Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age

Why is it so critical that school leaders embrace social media? And when they're ready to start, what's the best first step? Here's everything you need to know to begin building a social media platform that nurtures relationships and garners support from your key stakeholders, including step-by-step instructions on how to use three of today's most popular tools for social media: Twitter, Facebook, and blogs.

Benefits:

• Reflect on and apply concepts with Next Steps found throughout each chapter.
• Review current research that explains why the transition to social media is timely and accessible.
• Use online tools to open dialogue for a more informed, supportive two-way relationship with the community.
• Explore different forms of online communities.
• Gain steps to create an effective, healthy online presence.
• Understand the value of social media for crisis management.

Contents:
Chapter 1: The Change
Chapter 2: The Hyperconnected Community
Chapter 3: Leading the Change
Chapter 4: Planning Your Debut and Creating an Online Platform
Chapter 5: Facebook 101
Chapter 6: Twitter 101
Chapter 7: Blogging 101
Chapter 8: Crafting Social Media Guidelines
Chapter 9: What We Say and How We Say It Matter
Chapter 10: Listening to Social Media
Chapter 11: Crisis Management and Social Media
Chapter 12: The New World--It's Just the Beginning

Meg Carnes, a consultant, has spent over 25 years in K-12 public education. She is a former high school English teacher and department chair. Meg was also an adjunct instructor at Syracuse University.

Meg taught high school journalism, advised a national award-winning newspaper, and was an adjunct instructor at Northern Virginia Community College. She later was a communications specialist for Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools when the school division was awarded the Gold Medallion for communication excellence from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA).

Meg has written about communication for education journals and is a frequent presenter at national public relations and education conferences. She has evaluated school division communications programs for national competitions and is a member of the NSPRA, American Association of School Administrators, and the Chesapeake Chapter of NSPRA (CHESPRA). She has served on the CHESPRA Board and on NSPRA committees. Meg is coauthor of Why School Communications Matters: Strategies from PR Professionals and Why Social Media Matters: School Communication in the Digital Age.

She has a bachelor's degree in English from St. Bonaventure University and a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University. Meg also holds a certificate of advanced studies in educational administration from the State University of New York and an accreditation in public relations from the Public Relations Society of America.

Kitty Porterfield is a consultant specializing in building school-community relationships using new technologies that support student learning. She spent nearly 30 years directing programs and communications efforts in three school divisions in northern Virginia.

Kitty was director of communications for the Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools on the morning of September 11, 2001, and led the communications effort then and again during the Washington area sniper attacks the following year. She has also been a communications and program director for Alexandria City Public Schools and Arlington County Schools, both in Virginia.

Her crisis communication work at Fairfax received recognition from the US Departments of Education and Homeland Security. She and her communications team received regional and national awards for print, video, and web communications, including the National School Public Relations Gold Medallion and the Mariner Award for Exceptional Leadership.

Kitty has written about education leadership and communication for education journals and has presented frequently at regional and national public relations and education conferences. She is coauthor of Why School Communications Matters: Strategies From PR Professionals.

Kitty is vice president of the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia. She is a member of the National Association of School Public Relations (former chair of the Chesapeake chapter) and American Association of School Administrators. Kitty has also served as chair of the Northern Virginia Community College Board.

She earned a BA in govenment from Radcliffe College.