Tools for Getting your Message Out

There is a lot of conflicting information making the rounds on what can and can’t be done with regard to teacher websites, social media, school websites, etc. This is the first post in a series, where I will try to clear up all the misinformation!

Skyward, School Websites, School Messenger, Lucie Link, and the District Website

There are many tools available to us for disseminating information to the public.

Skyward–All assignments should be here. There are calendar entries that can be configured for events (related to the permission level of the user–so school events would need to be done at that level not by a teacher). In addition, there is a “Facebook-like” messaging center. Skyward is the first place where information should be placed, when it comes to academics, classroom info, grading, assignments, and communication with parents and students.

School Websites–The next step up is the school website. Here is where overall information about the school is placed and all public information. ALL TEACHERS AND STAFF have access to post on the website! What this means is that teachers and staff can contribute news and events to the school website. It’s a matter of login, post, and the post goes to the webmaster for approval. If you have ever posted to Lucie Link, it is exactly the same!

The link to post can be found on this page (use the link for your school):

http://schools.stlucie.k12.fl.us/website-login-links/

Login with your network username and password.

School Messenger–Replaced ConnectED and is used to send out phone messages to parents/employees. Sending a message through this system needs to be approved by the principal.

Lucie Link–Anyone can post to Lucie Link. All posts are monitored/subject to approval. The link to post is: Lucie Link (login with your network username/password)

District Website–Generally content is supplied by district staff. Teachers and schools have Lucie Link, on the home page, right at the top…and it doesn’t really get any better than that! However if you do have content that you feel is valuable at a district level, please contact the district webmaster (that’s me!) at webmaster@stlucieschools.org

Teacher Websites

Photos and video – You cannot place photos or video of students on your site, period. There is no disclaimer that you can make or permission that you can employ that allows you to do this. Parents check a box on their application that constitutes a legal photo release for that student and the rights are granted for use on the district website or school websites. In addition to the release there are guidelines which should be followed. These can be found at http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/pdf/website-guidelines.pdf

Calendars – We have lots of calendars. Calendars in Skyward, calendars on the district website, calendars on the school website. If you have calendar events, please do not hide them on your teacher web page, more people need to know 🙂 Use Skyward for class assignment or project due dates. Use the school website for special things you’re doing. And if you link to the District Calendar, please link to the copy on the district website, do not download your own copy to link to. The link for the district calendar is *always* https://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/pdf/School-Calendar.pdf so if you set your link to that, it will always be the current calendar.