District communications team outlines strategy, bond dashboard and crisis plans
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Summary
Communications staff described tactics to reach families and neighbors, shared bond-reporting tools including an interactive bond map and new dashboard tied to a $950 million bond, and outlined crisis-communications templates and language-translation capabilities.
The Cherry Creek School District communications office presented its 2025-26 strategy to the board on Dec. 8, highlighting outreach tactics, bond reporting tools and crisis communication preparedness.
Communications staff described a six-area focus for the year that centers on storytelling tied to the district’s strategic goals — including a literacy-for-all initiative through 2030 — and on promoting positive perceptions of public education. The team said it uses district digital campaigns, mailers, newsletters and social media, and that district mailers reach roughly 95,000 households. The district reported newsletter distribution of about 62,000 people for the family connection and 11,000 for an employee connection; social channels were reported at about 21,000 followers on Facebook and 17,000 on Instagram.
The office outlined bond transparency work tied to a bond measure the team said passed on Nov. 24. Communications staff described an interactive bond map (first launched in 2019) and a newly launched district bond dashboard that shows project progress, costs and construction schedules. The presenters said those tools are intended to give taxpayers a clear view of how bond dollars are spent and to support ribbon cuttings and community engagement around major projects.
On crisis communications, staff said a six-member crisis team maintains templates for standard response protocol categories (lockdown, secure, hold) and that districtwide messages are sent in English and Spanish with plans to expand to more languages. The team said it uses in-house translators for the district's top nine languages and has adopted a newsletter platform (S'more) to improve translation quality.
Directors asked about accessibility and student involvement in communications. The staff said the district is exploring higher-quality translation platforms and seeking ways to elevate student voice, including collaborating with student newspapers, journalism classes and existing student podcasts.
"We always start with our purpose, which we say is to inform, empower, and engage families, students, and staff in the community as partners in discovering and pursuing their pathway of purpose," the communications presenter said.