学校宣传的重要工具校报原文

Pawlas on PR for Principals

Newsletters: An Essential Tool for Every Principal

The public's view of schools is based on many factors: the quality of the teaching, the achievement of the students, the physical condition of the schools, and the communication received from schools. I learned early in my administrative career that regular, informative communication from my office helped to build local support for my school. Not coincidentally, it was about that same time that I discovered the value of a principal's school-to-home (or, better yet, school-to-community) newsletter. My school newsletter became one of the cornerstone strategies of my overall communications plan. It was one of the most valuable tools I had for sharing information about my school with parents and others.

WHY A NEWSLETTER?

A newsletter can be an excellent tool in a principal's arsenal of tools because a newsletter can accomplish many things:

Newsletters inform. A newsletter is a great tool for sharing information about curriculum, staff organization, programs, policies, procedures, or services. For example, your newsletter might include

?information about student and faculty accomplishments;

?information about new school procedures, and reminders of important procedures such as those related to traffic concerns when dropping off and picking up students;

?brief summaries of important PTO business;

?personality sketches of teachers, secretaries, and other members of the school's family; and

?your school's breakfast and lunch menus (remember to include a "subject to change" statement).

Newsletters educate. Information that can help readers in their role in the educational process should be included too. Some possibilities include

?tips to help parents be active participants in parent-teacher conferences (see last month's column, Getting the Most Out of Parent-Teacher Conferences);

?an upbeat "thought for the day" or quote that might give inspiration to weary parents;

?strategies to help parents get their children to focus on and complete homework assignments;

Pawlas on PR

George E. Pawlas has written the book on PR for school principals -- literally! In The Administrator's Guide to School-Community Relations, Pawlas presents a treasury of practical tips and strategies for principals -- hundreds of

principal-tested ideas and illustrations that will help you

--- create successful school newsletters and other communication tools,

--- use the media to your school's advantage,

--- enhance parent and family involvement,

--- work with the community and local businesses,

--- deal with crisis situations,

--- and much more.

Pawlas has been an educator for nearly four decades. He has served as an elementary school teacher and principal, a district administrator, and a state education department consultant. Currently he is a professor of educational leadership at the University of Central

?reasons why you will be sending newsletters on the days you have selected for the entire year;

?how staff development programs or early release days better prepare teachers and what specific activities they participate in on those days; and

?opportunities for parents and others to help at schools.

Newsletters promote. Newsletters can be an excellent way to promote your school's best features and special events, to gain support for education, or to develop good human relations. For example, a school newsletter can include

? a calendar template on which are recorded the dates of important events such as PTO meetings, sports events, school holidays, fundraisers

?the benefits of new initiatives to develop appropriate student behavior in school and on buses; and

?school activities, especially classroom activities.

GATHERING IDEAS

Many principals, myself included, find that their daily visits to classrooms are one of the best methods for gathering newsworthy items. I used to jot notes about great stuff going on in classrooms on 3- x 5-inch cards. I know other principals who carry

hand-held recorders and speak their notes, or who enter their notes into a personal data assistant (PDA).

Many of us also encourage our teachers and other family members to share items that might be of interest to the school's population. It's a good idea to supply a form for that purpose, and then to encourage its use. That form might include spaces for staff to record the 5 Ws -- who, what, when, where, and why -- about their story idea. Newsletter story leads such as those can be stored in a pocket folder until they are appropriate for publication.

DISTRIBUTING THE NEWS

Most effective school newsletters are distributed on a monthly basis. In the elementary school, newsletters are usually sent home with the children. Tuesdays

and Wednesdays are the best days of the week to send newsletters home. That way,

newsletters don't get lost in the shuffle. I've always found that, late in the week,

teachers are sending home and communicating with parents about schoolwork done during the week; on Monday, parents are often responding to the work that was sent home.

Many of us have each student take home a copy of the newsletter. I always encouraged parents with several children in the school to share extra copies of

newsletters with neighbors who do not have children in the schools, with the pastor at church, or with members of community organizations to which they belong. Getting out the word in that way is a quick and easy way to build wider support for our school. Middle and high school principals often find it worth the money to mail newsletters rather than to send them home with students. Advertisements in their newsletters help to defray costs of printing and postage. Many principals share copies of the

newsletters with real estate offices, beauty and barber shops, doctor and dentist offices, and other places that are visited regularly by people throughout the community.

POSTING NEWSLETTERS ONLINE

Many school principals are making newsletters available on their school Web sites. Newsletters are posted on the same day that paper copies are distributed. Past issues can be archived for easy retrieval. If parents' email addresses are known and kept on a listserv, those parents might prefer to receive the newsletter electronically.

Posting newsletters online makes them available to

anyone who has Internet access in the community -- and

around the world. Many parents say that aunts, uncles,

and grandparents who don't live in the area love being

able to read about the school that their loved ones attend.

Online newsletters provide information they can email or

talk about with the children in their lives.

Having newsletters online can also be a great way to

build support for school programs. Grandparents often

have time to write letters when support for school

programs is needed, and they will buy tickets to events

they can't even attend -- just because it gives them a good feeling to support the work of the school.

Brief Is Best!

Three final pieces of advice, and I will keep them short:

? Brief newsletters, usually no more than two pages printed on

both sides, are better

than long ones.

? The more frequently

a newsletter is

published, the fresher

the news is.

? If the news package is smaller, there is also a

better chance it will be read.

Article by George Pawlas Copyright Education World 2005