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Warren County Schools touts new communications role after year of expanded media outreach
Summary
Communications coordinator Sarah Cantrell told the Warren County Schools board the new position handled more than 160 media requests since July, led a successful electronics policy campaign and implemented ParentSquare as the district messaging platform.
Warren County Schools Communications Coordinator Sarah Cantrell told the school board that the district’s new communications role filled more than 160 media requests since July and helped streamline family messaging by moving the district from Skyward to ParentSquare.
Cantrell said the communications coordinator position was created this school year to unify and improve district messaging. “Since July, we filled in more than 160 media requests,” she told the board, highlighting coverage by local and regional outlets and recurring segments that staff used to explain district decisions and spotlight student achievements.
The district launched several targeted campaigns this year, Cantrell said, including a proactive information campaign tied to the recently adopted personal electronic device policy that emphasized benefits such as improved focus and extracurricular participation. She said the campaign was planned for eight weeks but concluded after roughly four because community uptake was strong.
Cantrell also described a multi-pronged social media strategy that she said increased the district’s reach: “We have grown our Facebook page followers by 2,000. Our average weekly reach has more than doubled,” she told the board. The district used social channels to promote programs such as Capturing Kids’ Hearts and to mark awards, including local and statewide teacher recognitions.
On operations, Cantrell said the district completed a platform change to ParentSquare to centralize alerts, classroom messages and direct communications from principals into a single feed for families.
Board members praised the responsiveness Cantrell demonstrated during incidents and routine communications. Members noted a recent example in which a school fire alarm prompted a district post and parent alert within 10 minutes, a responsiveness they said reduced confusion.
The board discussed next steps for communications for the coming year, including a strategic communications plan aligned with the district’s overall strategy and several planned school logo updates.
