Community Relations | Feature

Creating Connections

The more people know about what's going on in their community's schools, the more effective those schools can be. And the better partners they can become in shaping the future of those communities in positive ways.

• By Michael Hart
• 07/19/12

At T.H.E. Journal, we spend a lot of time talking about the latest applications of technology and the newest products available for the classroom. And that's as it should be.

But we also talk about the way technology can be helpful in doing other things in the K-12 world as well--and we hope we talk about the way things are done more effectively than they might have been in the past. One of those areas that we cover in some depth in the most recent issue of the magazine (and elsewhere in this newsletter) has to do with a school district's connections with the larger community it serves.

We all know some districts are better than others when it comes to communicating with its stakeholders beyond students themselves and their parents. Everybody can think of the districts that don't even start communicating with their communities until the campaign for the next bond election begins.

That's why it's nice to read what our writer Dan Gordon has to say in "How Districts Create Community Connections With Social Media." There are good examples of administrators and teachers who are staying in touch with their communities via all the means now available to them.

Naturally, we have a bit of a bias. Here and elsewhere in the past we have written about superintendents who have worked hard to convince voters and thought leaders in their cities and towns of the value of using technology in their schools. But that's not the only good reason to use social media: The more people know about what's going on in their community's schools, the more effective those schools can be. And the better partners they can become in shaping the future of those communities in positive ways.