Andrew Swickheimer, Director of Technology, and Michele Turner, Data Integration Manager, from Noblesville Schools in Indiana share about about their experience finding and implementing a responsive one-stop portal for their K-12 district. They cover what is important to look for in a website and community management solution, including stability, availability, and an integrated mobile communications app.

1. Don’t Quit! Improving Your District’s
Community Engagement & Communication
Is Possible
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Presented by
Join the Parent Involvement & Community Engagement in K-12
community: www.edweb.net/engagement

2. Schoolwires supports parent engagement
with community management technology
solutions that keep your K-12 district
stakeholders connected.
Check out these key resources:
Parent & Family Engagement Infographic –
http://offers.schoolwires.com/peinfographic
A Checklist for Family Involvement –
http://offers.schoolwires.com/k12checklist

3. A CE certificate for today’s webinar
will be emailed to you
24 hours after the live session.
Join our community:
Parent Involvement &
Community Engagement in K-12
www.edweb.net/engagement
• Invitations to upcoming webinars
• Webinar archives and resources
• Online discussions
• CE quizzes for archived webinars

4. Webinar Tips
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5. Don’t Quit!
Improving Your District’s
Community Engagement & Communication
Is Possible.
Presented by:
Andrew Swickheimer, Director of Technology
Michele Turner, Data Integration Manager

6. Our vision for our website:
• Community information hub
• Reliably operate 24/7
• Aesthetically pleasing
• User-friendly
• Mobile compatible

7. Attempts at different solutions:
• First website built in-house
 We outgrew it
• Second website was a commercial solution
 Didn’t live up to promises
 Bought out by larger company
 Didn’t invest in solution any more

8. Unfortunately, we had challenges:
• Significant downtime – crashed often
• Slow hosting – server issues
• Bought by another company – didn’t support
solution any more
• Text heavy – not a lot of engaging photos

9. Two strikes, but did we quit looking?
No!
And this time we weren’t going to settle.

10. Best practices for finding
the right solutions…

11. #1. Identify your
non-negotiable
items.

12. Our non-negotiables were:
1.Reliable hosting and
uptime
2.Innovative design
3.Creative options for
content editors
4.Regular upgrades
5.Mobile-compatible
6.Proven excellent
customer service

13. #2. Work with a committee
of stakeholders

14. Our search & evaluation committees
were made up of:
ext
1. Teachers
2. Parents
3. Technology Leaders
4. Administration
5. PR/Marketing Dept.

15. #3. Develop an evaluation rubric

16. Some of our evaluation metrics included:
1. Technology
infrastructure
2.Community based
infrastructure
3.Content management
4.References
5. Communication and
collaboration tools
6. User experience
7. Performance
8. Service and support
9. Company considerations

17. #4. Request in-person product demonstrations

18. Why are in-person product demonstrations
important?
• Questions answered
• Interactive walk-through of features
• Relationships

19. #5. Ensure the
website is mobile-compatible

20. Why is mobile-compatibility important?
• Google analytics – 70% ext
of traffic is mobile
• That’s where our parents are
• Dynamic creation of content
• Lose stakeholders

21. After one year, here are
some of our exciting results…

22.  Happy community members love the look and
navigation of our site
 Site traffic is averaging 120,000+ views per month just
on our district home page

23.  No site stability issues – hosting handles traffic volume
without a problem
 We’re one of the first districts in Indiana to have our own
district website mobile app for both Apple & Android

24. • Social Media
Outreach
– Facebook

25. • Social Media
– Twitter

26. • Social Media
– Instagram

27. • Video Content
– Vimeo and YouTube Channel
– Website
– Examples – Board Meetings, Livestream
– Video - https://vimeo.com/89705941

28. • Community Events
– Back to School Bash
– Elementary - Ice Cream
Socials
– Meet at the Middle
– Open House
– Education Foundation
Events
– Learning Showcase

29. • Parental Engagement
– PTOs
– CAC
– Chamber of Commerce – State of Schools
– Volunteers
– SchoolMessenger
– Online surveys – Balanced calendar, start times

30. • Business Partnerships
– Riverview, City of Noblesville
– Internships
– Partnerships

31. • Print
– Newsletters
– Strategic Plan
– Pocket facts
– Annual Report

32. • Student Information System, Learning
Management System
– Give parents access
– Progress monitor
– Attendance, discipline

33. • PR and Marketing
– Success Stories, Recognitions
– Speaking opportunities: Lions Club, Kiwanis
– Conferences
– Media Partnerships
• Back to School issue with local paper
• HCTV Interviews
– Community signage

34. Questions?
Type your questions in the chat window

35. Thank you to our sponsor!
http://www.schoolwires.com

36. A CE certificate for today’s webinar
will be emailed to you
24 hours after the live session.
Join our community:
Parent Involvement &
Community Engagement in K-12
www.edweb.net/engagement
• Invitations to upcoming webinars
• Webinar archives and resources
• Online discussions
• CE quizzes for archived webinars

37. Stay tuned for information about our next webinar!
August 27 with Dr. Jill Gildea, Superintendent
Fremont School District 79 (IL)
Join the Parent Involvement & Community Engagement in K-12 community for an
invitation to the next webinar: www.edweb.net/engagement