Director of Communications - Dan Dougherty - 970.328.4806
The Communications department is responsible for fostering awareness, understanding and support for our schools, students and staff. We believe that schools come from their communities, and communities come from their schools. And, in Eagle County, the community is highly engaged with us and contributes directly to our success. Over twenty non-profits work with our schools in some way.
How do we foster awareness, understanding and support?
The communications paradigm is rapidly changing in the "Information Age." Social media, cellphone technology and electronic communication are rapidly changing how the world communicates. The three biggest changes are:
- Speed -- we're in a "as it happens" news cycle instead of the "what happened yesterday" cycle
- Dialog -- organizations used to speak "to" constituents, now we speak "with" our constituents. You can give us instant feedback and share opinions with us, and others, like never before
- Self-publishing -- organizations can self publish content, and attract constituents directly. Likewise, constituents can self-publish and attract their own audiences.
This means traditional methods of communication are changing.
Newsletters are replaced by Facebook and Twitter. They provide daily, often hourly, updates of news, events, achievements, and announcements. Please follow-us by clicking the words Facebook and Twitter.
This website serves as a central repository of information about all of our schools, including press releases, emergency announcements, contact information, Board Policies, gateways to Powerschool (where parents monitor student progress), lunch menus, calendars, special services -- everything you need to know about your school system is on this website.
Microsites, narrowly-focused websites, clarify topics of interest that would otherwise get lost in our primary website.
Cellphone APPs put often-needed information in the palm of your hand 24/7 -- lunch menus, calendars, sports scores, Powerschool and important news. Install ours by clicking here from your cellphone.
Email, cellphone texting, and social media have replaced Direct Mail.
Emails and text messaging are quickly replacing Backpack Flyers.
The Annual Report, once an artsy presentation of the district, is now a simple letter with a link to a dynamic, easy-to-use interactive website where parents can engage our performance data directly and look at many different dataset comparisons.
The Grade Card, though still sent home, is largely replaced by Powerschool where parents can check the weekly progress of their student instead of a single semester or quarter update.
We still assist print and broadcast journalists in their efforts to cover education by providing facts, sharing data, suggesting photos, and arranging for interviews and quotes.
It's an exciting time to be a parent -- and an exciting time to share information about our excellent schools, students, community partners, and parents.