Van Buren Families,
My name is Brian Bratt, and I am now serving as the communications coordinator for Van Buren Local Schools. While this is my first year in this position, I am also an English teacher and career advisor, which has made the transition to this additional position smoother and resulted in no additional cost for the district. In my communications position, I have been asked to accomplish the mission statement of our communications committee: to communicate pertinent, district-level information related to the Van Buren Local School District to stakeholders through a variety of channels.
We are always seeking to improve all aspects of our district, and because of that mindset, last spring Dr. Inkrott and I met with communications coordinators from Findlay City Schools, Indian Hill Exempted Village School District, and Lakota Local School District (Cincinnati area) to seek guidance as we developed our communications plan. We also brought together a communications committee consisting of Terri Barker, Josette Brinkman, Marcy Clark, Laura Ebright, Jason Inkrott, Christy Kisseberth, Chris Myers, Cassie Schaffer, and Carla Treadway to provide feedback focused on communications. The communications committee has already met three times this year, and we have additional meetings scheduled for January, February, and April to review our progress and plan for next year.
The most significant district-level communication we have added this year is the Quality Profile, with the 2023-2024 version arriving in your mailboxes soon and available electronically right now at vbschools.net. Our students and staff accomplish so much each year, and the Quality Profile allows us to share those stories with all of you. If you are a resident of the Van Buren Local School District and don’t receive a Quality Profile in the mail or receive more than one at your address, please e-mail me at bbratt@vbschools.net so the address list can be updated for future mailings.
In addition to the Quality Profile, you have likely noticed an increase in overall district-level communications in the first three months of the school year. A communication that has been distributed at least once a month is the “Knight Insight,” which focuses on updates from either Dr. Inkrott as superintendent or other directors and supervisors to provide an overview of the progress being made in all aspects of our district from academics to transportation to technology. Those updates will continue throughout the year so district residents can see the whole picture of what happens across our district.
Starting in December, there will also be a once-monthly e-mail sent to all K-12 families that will include the highlights of the district-level communications made in the previous month in case any of the posts on the school website or social media were missed or people prefer to receive their information through e-mail. This communication, titled “Knights in the Know,” will keep your inbox clean (one e-mail for the entire month instead of an e-mail for every article) and give you a hub to access the articles you want to read. If there is anyone who doesn’t have a student in school who would like to receive the monthly e-mail, please send your name and e-mail address to bbratt@vbschools.net with the subject line “Knights in the Know.”
Finally, we are also working with The Oiler10, a free, student-run consulting agency at the University of Findlay, to learn more about how we can most effectively communicate with our district and use analytics to evaluate our effectiveness.
As we continue to develop our communications plan with the guidance of the communications committee and others, know that we will make every effort to inform district residents about all of the great happenings at Van Buren Local Schools.
Thank you for your support of our schools!
Sincerely,
Brian Bratt - Communications Coordinator, Career Advisor, English Teacher
To learn more about what is happening at Van Buren Local Schools, visit our website at vbschools.net.
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