Once upon a time, blackboards, post offices, phones and notes tucked into students’ backpacks were how teachers and schools sent out important news. Today, the Internet has broadened those options immeasurably, and on May 3, Wilmette Public Schools District 39 broadened its own online presence, launching district Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
The new accounts will supplement the district’s email and telephone communication, but won’t replace them as the official ways the district connects with students and families, Superintendent Raymond Lechner said.
They will also allow District 39 to reach beyond students and their families to other community residents, he said.
“It gives us a new venue for celebrating some of our successes,” he said. “It’s kind of exciting and we’re really thrilled to be participating.”
District 39 has had a Web page for years, and already had a LinkedIn page and a YouTube channel, said Tony DeMonte, the district’s technology and media director.
Administrators began work on expanding that online footprint – including codifying district expectations about how staff and administrators should use social media – nine or 10 months ago, Communications Director Holly Goldin said. The work coincided with plans to update the district’s Web page and introduce a new district logo, she said.
“Over time, as social media has become more and more part of society, we’ve realized our families are also getting more and more of their information that way,” she said. “So it made sense to do this.”
Goldin said some District 39 schools already have online presences, including Central and Harper Elementary Schools, which have Twitter accounts, and Highcrest Middle School and Wilmette Junior High School, which have a combined Facebook page.
Other school districts also make extensive use of social media platforms, she said, including Winnetka’s District 36 and New Trier Township High School District 203, she said.
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Goldin worked with DeMonte and Heather Glowacki, the district’s human resources administrator, to decide which social media platforms would be the best ones to use, at least initially.
DeMonte said that included meeting with teachers and administrators, and reviews of how other school districts or organizations used social media. The team eventually chose Facebook and Twitter as the platforms that have the most users, and chose Instagram because of its focus on graphics and pictures, he said.
People have already joined or followed the district on Facebook and Twitter, he said: “Those two seem to be the most popular so far, but this is only the first week.”
DeMonte said the district has already attracted attention beyond its borders, within days of going live on Facebook and Twitter. The district posted pictures of an Arbor Day event at Romona Elementary School on May 4, and almost immediately was contacted by officials from the National Arbor Day Foundation, who asked if they could share the story in some fashion, he said.
“The fact that somebody noticed, shows that it gets the good work done by the school and, in this case, also by the village and others, out to a wider audience,” DeMonte said.
The district’s Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/Wilmette-District-39-1557383914571598/?ref=settings; its Twitter account is at twitter.com/wilmette39. The district’s Instagram account is at www.instagram.com/wilmette39/.
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