Remaining in our bold new
world, something that has not
changed is the importance
of rich and meaningful
communication, not only one-
way, but two-way.
and extensive posts on social media, plus the
posting of our electronic newsletter, in just
a few weeks, the enrollment jumped to 144.
But it’s not only the enrollment count that
matters, it’s what we are able to present with
our social media platforms and website that
truly paint a picture of our school for both
internal and external stakeholders. We have
photos and videos everywhere on the sites
from all of the sporting events to concerts,
tours/trips, senior events including prom
and graduation, and so much more.
You really see who we are when you look
through the sites. One of the families who
came to open house explained, “My daugh-
ter looked at your website and all your social
media sites and decided she wanted to go to
your school – 100 percent, without a doubt.
‘Mom, look at these photos. These kids all
look different. I love this. They look like me.
I have to go here.’”
After the second day of summer school, one
of the teachers said, “I have to say, your stu-
dents are just a delight. They are the nicest kids
I have ever worked with. And their writing is
just so good. I’m used to giving a writing as-
signment and having students put together
maybe a paragraph or two. These kids wrote
over a full page, planned out, organized,
thoughtful, and compelling. I'm so impressed."
Of course, I did post this story on Face-
book, Twitter and Instagram. And I just
might put it on the website and mention it
in a podcast.
Arguably, one of the most important ele-
ments of a school is the school culture. It’s
pervasive, permeating everything we do. As a
principal or teacher, if you can help mold and
improve that school culture, wouldn’t you?
And if you can make these improvements
through free programs and systems that most
members of your community are already fa-
miliar with and are using, wouldn’t you?
Lastly, good stories should be told. It’s im-
portant. We owe it to our community, our
district, and our students and their families.
And all the future families and students who
may see a video or a photo and say, “These
are my people. I need to go to this school.”
Resources:
• Aaker, J. and Smith, A. (2010). “The
dragonfly effect: Quick, effective, and pow-
erful ways to use social media to drive social
change.” Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
• Couros, G. (2012). “Social Media for
Administrators.” Accessible at https://goo.
gl/epZrMr.
• Dixon, Brian (2012). “Social media for
school leaders.” San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Bass.
• Sheninger, Eric C. (2014). “Digi-
tal Leadership: Changing Paradigms for
Changing Times.” Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin.
• Ohanian, Alexis (2009).TED Talk,
“How to Make a Splash in Social Media.”
Accessible at https://goo.gl/K1QmzC.
• Wojcicki, E. and Izumi, L. (2015).
“Moonshots in education: Launching
blended learning in the classroom.” San
Francisco, CA: Pacific Research Institute.
Edward Trimis, Ed.D. is principal at Legacy
Visual and Performing Arts High School,
an LAUSD School of Choice in South Gate,
Calif. Trimis has presented sessions on
social media for school leaders and taught
a course he helped design, Advancing
Community Support Through Social
Media, in the Administrative Credential
program at the USC Rossier School of
Education for the last four summers. Trimis
is also president of the LAUSD Senior
High School Principals Organization and
was formerly on the ACSA State Board of
Directors representing Region 16.
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