Early Lessons in “Productive Overcommunication”

Oct 2

Educators leading school reopening talk about the importance of repeated, transparent, humanizing overcommunication of plans and expectations. Examples we’re seeing in action include:

Principal Reymundo Cervantes-Guajardo of Henry B Gonzalez PL Academy in Dallas, TX did a Facebook Live video where he showed morning procedures and morning circles. This is a quick way to strengthen community trust by showing families what in person learning and procedures look like since families cannot physically visit due to COVID-19 safety measures.

Leaders in Franklin, MA, created an easy to navigate website as well as videos that clearly share out expectations and processes. Welcome-back messages walk students through the day, explaining new behaviors and providing an example of what schools will look and feel like for students.

In Cudahy, WI, Superintendent Dr. Tina Owen-Moore noted their team did a lot of proactive communication.

“We created FAQs for families and continued to add to them as we received new questions, and we sent out messages every week that included how to get students ready for the first day of school, what the COVID statistics look like in our community, what our virtual and in person learning would look like, and things families can do to keep themselves safe. (At one point along the way, I realized that we have more of an audience, budget and influence than our local health agencies, and we took on the charge for becoming the primary source of information for our families.)”

The messages leaders have to deliver aren’t always easy, so schools are taking a proactive approach, offering understanding and empathy. Milford, MA, High School Principal Joshua Otlin made some especially significant shifts and made sure to share rationale with students and parents/guardians. For example, they moved to a 4x4 block model that was more conducive to the hybrid schedule they adopted. Scheduling was a particularly difficult task and Principal Otlin was transparent to students about the realities of scheduling. In one update, he wrote:"

“Some students will be rightly disappointed with their schedules and I want everyone to be prepared for this difficult reality. Many students will be scheduled for one or more elective courses they did not request. Other students will not be scheduled for courses they did request, including core academic subjects. In cases where we are unable to schedule a student for one or more courses required for graduation, we will waive those requirements to ensure that the student is not penalized.”

To accomplish this, Otlin dedicated the time they had as a whole staff entirely to getting staff input and iterating on safety procedures to co-develop a final version of Milford High School’s Return-to-School Plan. To do this, Otlin’s team engaged teachers iteratively and openly, running a serial set of document review, commenting, and Zoom session discussions.

School administrators shared the draft of the return-to-school document that had the early forms of procedures for arrivals, bathrooms, and more.
Staff marked up the document with suggestions and questions.
Staff shared questions, concerns, and suggestions in virtual breakout rooms facilitated by school administrators.
School administrators reviewed this input and iterated on processes.
- See the list of questions that staff asked about safety procedures and how administrators responded.
- If needed, school administrators reached out to district leadership. This would sometimes result in the superintendent calling for a principals’ meeting to further hash out policies.
The principal shared answers updated processes, and what was still not known at the next staff meeting.
Staff reviewed the document again and provided suggestions and questions. This was done five times over the course of nine school days. See the school’s pre-service schedule for staff. These sessions took place during the times labeled “Refining Safety Protocols.”
The final meeting was held the day before the school building reopened with students, and the entire staff went over every procedure from arrival, dismissal, lunch, bathroom, duties, etc., until there were no more questions on the table.

Check out the final version of Milford High School’s Return-to-School Plan.