As you know, February is Black History Month, which is often recognized by organizations on social media with a red, yellow, and green Canva template that blandly wishes everyone a "Happy Black History Month."

When observing these kinds of cultural heritage months in your communications, we encourage you to consider going a step deeper as an opportunity to respectfully share stories of multicultural learning and appreciation that highlight the unique perspectives of individuals in our community.

For Native American Heritage Month, we interviewed four students in our Native Education program what aspect of their heritage makes them most proud. During Disability History and Awareness Month, special education teachers answered three short questions about their experiences in the classroom (I, II, III, IV).

And during Black History Month, we’re connecting with Black Student Union or Multicultural Club members at our comprehensive high schools to share their voices and perspectives with our community. The first three entries with Shadle Park, Lewis and Clark, and Rogers have been published, and more interviews are on the way.

If you have any questions or want to bounce ideas, please reach out! We offer a safe space for vetting a concept that you may be unsure about and can draw on our own past experiences to provide support and guidance.

Inaccessible web content means that people with disabilities are denied equal access to information. We’re sharing reminders about Website Accessibility so information shared online can be appreciated by all members of our community.

Headings

Most web pages and documents include a main Heading that identifies the title or main topic, with Subheadings that identify the start of new sections. Visibly, headings typically appear in a larger, bolder font than the surrounding text. Headings benefit all users, as they keep content organized and easy to navigate.

In order for screen reader users to benefit from headings, the headings must be identified as such (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) using the heading features that are provided by the authoring tool. Many of the authoring tools we use at SPS, like Microsoft Word, Thrillshare, Canvas, and Constant Contact, have a heading feature.

Headings should form an outline of the page content (Heading 1 for the main heading, Heading 2 for the first level of sub-headings, etc.), allowing screen reader users to understand the page’s organization. Screen readers also allow users to jump quickly between headings with a single key-stroke, or to view an outline of the page created from its heading structure.

If the heading structure skips or reverses heading levels, users may have a harder time figuring out the relationships between sections of the page.

Take a look at these pages if you need inspiration for content, or reach out to Theresa Tanner for support.

Solicitations

Occasionally schools receive Let's Talk messages from businesses asking to share promotions with families or to inquire about selling their products or services to the school or district.

If you receive these requests, please tag @TrishGray in an internal comment so she can assign to the appropriate responder and let the inquirer know about our policies.

If they wish to distribute a flier to families, they should be directed to our Flier Distribution Guidelines.

If they wish to become a vendor at our schools, they should be directed to Purchasing.

Please let Trish Gray know if you have any questions.

Reassign Let's Talk Messages About Employees

If you receive a message alleging employee misconduct, it should be reassigned to the “Employment & Human Resources” topic. These messages may contain sensitive information that should only be addressed by Human Resources personnel.

Instructions can be found under Reassigning Dialogues. If you would like assistance, please tag @TrishGray in an internal comment to ask for her support.

Custom Forms

Did you know that Let’s Talk has custom forms? If your school or department needs to gather information from families, it can be a convenient way to compile data and respond as a team. 

You can learn more by watching a short Custom Form Builder how-to video. But if it looks a little complicated, don’t worry – the K12 Insight Implementation Team can also help build forms, start to finish.

If you’d like more information about this feature, reach out to Trish Gray. 

Feeder Pattern Messages

It’s the time of year where schools need to get school and class registration information to their feeder pattern elementary or middle school. Constant Contact is a great tool to use to get the message out. 

However, before you send to lists other than your own school’s parent list, please notify your feeder schools’ principals. Those are the schools that often get phone calls from parents after these kinds of messages go out, and the principal and office staff need to know what you’re sending before those phone calls start rolling in.

Keep Homepages Current

One simple way to keep your homepage fresh is to update your hero image(s)! It's a great way to get a visitor's attention so they will take a few extra moments to appreciate your school and hopefully pick up some valuable information!

If you're looking for photos, what you're already sharing in your newsletters or on Facebook will likely work on your homepage too. Or reach out to SPS Communications! We have lots of photos from activities at all schools in recent years.

Need a reminder on how to update the homepage and the hero image? Watch this video tutorial.

Promote Coffee with SPS

If you’re one of the schools on tap to host Coffee with SPS this school year (or if it is at another school in your feeder pattern), share the event to your staff and families in the days and weeks leading up to the event.

In January, we saw perhaps our largest attendance yet, thanks to Beth Nye and her team at Adams Elementary School including the information in their newsletter, on their reader board, and in Thrillshare messages to families.

Upcoming Dates

February 25: Finch Elementary

March 25: Wilson Elementary

April 29: Garfield Elementary

May 27, 2025: Jefferson Elementary

Reminder: Inclement Weather Decisions

We want to make sure that administrators and staff are aware of what messaging to expect from the district if the decision is made to cancel school or delay the start of the school day due to inclement weather.

The Communications Team will:

• Send an email, text message and a phone call to all parent/guardians and staff with the information by 6 a.m.
• Add the announcement to the district homepage and every school homepage
• Post the announcement on the district’s Facebook page and every school Facebook page
• Notify local media

Please make sure you are familiar with our Inclement Weather Procedures if you receive questions from families. 

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Ryan Lancaster. 

Training & Resources

Training videos and documents, archives of these newsletters, and more useful resources can be found on the Staff website.

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