Good public relations begins with the cost-free investment of thoughtful evaluation, Harms told Education World. Public relations encompasses all interactions and communications with the public by everyone in your school district, from school secretaries to maintenance workers to teachers, principals, board members, and students. Good public relations is something everyone involved with a school should be practicing every day. The biggest public relations budget in the world won't matter if your school projects a poor image in its most basic communications. Before you hire a consultant or a public relations staff person or recruit a parent volunteer, begin improving public relations in your school district by evaluating everyday communications, Harms said.
Many schools have voice mail systems today.
Parents want to know what's going on. The tricky part is knowing what parents really want to hear and what will be perceived as propaganda. For communicating with parents, Harms sees newsletters as primary communication tools. A newsletter doesn't need to be flashy. As the editor of a newsletter for the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, Harms said he strives to view the product from a parent's perspective.