Leadership Matters March 2014

Outreach

Blurring the lines: Connecting with your community By Superintendent Dr. Ehren Jarrett Rockford District 205

 A few days after the Update is distributed to the board and leaders, it is edited and sent to the district staff. It’s my way to directly communicate with employees in a way an internal newsletter could not.  We redesigned our

In three years, I have gone from being a principal of a school with 2,200 students and 200 employees

to running a school district with 29,000 students and 3,800 employees. I went from knowing every employee by name to struggling with the names of our 47 school buildings in the Rockford Public Schools. To navigate this brave new world, I put the highest value on communication. And I don’t mean the kind of communication steeped in strategy and buzzwords. Even when I didn’t know exactly what kind of leader I wanted to be, I knew what I

website last fall so it’s more visually appealing and easier to navigate. It’s also a place to highlight our success stories.  I will visit all of our school buildings and district departments over the next year. These are informal Q&A sessions, not a time to be “on-message.” My chief of communications comes along so he knows the areas we are doing well or falling short.  Our Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council is made up of students from every high school. These students are visible and active.  I have a steady diet of speaking engagements .

Dr. Ehren Jarrett became Rockford Public Schools superintendent in July 2013. He joined the district’s leadership team in June 2011 as an assistant superintendent. Before that, he was principal at Hononegah Community High School in Rockton for four

years. During that time, Newsweek Magazine and the Washington Post recognized Hononegah as one of the top schools in the country. Jarrett earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership from Northern Illinois University. He serves as chairman of the Alignment Rockford Governing Board and is education chairman of the United Way Annual Campaign. He is also a member of the Discovery Center Board of Directors, the Joint Institute of Technology Education-Aerospace and the Rockford Area Economic Development Council Education Committee.

The groups I speak to run the gamut in size, from Kiwanis clubs to business districts to the group that ran our successful building referendum campaign in November 2012. We keep in touch with these groups even – and especially – when we don’t need anything from them. And we meet them at times and locations convenient for them .  We hold regular focus groups for employees, parents, students and the community.  I encourage my Cabinet and other members of the leadership team to be visible in the community as well. Nearly a dozen administrators are signed up to write for our Rockford Public Schools blog. If I have one driving principle of communication, it’s this (borrowed from visual storyteller Nancy Duarte): Let your audience be the hero. You have a story to tell, but your audience must see themselves in your story. Once you make that connection, the lines between “central office,” students, teachers, parents and the community seem to blur. Even if I don’t know all their names – yet.

didn’t want. I didn’t want to be a caricature. I wanted to be real and authentic, as opposed to that person who turns up every Tuesday night on the public access channel. As Peter Drucker said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Your most brilliant plan will be foiled unless your employees believe you genuinely want to listen and are committed to frequent and honest communication. I have been very open with my staff and the public about turnover in the top job and how that works against building a culture of collaboration and engagement. The Rockford Park District has had seven leaders in 100 years. The school district, in contrast, has had seven in barely more than 10 years. None of us can go back, but we can go forward. These have been my go-to tools as we do that:  A weekly Update newsletter is sent electronically to board members and key administrative employees. The information is aimed at giving leaders a heads-up before they get a phone call from a reporter.

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