Working With Your Schools

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Working With Your Schools
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What Do Our School Look Like

• 2357 Public School Buildings
• 521 Private School Buildings
• 1,035,765 Public School Students
• 85,000 Private School Students

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• Home School Students
• 20,000 Students
• Homeless Students Educated
• 22,000 Students

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Schools Are Truly PartOf Our Community

• We do more than teach
• Schools feed 162,000 breakfast each day
• Schools feed 500,000 lunches each day

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Schools Face Multiple Emergencies
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Schools Prepare For

• Fire
• Bomb Threat or Explosion
• Hazardous Materials Release
• Hostile Intruder
• Severe Weather
• Earthquake
• Suicide

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• Family Loss
• Bullying
• Host of other events

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Getting Your Message Into Schools

• Seems impossible at times
• Administrators and teachers time is at a premium
• Competition for administrators and teaches
  attention is intense
• Answering machines, voice mail, spam filters,
  etc. have created a barrier to entry

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School Chain of Command

• Superintendent
• District Office Personnel
• PIO
• Multiple Local School Principals
• Assistant Principals
• Dean of Students
• Classroom Teachers

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Work From the Top Down

• First stop always
• The School Superintendent
• This may be nothing more than an informational or
  courtesy visit or stop, but it is vitally
  important.
• Never, never, blind side the Superintendent

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• Step two
• Listen to his or her guidance
• Go where you are referred
• Could be the Asst. Superintendent
• Could be the PIO
• Maybe someone else

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• Step Three
• Always, always, contact the building principal
  before sending any information to the local
  school
• Follow his or her guidance
• You may get the green light to go directly to the
  classroom or you may be sent to someone else in
  the building

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• Step four
• Make certain the information you are about to
  present has some relevance for the age group you
  are going to present to
• Seldom will the same materials appeal to
  elementary, junior and senior high school
  students

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• Give the classroom teacher a good reason to post
  your materials in their classroom.
• Take a look at classroom wallsits a scary sight
  !!
• You are competing for space and the ability to
  visually stimulate the students

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Materials to Consider

• Try to think outside the box
• We always think, posters, bookmarks, etc.
• Be original and innovative it will get you into
  the classroom
• Make your offering stand out among the others

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• Language diversity is a plus
• More and more of our children are learning, but
  not yet fluent, in English
• Know the languages represented in the schools you
  target

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More is not Always Better

• Finally, think through what you want to do
• Think about the audience
• Limit the amount of materials you send to schools
• You are more likely to get one piece in the
  classroom as opposed to several

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• After you have sent the materials to the school
  check with the principal about how well they were
  received
• If possible check with a classroom teacher at
  each level for an evaluation of the materials
• This will help you in the future

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For More Information

• Barbara Thurman
• OSPI
• 360-725-6044
• 253-861-1640
• bthurman20_at_comcast.net