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District outlines new communications plan, expands ParentSquare, website and outreach
Summary
The district communications coordinator told the board the district is expanding ParentSquare use, reorganized websites with an enrollment landing page, introduced Smart Alert templates for emergencies and is running targeted enrollment ads, including a regional segment with TV host Andy Garcia.
Liliana Martinez, the district and community communications coordinator, briefed the board on a multi‑pronged plan to centralize and expand district communications, digital access and outreach to families.
Why it matters: District leaders said improved communications aim to increase enrollment, boost family engagement, speed crisis messaging and publicize school recognitions and programs.
Martinez summarized recent and planned work: districtwide rollout of ParentSquare across all sites (including early childhood programs), a new enrollment landing page and a reorganization of school websites to put commonly used actions (enrollments, menus, calendars) on the front page. She said the district added a website section for news items so school spotlights can appear on both district and school pages.
For emergency communications, Martinez said the district updated its crisis communication plan and Smart Alert templates inside ParentSquare so schools can rapidly send prewritten emergency messages to families and staff. “When there is an emergency, we only have a matter of minutes to message our families,” she told the board while describing the template system.
On outreach and enrollment marketing, Martinez said the district ran Google Performance Max ads, paid social media posts and mailed enrollment mailers with step‑by‑step enrollment instructions. She described a regional media placement titled “All Access with Andy Garcia”: a short commercial scheduled to run Oct. 6–31 in the Lawndale/Hawthorne/Gardena region and a longer documentary segment featuring district leaders and Anderson Elementary as a backdrop.
Martinez also discussed metrics: YouTube view growth approaching 17 percent, rising Instagram followers, and a district website view total she said was almost 335,000 (a cumulative metric the communications office began tracking after a recent site refresh). She said enrollment advertising has produced at least some direct enrollments and that the district will continue to measure conversion.
Planned work includes accessibility training to improve communications for people with disabilities, a storytelling campaign called “Tell Me Something Good,” a community‑schools newsletter, and individualized outreach to families not yet active on ParentSquare. Martinez said she will continue monthly communications meetings to coordinate messaging among departments and partner organizations.
Board members asked about calendar control (answered: community liaisons and office managers manage school calendars) and encouraged continued outreach to families with limited tech access.
Ending: The board received the update and thanked Martinez for the work; no formal action was requested or taken at the meeting.
