Say Goodbye to the Black Hole Discover how

Say Goodbye

How one school district changed the way they approach newsworthy communications

ye to the Black Hole by Jim F. Chadwell Superintendent Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD

Ihad the honor of becoming the superintendent of Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD in December 2010. Arriving in the middle of a school year gave me a great opportunity to conduct a listening tour by interviewing hundreds of people, gaining insight into the district and making preliminary plans for the next school year. As a longtime resident of the Fort Worth area, I knew about EMS ISD. I knew it was one of the fastest-growing school districts in the state. I knew it would grow by about 1,000 students per year and would more than double in size. On a superficial level, I knew about its successes and the myriad of opportunities for students. But like any place you haven’t lived, I really didn’t know EMS ISD. I only knew what I had heard, saw and read.

The need for districtwide strategic planning quickly emerged. It was vital we assessed our needs and set strategic goals for improvement. I am a huge advocate for strategic planning but only when it is done right with the full involvement of the school community. Also, if you are going to create a plan, you should be committed to following it. In 2012, more than 100 stakeholders worked together to create the Aspire 2022 Strategic Plan, which set the foundation for the implementation of our newly adopted plan, Aspire 2025.

As we began assessing the district for strategic planning, one stark reality became very clear – the great stories we had in our district were not getting any traction. We were in a media “black hole,” as one of our local news outlets literally described it to us. We would pitch great stories about public education in our district to the media outlets and virtually nothing would happen. Conversely, if something negative happened, you could look to the skies to see the news choppers or check the parking lots for media trucks. And then the request, “On camera interview, please?” Given the devolution of traditional journalism and the dependence on sensational news stories to drive readership and viewership, making a positive impact on our future leaders was apparently not newsworthy enough. Beyond the occasional sports story or human-interest column, our district, like many others in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex, operated without consistent, well-rounded coverage.

I can imagine what school PR professionals may be thinking as they read this. Is that all bad? In all reality, no, it’s not. I can still recollect the pre-Internet world of stopping by the convenience store early in the morning to read the paper and check for anything “above the fold.” Of course, those days have been replaced with a 24-hour news cycle and the endless barrage of social media posts. Now we

Continued on Page 50

wake up every morning looking to see what “story” has been created overnight that will demand our immediate attention. Social media can be a powerful tool to support our work, or it can become a huge distraction. Unlike printed or broadcast news stories, however, social media is different in that we are often able to communicate to positively influence the dialogue. Also, negative views can be balanced by our “social ambassadors,” those community supporters who use their own social media presence to do good.

While not getting media attention is not always a bad thing, it becomes problematic when your story doesn’t get told, or gets lost in the noise of all the other information. That is the most dangerous kind of communications black hole, because that is when those both inside and outside your community don’t hear your message and, as a result, can’t really know you as a district.

With that in mind, we began looking at school communications differently. We started thinking first about building relationships and creating experiences that make a meaningful connection with our community. Communications is no longer about simply pushing out information and hoping something sticks. Communications today is a strategic, two-way, multi-platform process that amplifies the stories that iterate and reiterate our key messages of who we are and what we are about. To do so, however, requires that you first know yourself. We knew our mission and core beliefs, but to be truly effective, we needed to understand what various segments of our community thought of us to see if they aligned or if there were gaps that needed addressing. Through an in-depth brand awareness analysis, we assessed the community’s perception of who we are as a district and what values permeate our “brand.” Family culture, personalized opportunities and world-class teachers were the brand pillars defined by our community. From that point forward, we structured our messaging around these pillars under the umbrella brand message that we are a true Community. We even made it a hashtag: #EMScommUNITY. Rather than trying to be all things to all people, we narrowed our scope to these vital values our own community shared with us.

Fast forward to today and our strategic plans now infuse communications into every objective. Every strategy and action step has a communications plan to support it, and every piece of communication is studied through the lens of advancing our brand message. More communication is not seen necessarily as better. More strategic communication is seen as better. In a world of constant information, we must be extremely selective about what we share and how we share it, because we want our audiences to take notice when they receive it.

As a result, we make our own news. We are not going to wait for the news to do a feature story, but rather we will create our own through a variety of programming. This includes On Location, a video series produced by our multimedia storyteller that highlights our staff, students and the school district. We have featured our counseling department, shown life behind the scenes with child nutrition and led oncamera tours of new schools under construction. The

EMS Proud magazine was originally created to fill the gap of the absence of a local printed news source. It is distributed online and in printed form throughout the district in places like doctors’ offices, oil change waiting rooms, and churches. It is produced in-house, and we partner with our district cities, county and Education Foundation to include their highlights, so it is a true community news resource. Additionally, our EMS ISD eNews and Campus Connection e-newsletters share news with our internal and external stakeholders with multi-dimensional elements for access to additional information. We monitor social media carefully every day, especially after key messages are sent to ensure that we can answer general questions, correct inaccurate postings and address concerns. Our communications department is incredibly careful about the timing of each product so as not to oversaturate recipients with information but still ensure meaningful social engagement.

Other tools we use include regular surveys and an online customer service feature for stakeholders to submit questions, concerns and suggestions (we even get compliments sometimes!). We use a customer experience platform, which has transformed the way we respond to and manage communication with parents, students, employees and the community. Having a convenient way for our community to share their thoughts and provide insight directly to district and campus leaders has been a game-changer for us. This two-way strategy has allowed us to monitor and manage community concerns in a proactive manner and to have an additional understanding as we consider various decisions impacting our families. We also have increased engagement from the silent majority in the community.

These are a few examples of how we have worked to transform the practice of communications in our district to support our culture and brand of #EMScommUNITY. The result of all this strategic work is that the positive messages of the great things happening in our schools are being seen and shared by our community, and that is translating to broader awareness, understanding and support. Gone is the day of living in the darkness of a black hole. We are shining the light from the driver’s seat, and we have taken the wheel. We continue to pitch great news to our media outlets, and we welcome opportunities to coordinate with media for coverage of our good news. But if they don’t tell the story, we will.

This is a practice I believe all public school districts can find success within their own communities. Each district’s strategy will have nuances specific to the beliefs, goals, perceptions and expectations of – and for – those they serve. Ultimately, through a proactive, strategic and systemic approach to communications, we can collectively amplify the narrative of our Texas public schools.

Jim F. Chadwell, Ed.D., is in his 28th year serving in Texas public schools and 11th year as superintendent of Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD. During his tenure, the district has grown from 23 schools and 16,600 students to 28 schools and a student enrollment of more than 21,200 and remains the fifth-fastest growing public school district across the North Texas region. Under Chadwell’s leadership, the district has worked to strategically plan for future growth while increasing programs and opportunities for students at all grade levels.