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Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network
Linking Families to School:
Technology Tips
February 8, 2016
Kristen Rawlings, Wissahickon School District
Jennie McQueen & Courtney Fenner, Colonial Intermediate Unit 20
Linda Cartwright & Kimberly Jenkins
PaTTAN Educational Consultants
Enhancing Family and Community Engagement
LEA to LEA Webinar Series
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PaTTAN’s Mission
The mission of the Pennsylvania
Training and Technical Assistance
Network (PaTTAN) is to support the
efforts and initiatives of the Bureau of
Special Education, and to build the
capacity of local educational agencies
to serve students who receive special
education services.
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PDE’s Commitment to Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Our goal for each child is to ensure
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
teams begin with the general
education setting with the use of
Supplementary Aids and Services
before considering a
more restrictive environment.
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Objectives
• Learn about communication technology and
strategies to engage families and the
community
• Explore specific technology tools for
communication
– electronic communication
– mobile apps
– social media
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Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network
Wissahickon School District
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Wissahickon School District
• Serves 4,487 students in Lower
Gwynedd, Whitpain and Ambler
townships in Montgomery
County
• Four elementary schools, one
middle and one high school
• 800 employees
• 19% Economically disadvantaged
• 17% Special education
• 2% ELL (Spanish, Korean,
Chinese, Vietnamese)
• Mascot – the Trojan
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Wissahickon School District
2014-15 Communications Survey of WSD
families revealed:
• Poor perception of communication efforts
• Strong interest in receiving more information
on a more frequent basis
• Types of information that families wanted to
receive
• Preferred methods of receiving information
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Wissahickon School District
• Dedicated Communications Coordinator
• Differentiated Communication Plan
– tools and initiatives to accommodate the different
communication preferences, such as:
• new website
• mobile app
• expanded use of email
• less frequent use of phone calls & occasional texts
• newsletters from each school
• social media -- including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and
Schoology (new addition 2016/17 year)
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Wissahickon School District
Spring 2016 Survey:
• Audience: WSD Parents
• Survey Window: May 26 –June 3, 2016
• Started Responses: 593; Completed Responses: 475
• 88% Strongly or somewhat agreed that the district
improved communication
• 91% Strongly or somewhat agreed that the district keeps
them informed about important issues (increased from
49% in 2014 survey)
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Wissahickon School District
School Messenger
• Contains 7,000 emails and phone numbers
• Updated on a regular basis
• Allows urgent notifications, such as weather
alerts, to be sent via phone and text
• Shares important information via email
– news updates
– upcoming events
– e-newsletters
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Wissahickon School District
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
Connecting Through Social Media
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Wissahickon School District
e-newsletters • Monthly
– newsletters from school principals emailed to families, posted
on the web, and shared via social media
• Quarterly
– newsletter from the Assistant Superintendent on curriculum
and instruction
– newsletter for the general community (subscription-based)
• Periodically
– messages from the Superintendent
*Great way to engage all staff in sharing what’s happening in the
classroom and around the district!
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Redesign
of WSD
Website &
Content
Overhaul
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Wissahickon School District
Website• Important news spotlights
• Quick links for parents and students to popular pages
• Standardized forms
• Photos of our students, staff, and school happenings
• Information about Middle School and High School activities
• Athletic schedules/information
• School events and community announcements
*MOST IMPORTANTLY: CURRENT INFORMATION!
WWW.WSDWEB.ORG
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Wissahickon School District
Website Focus Group
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Wissahickon School District
Mobile App• Quickly & easily access school
information for families
• Direct links to:
– school pages
– staff directory
– social media
– district calendar
– athletics calendar
– Sapphire (grading portal)
– Menus
*More improvements coming soon!
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Wissahickon School District
Schoology /skoo-luh-jee/
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Wissahickon School District
Schoology
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Wissahickon School District
Schoology
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Wissahickon School District
Schoology
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Wissahickon School District
Schoology• Parents can
email teachers
directly
• Notifications
can be set to
receive daily or
weekly emails
or texts for a
summary of
their child’s
activities
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Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network
Colonial IU 20
picture
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
• Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 services 13
districts across Northampton, Monroe, and Pike
Counties
• K-2 Life Skills Support classroom at Avona
Elementary in the Wilson Area School District
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
Our Classroom
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
• Enhance and support curriculum
• Provide information
• Show off student work or
classroom teaching
• Provide platform for questions or
feedback
Know the goal that you are trying to achieve
with your website!
Why should you create a class website?
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
Goal: Enhance and Support Curriculum
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
Goal: Provide Information
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
Goal: Show off student work or classroom teaching
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
Goal: Provide Platform for questions or feedback
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
How to create your own website
www.weebly.com
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
After you create an account…
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Colonial IU20 - Avona Elementary
Editing your website
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Communication Tips
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Communication Tips
Building Successful Relationships
With Every Family
1. Make learning meaningful
2. Communicate what is coming, not what has passed
3. Link communication to learning
4. Use classroom website/social media/other technology
5. Support the knowledge and skills of every family
6. Believe that family engagement is essential
Adapted from: Building Successful Relationships with Every Family: 10
Practical applications for Classroom Teachers by Steven M. Constantino
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Communication Tips
Simplifying Your School Communication Plan
1. Don’t ‘reinvent the wheel’
2. Survey/research your community
3. Go digital with your back-to-school resources
4. Embrace teacher messaging
5. Create once, publish everywhere
5 tips for simplifying your school communications plan [Online]. Available
at: blog.blackboard.com
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Communication Tips
Digital Communication Tools
Trends In Digital Communications Priorities and Challenges: The front line views of
district communications officers [Online}. Available at: www.Blackboard.com/k12
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Please Join Us!
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Please Join Us!
Sessions on family and community engagement!
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Resources
WSD Communications Overview
Trojan Talk – samples of high school newsletter
Wiss Nation – subscription based community
newsletter
Schoology /skoo-luh-jee/ - online learning
management system
Weebly – website builder
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Resources continued
• A K-12 communications leader’s guide to social media
success [Online}. Available at: www.Blackboard.com/k12
• 5 tips for simplifying your school communications plan
[Online]. Available at: blog.blackboard.com
• Building Successful Relationships with Every Family: 10
Practical applications for Classroom Teachers by Steven
M. Constantino
• Trends In Digital Communications Priorities and
Challenges: The front line views of district
communications officers [Online}. Available at:
www.Blackboard.com/k12
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Contact Information www.pattan.net
Wissahickon School District
Kristen Rawlings
Colonial IU20
Jennie McQueen
Courtney Fenner
PaTTAN Consultants:
Linda Cartwright
Kimberly Jenkins
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Tom Wolf, Governor
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Pedro Rivera, Secretary of Education