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Communications director reports heavy use of School Status Connect and rising social reach
Summary
The communications update described district use of School Status Connect for mass communication, two‑way messaging and priority alerts; the communications director reported roughly 19,000 communications since August and strong social‑media reach and follower growth.
The district’s communications director briefed the board on tools the district uses to reach families and described recent growth in social media engagement and use of a consolidated messaging platform.
The update matters because consistent family communication and accurate emergency alerts are central to parent engagement, and social platforms extend the district’s visibility to partners and prospective families.
Becky Nasleroad, who presented the communications update, said the district now uses School Status Connect (formerly ClassTag) for most district communications except lunch balances and transportation notices, and the platform supports announcements, two‑way messaging and priority alerts that can override individual notification preferences in emergencies. "We can turn on the priority alerts function which overrides all of your preferences because in those situations we would rather over communicate," Nasleroad said.
Nasleroad reported that since Aug. 1 the district has exchanged more than 19,000 communications across announcements, direct messages and stories, and that more than 92% of families had engaged with district messaging in the most recent three‑week period. She said the communications team runs audits every six to eight weeks to correct missing contacts and ensure families are reachable.
On social media, Nasleroad described photo series and spotlight programs (staff first‑day posts, "Hometown Heroes," "464 Storytellers," alumni and senior spotlights) and said the district’s tagging strategy resulted in some posts being reshared by statewide and national organizations. She provided snapshot metrics: roughly 925 Instagram followers in January (about 60,000 reach in 30 days), about 978 followers in February (about 88,000 reach) and roughly 1,015 followers two weeks after that (about 106,000 reach). She said the district’s 30‑day average reach was running in the tens of thousands.
Board members asked about technical issues; Nasleroad said a middle‑school email/domain‑whitelisting problem this semester was resolved after working with School Status Connect customer support and reissuing invitations for affected students.
Speakers (first reference) Becky Nasleroad, communications director (presented communications update)
Clarifying details School Status Connect is the district mass‑communication platform in use since fall 2023 (formerly ClassTag). Priority alerts can be forced for crisis/inclement weather to reach parents by multiple channels. Since Aug. 1 the district counted over 19,000 communications of all types; over 92% of families engaged in the last three weeks (presenter reported these figures). Instagram follower and reach snapshots: ~925 followers/60k reach (Jan), ~978/88k (Feb), ~1,015/106k (mid‑March snapshot) — numbers reported by communications staff.
No board action followed; the item was informational.
