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Mesa County Valley School District No. 51 reports gains in family communication; launches new website and mobile app
Summary
District staff told the Board at a work session that a new website and mobile app, expanded multilingual services and family leadership programs coincide with preliminary survey data showing 76% of families feel adequately informed, up from just under 70%.
Mesa County Valley School District No. 51 officials used a board work session to update the board and community on the district’s three‑year strategic plan priority to improve communication and family partnerships, reporting new digital tools and preliminary survey gains.
The presentation recapped work to make district information more accessible: a redesigned district website launched in May and a mobile app released in the weeks before the meeting. District staff said the app recorded more than 400 downloads in its first weeks. The presenters said the district has also expanded translation and interpretation services, restructured its interpretation/translation department, and translated mass communications in about 13 languages while offering services across roughly 26 languages on request.
Why it matters: the district said clearer, more multilingual communication is intended to strengthen family partnerships that support student achievement and the district’s graduate profile. Presenters tied the work to the strategic plan’s “Communication and Connection with Families” priority and to efforts to broaden family leadership and representation on school and district committees.
Presenters described several specific initiatives and metrics. They said preliminary results from the district’s annual communications survey show 76% of families now say they “always or almost always” feel adequately informed by the district, up from just under 70% last year; 82% of survey respondents with students said they feel adequately informed by their students’ school. The district described a three‑year set of goals that include raising family perceptions of information access and making school and district committees more demographically representative of the student population.
Staff outlined outreach and capacity efforts: a family partnership roadmap, a bilingual leadership structure, targeted training for educators and partners, home visits and designated family partnership roles in schools, and 14 Spanish programs plus 10 English and additional staff/community offerings. Leadership D51—an informational program for community leaders—entered its third year with a cohort of 24 participants, staff said.
District staff also listed next steps: finalizing a toolkit for recruiting and supporting diverse membership on school accountability and district committees, continuing multilingual communications work, and monitoring the survey while the district keeps the survey open for a few more days. Staff invited questions from the board and the public.
The presentation was delivered by Tracy Gallegos, identified in the meeting as the district’s director of Access, Opportunity and Family Partnerships, and other communications staff. No formal board action was taken during the work session.
