community that has went above and beyond the call of duty in contributing in a positive manner to the school district. Teacher of the Year - The school district will sponsor a teacher of the year award that recognizes teacher excellence and innovation. Support Staff of the Year - The school district will sponsor a support staff person of the year award that recognizes teacher excellence and innovation. Board Reports - Each department will be asked to make a presentation at a school board meeting about something exciting that is going on in their department. They will be asked that this takes place at least once per school year. This is to promote the positive things that go on at school to the community. Coffee Time - The school administration will sponsor a community coffee once per week. This coffee time will be used to meet with individuals from the community that wish to be present at a location that is rotated around the community cafe's and coffee shops. Information Presentations - The school district will secure times that they can make presentations to local organizations. This outreach will extend the message of the school district to the leaders and active members of the community. Handbooks - Student and teacher handbooks will be distributed at the beginning of each year, and made public at the request of individuals if they are not a student or teacher. The handbooks are established so that the students and employees of the school district uphold the conduct that is expected of them. The community will witness a district that is organized and that cares about the reputation of the school district. Staff Communications - The staff will be communicated with on a regular basis via email, telephone calls, and face to face interactions. This communication will provide useful information about the function of the school district. There will also be bi-weekly staff meetings that will take place approximately 30 minutes prior to the start of the school day. The day of the week will be designated at the start of the school year. These communications are meant to be positive and encouraging. Staff Newsletter - The staff will receive a weekly newsletter high lighting the weeks accomplishments and the next week's events. This will allow for constant communication and scheduling to take place to allow for a smooth work week. Professional Learning Community - There will be a PLC developed to offer an effective means of staff development. This PLC will also help guide the school improvement process. Part of a PLC is to generate interest in the school. This will be done by allowing for community member participation by presentations, question and answer sessions, and social time. Making sure that everyone is working toward the goals of the district is vital.
School Crisis Plan - A school crisis plan will be utilized in the school district to cover unforeseen and tragic events. Every opportunity will be taken to educate our students and community members of proper protocol in emergency situations. If everyone can identify their role in an emergency then the crises plan will be executed successfully. Evaluation To determine the effectiveness of The Pipeline there will be a committee formed by school board members, school administrators, teachers, students, and other community members that wish to take place in evaluating communication. So that we honor our two way communication model we will also survey students, parents, staff, and community members to solicit their opinions on our communication. We will use a Likert Scale to understand their impressions of the school districts communication. The survey will be written and distributed each year to avoid too much repetition with the same instrument to gain maximum feedback. The evaluation of The Pipeline will be done in the month of August to ensure maximum participation. Evaluating the plan in August will most likely allow for more contact with community members and ensure that one full school year is being evaluated.