Communication Protocol

At Pickford Public Schools, communication will occur in the following ways:

COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL

I.   District to Parents

II.   Parents to District

III.  Internal Communication

  1. One Way Communication

  2. Two Way Communication

  3. Follow-up Loop

  4. PLC Updates to Administration

  5. DLT to School Board

  6. Selection Tool

I. District to Parents

School/staff may contact parents through:

  • District website (https://pickford.eupschools.org/) for calendar, menus, Parent Portal - Illuminate, quarterly newsletters

  • Class Dojo or Remind App

  • Facebook for public relations

  • Pickford District App

  • Direct mail for mandated communication

  • Schoolmessenger automated system (emergency and non-emergency)

  • For K-5:  Weekly Elementary Newsletter, Classroom Daily Folders, Classroom Newsletters, Planners

  • Quarterly newsletters (available on the website and at local businesses, mailing list available upon request)

  • If a parent sends an email or leaves a voicemail for a staff member, a response is required within 24 hours (excluding weekends and holidays.)

II.  Parents to District

Parents may contact the school through email, phone, teacher initiated classroom apps, student planners, or handwritten notes.

Please make the classroom TEACHER the first contact regarding...

*Student issues
*A conference
*Questions about student grades or behavior
*Questions about specific activities related to the classroom
*Curriculum specific to the classroom
*Classroom policies and procedures

Please allow 24 hours for teachers/administrators to respond.

Please contact the PRINCIPAL for information and assistance regarding...

• School programs, policies, and procedures
• Unresolved issues
after teacher contact
• Security or safety related to school or student
• Feedback and/or suggestions about school-wide issues

Please allow 24 hours for teachers/administrators to respond.

Please contact the SCHOOL OFFICE for information regarding...

• School-wide events
• Attendance
• Calendar
• Transportation
• District-wide programs, policies, and procedures
• Illuminate access
• Facilities
• Payments
• Other questions you may have - we will direct your call

 Office responses will be made as soon as possible, within a 24 hour period.

 III. Internal Communication:

 For Information Only (One-Way Communication)

 At either the district or building level, important information that leadership would expect to be known and understood at scale will be communicated electronically using the district’s Google email system. Teacher mailboxes will only be used for IEP information or for information that is to be distributed to students, parents, teacher mail/correspondence, etc. All Pickford Public Schools faculty and staff are expected to utilize and monitor their email accounts at least once daily (at an absolute minimum). All Pickford Public Schools employees are responsible for the information communicated via Google email. Information communicated in mass (excluding individual emails, etc.) using the email systems should be treated as information only. It is neither expected nor requested that receivers respond electronically to these messages. Certainly, should clarification be needed, it is expected that the individual receiver will request clarification individually. It is not expected or requested that these messages will result in global conversations.

Bus drivers will be provided access to a paper copy of the Panther Pride, and any other applicable district communication, that is being distributed via email to the rest of the staff.

If you are a member of the School Improvement Team or the District Acceleration Network and you miss a meeting, it is your responsibility to stay informed.  Therefore, review the agenda and meeting minutes in the appropriate Google Drive folder.  

Calendars-The district will utilize the district calendar for the effective communication of all dates and events. While all individual staff members have their own private calendars, the district will maintain two important calendars that are shared district-wide with the following information:

Staff Google calendar

  1. All professional development events

  2. Staff meetings

  3. PLC meetings

  4. School Improvement meetings

  1. Field Trips

  2. Concert dates

  3. PBIS incentives

  4. Staff Due Dates

  1. K-12 Assessment

  2. Professional Learning & Meetings

  3. Special Events

  4. Community (Website) Calendar

    1. Parent Volunteer Organization meetings

    2. Athletic contests

    3. Conferences

    4. Class events

    5. Fundraisers

    6. K-12 Assessment Schedule (State and District Level Assessment)

    7. School closures/holidays

All Pickford Public Schools employees are responsible for the information found in the two district calendars. It is, thus expected, that all employees become proficient in Google calendar and regularly monitor their own individual calendar as well as the district-level calendars. Calendar information will not be available in any other format.

Information and Feedback Requested (Two-Way Communication)

At either the district or building level, important information that leadership would expect to be known, understood, and discussed will be communicated electronically using the district’s Google email system. When messages of this nature are sent and received, it is expected and requested that receivers will respond to these emails.  An electronic dialogue was requested by the sender and he/she is monitoring and responding to appropriate feedback. All Pickford Public Schools employees are responsible for the information communicated via Google email.  In order to decipher the urgency necessary in responding, the district will use the following email coding system at the beginning of the subject line of EVERY two-way communication email.

RI: Respond Immediately - correspondence must be responded to by the end of the work day or within 24 hours of when the message was sent.   ALL staff, including administration, taking sick or personal time are exempt from this expectation until the day of his/her return.

DR: Delayed Response - must be responded to within 48 hours from the time the email was sent, excluding weekends and holidays.   ALL staff, including administration, taking sick or personal time are exempt from this expectation until the day of his/her return.

SR: only select people will respond if and only if it applies to them

FL: utilize the Follow-Up Loop (see below)

For ALL communication requiring a receipt, staff is required to click ‘send receipts.’  Staff will know when receipts are required as the email will send this prompt.

It is anticipated that through the effective use of internal one-way and two-way communication, that all Pickford Public Schools employees will be able to effectively engage in the mission and work of the Pickford Public Schools including the implementation of the Blueprint for Acceleration.

 Follow-Up Loop

 Periodically, messages are communicated that request certain individuals or teams to complete a certain task sometimes by a specific date. When these situations occur, the sender will utilize the Follow-Up Loop. This loop requires that not only do receivers complete the task indicated but that receivers also communicate to the sender that the task has been completed. Should data be requested in the original message, the requested data will also be sent within the Follow-Up Loop.

PLC Updates to Administration

Using the agenda template, the agenda for the PLC meeting would be created and shared with members by the PLC leader before the start of the meeting.  The agenda should be placed in the monthly agenda folder 2016-2017 Pickford PLC’s.

During the meeting, each PLC will complete the PLC Communication Loop Form located in the folder 2016-2017 Pickford PLC’s.  See each monthly folder to complete the shared document.  Feel free to “link” to other documents as needed to share out extra information.  

At the end of each meeting the Causal Theories should be scanned and renamed mm/dd/yy PLC NAME and placed in the Causal Theories Folder located in the folder 2016-2017 Pickford PLC Folder.  

 District Leadership Team to School Board

 Mrs. Nettleton will bring the DLT communication report, created by the DLT team, to the monthly school board meeting.  This report will also be sent out via email monthly to all staff.  This will be a standing agenda item on the DLT agenda that will be filled in during the monthly meeting.

Selection Tool

Administration and staff will use the selection tool when looking at new programs, practices, and trainings.  When the tool is completed it will either be selected, rejected, or revised by the District Leadership Team at the following DLT meeting.  Submissions should be made in the shared folder and also an email sent to Mrs. Nettleton informing her of the submission.