District communications director outlines outreach, metrics and planned website revamp

Adam Harris, head of communications and storytelling for Arlington Heights District 25, presented the communications department—s work and plans to the board on July 15, highlighting metrics and a planned website update. Harris said the communications team produced 222 communications items in the past year, the district website received just under 400,000 visits, and social media posts together achieved roughly 930,000 views across platforms. Harris described consistent tools used to reach families and staff: weekly principal newsletters at elementary schools, biweekly middle-school newsletters, a district "Dish" every two weeks, a post-board-meeting "board buzz," the annual Insight magazine, and consolidated staff newsletters. Harris said the department frequently supports building leaders by drafting and, with permission, sending communications on their behalf. He said the team uses short videos and "out and about" social content to showcase student and staff stories and build trust; he showed a top-performing video that earned about 75,000 views on Facebook. Looking ahead, Harris previewed a website template update planned for rollout in the coming months to improve mobile navigation and ease of updates for schools; he said the current template dates to July 2022 and is being phased out. Board members praised Harris—s outreach and asked about equitable coverage across schools, strategic-plan communications and using platforms such as LinkedIn for recruitment. Harris said he intentionally visits schools to find stories and monitors coverage to ensure equitable attention. He welcomed continued board input on the strategic plan refresh and said communications would help make the plan visible and measurable online.