Communication & the District

     I recently met with Superintendent Harrison to introduce myself and hear his perspective on the district. One topic we discussed was what effective communication between schools and caregivers should look like.

    I shared a common experience as a parent: receiving forwarded emails from teachers about school updates. My reaction is often mixed. On one hand, I’m disappointed when the message lacks context or added value. On the other, I notice the late hour it’s sent and recognize a teacher working hard to meet the needs of many students and families. It left me wondering how teachers could reasonably do more than they already are—and what a receptive, engaged parent community should look like in return.

    That question resurfaced later that day during a conversation with a parent at the Jerry Finch Winnebago County Dog Park. We were talking about communication in general, sparked by her wish for a simple app to signal when dog owners are at the park. The conversation turned to how difficult it is for parents to keep school information organized. With children receiving messages from multiple teachers each week, updates can quickly blur together. Even when things are going well academically, the volume of one-way communication can become overwhelming. At times, I find myself tuning it out—not from lack of care, but from information overload. There has to be a better way.

    I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do have ideas for improving communication between schools, caregivers, and the broader community. Some involve standardizing communication so parents know where to find key information year over year. Others focus on reducing administrative tasks that pull teachers away from students and families. But communication isn’t just a district responsibility—it requires engagement from parents and the community as well. To that end, I’m interested in civic-style informational sessions that help families understand how to stay involved, and in exploring ways communication can be shared more effectively among classroom families themselves.

    For my friend at the dog park, I took our idea about some way to signal folks that we're at the dog park and tried my hand at creating an app for that.