Truths from the Other Side of the Camera
If you want positive coverage, your most important ability is availability.
The Thoughts Library
Issue after issue of hindsight,
on tap.
Every month we publish a practical take on school communications — what worked, what backfired, and what to say next time. The whole archive lives here.
Before the List Goes Public: Leading the Conversation about School Closures
The districts that keep their credibility are the ones that help their community understand the problem long before asking it to accept the answer.
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Loud, Fast, and Probably Fake: Communicating Through a Hoax Threat
Hoax threats are designed to create chaos, and a prepared leader doesn't give them any.
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Keeping Your School Out of the Midterm Election Crossfire
Election-season controversies usually don't start with bold political statements. It's usually a small decision that nobody thought was political at all.
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Your Inbox As a Communications Strategy
Every school leader knows the feeling: You open your inbox and there it is—a frustrated parent, an angry staff member, or someone demanding an explanation for a decision they don’t understand. It is tempting to…
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AI — When Your School Says No, Be Ready to Explain Why
Artificial intelligence is creating a new challenge for school leaders, and it isn’t simply deciding whether students should be allowed to use it. The bigger challenge may be explaining the decision. Across the country, schools…
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No Communications Office? Do These 5 Things
The school year is underway. Teachers are back, students are settling into their routines, and school leaders are already juggling more priorities than they probably care to count. Communications is one of them. The reality…
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Putting the Cell Phone Issue to "ASTOP"
The school year is just getting started, and more and more districts are implementing policies that limit—or completely prohibit—student cell phone use during the school day. That makes cell phones a perfect excuse to showcase…
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Starting Fresh When Last Year Didn’t End Well
Some districts get to start the year with a clean slate. Others don’t. Maybe it was a leadership shakeup that played out in the local news. Maybe it was a safety incident, a budget fight…
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Turning First-Day Photos into a Real Social Media Win
Every school posts something on the first day of school. A photo of students climbing off the bus. A smiling principal greeting families at the front door. A classroom full of eager kindergarteners. The caption…
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A Few Weeks Left — Small Moves Now That Set Up a Better Start to the School Year
Most school leaders have a mental checklist of everything that must happen before the first bell rings—staffing vacancies filled, schedules finalized, classrooms prepared, buses routed, buildings ready. Communication often slips toward the bottom of that…
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The Case for Good Publicity — Starting on Day 1
On the first day of school, it’s often the biggest district in the market that gets the back-to-school front page and TV coverage. New outlets tend to gravitate to the one with the most schools,…
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