The Thoughts Library
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.
The holiday season can be one of the most emotionally charged communication periods of the year for school communicators. December offers a unique opportunity to strengthen trust, showcase belonging, and celebrate the richness of your…
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As the season of gratitude approaches, November offers a powerful opportunity for school administrators to highlight the people, programs, and moments that make our school communities thrive. In a time when schools face both celebration…
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Teachers pull off amazing feats every single day — but sometimes, those everyday moments deserve a little spotlight. The trick to going viral isn’t always about big, polished productions. Often, it’s the small, genuine moments…
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In school communications, it’s easy to feel like every week brings another urgent issue to manage — a viral rumor, a board controversy, a facilities mishap, or an unexpected safety concern. But the school districts…
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What your school district’s attorney wants you to say is usually not what the public wants to hear. In a crisis, responding with too much legal mumbo jumbo comes off as inauthentic and deteriorates public…
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It was a leap of faith for the Evansville, Indiana man. And now, Matt Hart’s decision to leave high school teaching to become a first-grade music teacher is paying off in ways he surely couldn’t…
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We’re well into the school year, and October brings a full lineup of fall traditions—Halloween, Homecoming, Spirit Week, costumes, pranks, and excitement. But every year, we see a few cases where things go too far.…
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Whether it’s remote working or e-learning, leading a virtual presentation or building video content, webcam use has exploded. Microsoft Teams has 320 million daily participants; Zoom has 300 million. Isn’t it time you upped your…
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It should come as no surprise that in our hyper-connected and hyper-partisan world, the death of Charlie Kirk ignited a firestorm. The response was immediate. And so, too, was the response … to the response.…
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Two recent surveys on where people get their news and whether they trust it show that local television news is still very much relevant. No, people aren’t rushing home anymore to catch the 6pm news…
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We say it all the time. Social media is your unfiltered newsroom for information sharing. But tread carefully. Innocent mistakes can cause unintended consequences. We’ve seen it before: a student athlete flashes a gang sign…
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As the new school year begins, administrators across the nation are increasingly confronted with how artificial intelligence is reshaping classrooms and school districts. From teacher lesson planning to student assignments, a growing number of districts…
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