Yukon-Koyuk School District's

Operational Handbook for the Voluntary Public School Choice (VPSC) Grant

III. Marketing Plan

The YKSD is composed of nine village schools within a 65,000-square-mile territory. The population density in this vast region is about one person per square mile. The YKSD covers a vast geographic region with ancient tribal boundaries. That means, any YKSD student who attends a school other than their local school may face the following obstacles: living hundreds of miles from home, living outside of cultural support, living without family, and loss of racial identity. In order to provide in-district options for choice, the interdistrict and intradistrict agreements will include the following types of schools:

Distance Delivery – Credits and classes delivered via Internet
Boarding Schools – Schools which house students throughout school term
Traditional Public Schools – School which operate during the day and provide traditional curricular offerings

Due to Alaska's geographical constraints, student support constraints, and transportation challenges noted earlier, out-of-district school choices will be advertised, supported, and coordinated for YKSD parents and students, but as a secondary prerogative. Increasing intradistrict school choice options will take priority for YKSD students.

Goals

Improve communication with all school stakeholders and raise community awareness about schools of choice and access options.

Disseminate best practices through presentations, workshops, surveys, and community meetings
Develop partnerships and collaborations with area schools, businesses and organizations to support school choice program awareness and implementation

Objectives

Educate the district and surrounding communities about school choice, curriculum, course offerings, and programs.

Celebrate achievements
Increase choice seat capacity
Increase number of students participating in choice options

Tools	Internal Audience		External Audience
	Students	Staff	Parents	Community	School Districts
Announcements	X	X	X
Quarterly Newsletter	X	X	X
Community Postings	X	X	X	X
Student Handbook	X	X	X
School Sports Poster	X	X	X	X
Social Networking	X	X
Phone		X	X
Email		X	X
Meetings	X	X	X		X
Conferences		X	X
Professional Dev.		X			X
Open Houses	X	X	X	X
Youth Dev. Activities	X	X	X	X	X
Direct Mail	X	X	X	X	X
Evening Presentations	X	X	X	X	X
Parent Meetings		X	X
Staff/Student Awards	X	X	X	X
Press Releases	X	X	X	X	X
Website	X	X	X	X	X
Radio Ads	X		X	X
News & TV Ads	X		X	X

Responsibilities

The Project Director and Assistant Superintendent, with support from the Project Administrator, will implement school of choice options and support large-scale school improvement to:

Inform and support parents and students regarding school of choice options
Develop relationships with outside schools to provide interdistrict schools of choice
Coordinate professional development on the School Success Cycle
Train all on-site school administrators on School Success Cycle
Support the on-site village administrators to become professional development facilitators for their school staff

Marketing and Communication Activities

Provide awareness of Boarding Home program and secure housing and/or appropriate boarding situations with family or friends in neighboring villages, so students in lower performing schools can attend higher performing schools in the district.
Support model schools in the district for other schools to replicate and promote the expansion of school choice programs. Rather than assigning traditional neighborhood attendance boundaries, students from across the district can apply to attend any school in the district.
Inform and support parents and students regarding school of choice options through community meetings and open houses, individual parent meetings, and through newsletters, emails and community postings.
Media dissemination of Choice options to build awareness and provide advertisement (Newspaper, TV, Radio) through press releases and advertisements.
Continue to develop marketing and communication tools including brochures, flyers, informational packets, press tools and ads.
Conduct community meetings and school open houses to increase community awareness and involve parents and community in the school choice program.
Develop partnerships with community businesses, organizations and other school districts to increase school choice availability, transportation options and program information awareness.

Annual Timeline

Month	Activity
July	Newspaper, TV and Radio ads for AIDE choice program Community Postings Student Handbook updates Brochure and Flyer posting and distribution Press Releases drafted and submitted Website updated with choice opportunities Contact students leaving district to provide choice information
August	Professional Development for School Success Model and choice awareness Parent Meetings Press push and ads continue for AIDE and other programs Meetings with other Districts and business/community partners Community postings updated (Brochures, flyers, etc.) Website updated with choice opportunities Announcements to students and parents begin
September	Student Handbook released Quarterly Newsletter Professional Development for School Success Model Youth Development Activities calendar released Announcements to students/parents continue Community Open Houses Evening Presentations
October	Site visits from Admin, School Choice support staff and Professional Development staff Community meetings and open houses at village sites Fall youth project advertisements (email, announcements, etc.) Fall Student Phlight Club/Community Phlight Academy for community -youth development
November	Meetings with outside districts to encourage choice partnerships Quarterly Newsletter Parent/Community trainings (planning stage)
December	VPSC Annual Conference in Washington DC--learn more about other programs and their marketing and communication strategies
January	Student activities to build youth resiliency and support choice awareness (tentatively scheduled--may be in Feb)
February	Quarterly Newsletter Professional Development for School Success Model and Choice awareness in village sites Community meetings School open houses in village sites
March	Spring Student Phlight Club/Community Phlight Academy for community-youth development Update and re-post community postings Distribute Boarding Home brochures and information Meeting with community and businesses for partnerships
April	Individual Parent meetings with School Admin regarding student progress and choice options Student Advisory Committee Meeting Summer Youth Project advertisements Meetings with outside school districts to encourage choice partnerships Student Transition Camp at University of Alaska-Fairbanks
May	Quarterly Newsletter Summer Youth Project advertisements
June	Newspaper, TV and Radio ads for AIDE choice program Community Postings Brochure and Flyer posting and distribution
Ongoing	Website updates Emails to students, parents and partners Monthly student newsletter from Youth Development Brochure and Flyer updates as needed Press Releases drafted as needed Emails Announcements Phone contacts Direct Mail Social Networking contact with Students Quarterly PEAK Awards announced for Staff