5 in 5 What do you wish you knew before entering school communications?

Communication professionals share five things they wish they knew when they first started school communications

AMY PAWLAK, CPC

Public Relations Coordinator Bullard ISD

It’s OK to ask questions

There is a lot to learn in school communications (processes, acronyms, policies and more!). You don’t have to act like you know it all already. It is OK to ask questions. In most cases, you will find others do not always know the answers either. The fastest way to learn is to ask!

More than information

School communications is multifaceted (media relations, volunteers/partnerships, external and internal communications, marketing/advertising, sponsorships and more)! It is essential to understand how these areas all work together to be effective.

Own it and move forward

Unfortunately, mistakes happen. As soon as you hit the send button, that darn typo on the email/ press release/newsletter you reviewed multiple times (and sent to three people to proof) will appear as big as day! Or, the script you prepared for your director to read aloud during a board meeting included the wrong school name. Eeek! Mistakes will happen. The important thing is how you respond to them. Always own your mistakes, learn from them, give yourself grace and move forward.

Accuracy first

With any type of messaging that goes out, accuracy will always be more important than speed. When you feel the pressure to get something out quickly, be sure to take a moment to ensure all the information is accurate.

You are not alone

Building a support system is crucial! I have gained so much knowledge from professional organizations, social media school pr groups, and my local school PR colleges. They are always there when I call with a question or when I need to bounce ideas. I really don’t know what I would do without them!

HAILEE FOJTASEK, MBA, CPC

Community Engagement & Marketing Specialist Northwest ISD

If you don’t build trust with your community, they will be less inclined to believe what you communicate.

Make it a priority to be an engaged member of your community and listen to what your community is telling you. You can achieve trust by being an authentic, relatable and transparent member of the community. This will help you out in the long run when you need community support.

Take the time to connect and build a relationship with your colleagues, because that will be where you learn the most.

Get to know your colleagues and constantly ask questions on how they do things. You will be able to continually improve and develop best practices in a variety of tasks by building connections with your peers.

You’re not going to be able to control what is out of your control, but you can control your response.

We can’t make predictions of what a day has in store for us. The best thing you can do to help your organization when something pops up is to focus on the communication of something rather than what is happening. Utilize every experience and resource at your disposal to communicate efficiently and effectively.

Be available to be responsive always, while still finding value in your personal time.

Let’s face it, this is not a 9-5 job, and that can intrude into your personal life if you let it. With practice, you will learn what is necessary to do right now and what can wait a little longer.

Be engaged and involved in all areas of your organization.

Over time, I have observed that the best central office administrators are those that are engaged in areas and departments outside of their own. Seek out and join various committees and groups in your district whenever you can to become more involved and gain knowledge.

JENNY BRIDGES, CPC

Director of Public Relations & ED, Education Foundation Waxahachie ISD

You will eventually know all the acronyms.

Your colleagues will throw around lots (and lots and lots) of acronyms, like PEIMS, IEP and TAPR. Sometimes it will seem like they are speaking another language, and you’ll find yourself subtly Googling these terms, so you understand what the heck is going on! Don’t worry – after six months or so, you’ll find yourself speaking in this crazy education language like you’ve been doing it your whole life.

Not being able to tell your side of the story will be your biggest source of frustration.

As someone who came to school PR from the corporate world, I was used to being able to “fight back,” for lack of a better term, against inaccuracies from competitors, reporters and people on social media. Of course, when it comes to students, there are rules about what we can share and, in certain situations, we can’t say anything at all. It still makes me cringe when I see something outlandish posted on social media and I can’t say anything, because the PR person in me desperately wants to correct the inaccuracies!

Your fellow school PR pros are collaborators, not competitors.

If you haven’t connected with TSPRA colleagues, DO IT NOW! TSPRA is the most collaborative professional organization I have ever been a part of. From sharing documents to answering questions to being a shoulder to cry on, my TSPRA colleagues are amazing collaborators who have saved me numerous hours of work over the years and have eased my frustrations more times than I can count.

My number-one tip for our upcoming TSPRA conference: Take the time to network.

Sit down with someone you don’t know, go to the STAR awards banquet, ask someone to go to lunch. It will be well worth the time you invest.

Just because you went to school doesn’t mean you know how to run one – let principals teach you!

When I began my career in school PR, I didn’t understand what an important resource campus principals and other staff members throughout the district can be. After a few misses with planning things that just didn’t work for the campuses, I learned to lean on the principals for feedback. I’ve learned about campus scheduling and how

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