Principal Communicator October 2018

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PRincipal Communicator National School Public Relations Association Concise, practical public relations help for your school

PR Tips for October 2018 PRincipals Bring In the Movers: Tips for Marketing Your School leaders are the visible image of public education School to New Homebuyers in their communities. Every principal should Across the United States, parents are on the hunt for the ideal place to raise their have a “stump” speech children. prepared to use at service clubs, nonprofits and other School district quality influenced neighborhood choice for 26 percent of all community appearances. homebuyers and 50 percent of homebuyers with children in 2017, according to the Don’t think of it as political National Association of REALTORS. Such families are among the nearly 35 million talk, but as remarks that “movers” who head to a new home each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. send a consistent, positive message about your school. Is your school ready to snag some of these movers? If you, as principal, aren’t monitoring the reputation of your school on house hunter websites, the answer is For your speech, consider probably, “No.” the following: House hunters’ school search misstep P Basic facts about your When families move within neighboring communities, they can access the gossip school — enrollment, grapevine or swing by evening games to get the inside scoop about local schools. staff numbers, class size, free/reduced lunch Moving to a new region or a new state is much more of a challenge for families who numbers, etc. want to buy or rent near great schools. They know few, if any, locals so some end up relying on what realtors tell them. P A few outstanding When it comes to selling your school to prospective homebuyers, realtors are subject achievements or success stories about programs, to a major legal block known as the Fair Housing Act. This federal law protects people staff and students. from discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status during housing-related activities such as buying or renting a home. It P Assessment scores and means realtors can’t tell parents one neighborhood has better schools than another where you stand in relation or that one home is in a more desirable district. Some realtors won’t even tell to the district and state. If homebuyers whether the home they’re touring is in a neighborhood with lots of kids. this is not positive, discuss what you’re doing to Realtors can, however, provide families with third-party tools that empower them to improve it. decide on their own whether a home and its schools are a good fit. Searching for quality schools online P Something innovative or unusual such as an For a busy realtor, online school rating websites are among the easiest and legally instructional program or safest tools to suggest when families ask about local schools. service project. Some realtors are known to send families to state department of education websites to P How the community can compare schools. These government sites provide access to testing and demographic help your school or get data comparisons, but they can be difficult to navigate for homebuyers who aren’t involved. Often, people educators. want to help, but they just Continued on page 2 don’t know where to start. PRincipal Communicator is funded by the National School Public Relations Association and its subscribers. From NSPRA resource files. © 2018 National School Public Relations Association Bring in the movers P In the pop-up window, click “claim Continued from page 1 your school’s profile.” Observances P Follow the subsequent prompts to go Realtors also direct families to through the online claiming process. GreatSchools.org to find guidance on local n schools. They aren’t the only ones, either. The verification process takes several Nov. 1-30 days, but you can immediately begin National Native American Many property search engines such as Heritage Month Realtor.com, Zillow.com and Trulia.com adding general information that will help provide school comparison data sourced demonstrate what makes your from this national, nonprofit organization. school special. Tip 2: Be their third-party resource n Nov. 6 GreatSchools.org profiles about 200,000 Election Day public and private schools serving You might ask, “Why don’t realtors just preschool through grade 12 so odds are tell families to check out the website for your school is on their site. In most states, my school?” it calculates a summary rating for a school n Nov. 11-17 on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) For some, it could be a simple lack of Geography Awareness Week based on state test data and factors knowledge. Realtors who don’t have related to student progress and college children and don’t live in your community readiness. Self-submitted, anonymous may be unaware of your website. n Nov. 11 reviews of a school from parents, Some schools are addressing this Veterans Day teachers, students and community members appear below rating details. challenge by hosting open houses and tours for realtors. If you decide to try this Tip 1: Claim and improve your marketing strategy, be sure to provide n Nov. 12-16 online image realtors with third-party tools they can American Education Week give to homebuyers. One example is a tip If you haven’t looked up your school on sheet on how homebuyers can find their GreatSchools.org to see what the site is ideal school community - with a link to n Nov. 14 telling your potential movers, now is your school website for more information. the time. Education Support So don’t let anonymous posters, test Professionals Day Whether the results please, surprise or scores or uninformed realtors have the disappoint you, follow these steps to last word with potential homebuyers. improve how your school is marketed to Principals, tell your own school story to n potential homebuyers: start turning more of those movers into Nov. 15 National Parental P Find your school listing on your new students. Involvement Day GreatSchools.org. Author Mellissa Braham is NSPRA’s P Open the school profile and look associate director. She recently moved to the right of the school name to see with her family from New York to n Nov. 18-24 whether it is “unclaimed” or “claimed.” Maryland. National Family Week

P If your school is “unclaimed,” click on the question mark next to that word. n Nov. 22 PRincipal Communicator – Concise, practical public relations help for your school. Thanksgiving Day Published monthly, August through May, by the National School Public Relations Association, 15948 Derwood Road, Rockville, MD 20855. Telephone: 301-519-0496; FAX: 301-519-0494; www.nspra.org; e-mail: [email protected]. Publisher, Richard D. Bagin, APR Managing Editor, Jennifer Landes, APR Annual subscription, $90 – first copy; (Canada – $100, other – $105) Each additional copy – $55; Camera-ready rights – $500

2 PRincipal Communicator | October 2018 © 2018 NSPRA Quotable Best PRactices n “Be there for others, but never leave yourself Engagement Is a Process, Not an Action Step behind.” ~ Dodinsky Most forms of engagement have at least one thing in common: They are ongoing. The most basic form of engagement is when school leaders are active in their own n “A good deed is never communities. Through chambers, civic and religious groups, they work side-by-side with lost; he who sows others to make their shared community a better place. courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants The next level of engagement comes when school leaders invite those same community kindness gathers love.” members to be involved in their schools. Effective school systems tap into the synergy ~ Saint Basil and energy of their stakeholders. When engagement is at its highest form, school leaders involve these individuals in setting goals, solving problems, voicing ideas n “There is nothing so and taking action. Engagement is a process, not an action step, and it takes time and strong or safe in an commitment from all involved. emergency of life as the simple truth.” Consider these four questions before engaging your stakeholders: ~ Charles Dickens n Are the ultimate decision-makers willing to accept stakeholder input? n “Honesty is the fastest If you already know what you’re going to do, don’t pretend public input matters. Do way to prevent a mistake your research instead, and figure out how to build support for it. One thing to keep from turning into a in mind is to define the level of influence the public will have. Often times, public failure.” engagement groups are identified as advisory. They are told from the start that they ~ James Altucher will present a recommendation to administration or the board, but that there are no guarantees. n “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. n Do your stakeholders care? Always remember you Engagement takes time as well as intellectual and emotional capital from all parties. have within you the If your publics aren’t interested, motivated, concerned or curious, your engagement strength, the patience attempt will likely flop early in the process. and the passion to reach for the stars, to change n What is your intended outcome? the world.” ~ Harriet Tubman Engagement can be the right tool or the wrong tool, and defining your intended outcome can help you decide. If you are seeking to develop deep understanding n “Be happy in the and a mutual commitment — engage. If you are seeking to rebuild trust — engage. moment, that’s enough. If you are seeking new allies and new ideas — engage. But if you are seeking to Each moment is all we gain support for a decision that has already been made, engagement is the wrong need, not more.” strategy. ~ Mother Teresa n Is there time for the process? n “When you realize Most public enagement strategies require time. This is not speed dating. It’s a long nothing is lacking, the and thoughtful courtship. Engage your stakeholders when you have time to lay the whole world belongs to foundation and let it dry and cure. Otherwise, you will sink into the wet concrete you.” and it will crumble when it dries. Relationships of trust don’t happen overnight. ~ Lao Tzu They take time and nurturing, and so does the engagement process. n “Luck to me is something else; hard work and realizing what is opportunity and what From Making Communication Work for You and Your Schools, available for purchase on isn’t.” the NSPRA Online Store at www.nspra.org/products. ~ Lucille Ball

Recruiting Volunteers Who Will Make Paying Attention to Non-Verbal a Difference Communication The right volunteers can help a school to deliver those vital extras that benefit both students and staff. In addition, research strongly suggests that the presence of People communicate with their eyes, bodies, facial expressions volunteers in school can positively affect student achievement. But getting the right and more when they speak. people to commit to voluntary school service takes some special care. Matching the Usually, non-verbal clues offer volunteers’ desires to your school’s needs is key to finding the right people and a “fit” valuable tips to the careful that works for everyone. listener — or perhaps what might be better called Following are some suggestions for more effective volunteer recruitment: careful observer. n Recruit year-round with a couple of major campaigns such as in fall and spring. A study of volunteerism by Gallup found that 75 percent of respondents would P Maintain eye contact. This volunteer if asked. Other strategies include publicizing the program through can help to keep you from posters, newsletters, brochures, displays or by email or on your website and social being distracted by other media. Just remember the NSPRA maxim, an invitation to everyone is an invitation actions or thoughts. It also communicates your interest to to no one. Extend personal invitations to potential volunteers if you can. the speaker and helps to build your listening credibility. This n Don’t just recruit parents. Many community members without children in school, credibility can be helpful if at including senior citizens, may be eager to serve. some point you have to ask a tough question or disagree with n Train a volunteer recruitment coordinator to boost your school’s effort. a point being made. n Recruit based on your school’s specific needs. If volunteers are not given work to do that they feel is meaningful to them, they will likely not volunteer again. For P Beware: Your body language example, a person who is interested in tutoring math may quit after a month if communicates as much to the assigned to greet visitors in the front office. speaker as a speaker’s body language does to you. Use facial n Design a volunteer information packet. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just expressions to show interest. include the basics of what opportunities are available, what the responsibilities and schedule would be, whether background checks are required and who to contact P Whenever possible, let the for more information. speaker finish a key thought before asking questions. Try n Start small. Starting small gives you a chance to monitor volunteers and the overall to avoid interrupting, listening program and make any changes if necessary. carefully to the entire flow of their message. n Allow for flexibility. Once volunteers are comfortable with their duties, they may want to help out in other ways or may prefer to do something completely P Stay focused on what’s different. Work with them to help find something that makes both the volunteers being said instead of trying and school comfortable. to think of a response while the person is still speaking. n Hold a thank you event for all volunteers at the end of the school year, and don’t Brief silence before you speak forget to show your appreciation during National Volunteer Week (April 7-13, can communicate that your 2019). Present each person with a certificate or possibly a small gift to show your comments are carefully thought appreciation. Happy volunteers spread the word. Their satisfaction helps to create a out and responsive to what was buzz that will help you recruit more volunteers in the future. just said.

From NSPRA resource files. From NSPRA resource files.