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Communications

Communications Department

The Communications Department works to keep families, staff, and the community informed while promoting the mission, achievements, and progress of Oak Harbor Public Schools. We provide oversight for internal and external communications, community and media relations, website management, and social media.

  • Our family and community newsletter, The Scoop, is sent out via ParentSquare to families, students, staff, and subscribers. It is also posted to the Newsroom and Home pages on our website.
  • Our staff newsletter, The Staff Scoop, is sent out to staff through ParentSquare and available in all staff’s ParentSquare news feeds. You can submit content that is beneficial for all district staff by emailing briefs@ohsd.net.
  • Community flyers are distributed through Peachjar

Public promotion of activities or events should always feature the district’s brand and logo and any materials distributed to the community should be approved by the district's Communication Department.

If you need help promoting an exciting, fun, or educational project, activity, or event happening in your area, use our project & publicity request form, below:

Communications Project & Publicity Request Form

Contact Us

Sarah Foy, APR
Communications Officer
Email Sarah
360-279-5045

Lisa Jones
Communications Specialist
Email Lisa
360.279.5005

Flyer Distribution

2024 National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) Awards

Golden Achievement & Publications and Digital Media Excellence

nspra golden achievement  nspra digital media excellence

Communicate Using ParentSquare

ParentSquare is our primary communication source and parent engagement tool. It allows for real-time two-way, translated communication that supports over 100 languages for parents and staff. In your ParentSquare feed as staff you’ll find important communications from the superintendent, the district, and your school. Comment on posts to share your feedback and ask questions to message senders. Use ParentSquare to send messages to your families, share pictures, and request particpation.

Accessing ParentSquare
Activate and login to your ParentSquare account. Set up preferred notification settings for text, phone, and email to receive messages as much or as little as you’d like. You can download the free mobile app for iOS or Android and you can also use it from a computer.

Resources For Administrators

Resources For Teachers

  • ParentSquare, is a new communication platform that will allow Oak Harbor Public Schools to unify all parent and guardian communication from the district, schools, classrooms and school activity groups under one umbrella.

  • ParentSquare is meant to be utilized as a centralized communication system for family communication from the district, schools, classrooms and school activity groups. It immediately replaces Remind (used primarily for one on one communication) and Blackboard (our previous mass communication and website vendor.) It does not replace our Skyward Student Information System for staff or families. 

  • No, your personal contact information can only be viewed by you and the admin associated with the account. It will not be shared externally to anyone and will be used strictly for communication purposes. 
     

  • All unregistered staff and families were sent an activation link in early August for the 2023-2024 school year.  If you did not receive a ParentSquare invite, then it is possible we have the wrong contact information on file or the link may have went into your spam folder. 

  •  Those invitation links only last for 24 hours. You do not need to wait for a new invitation!  You can proceed to the ParentSquare log on page and create your account with the same email address at which you would have received an invite.

  • It is recommended that each spouse have their own cell phone or email for emergency situations. However, if you and your spouse share an email address (or have provided the same email address for each of you in our parent contact records, only one spouse will be able to log in to ParentSquare using that email address.  The other spouse should use their cell phone number to log on or contact your school office to add an additional email address.

  • No, it is highly encouraged to utilize ParentSquare to communicate to families to ensure we are centralizing our communication and communicating in a families preferred language, but it is not a requirement for teachers to use for their classes. 

  •  No. ParentSquare is not the main source for classroom assignments. However, teachers can utilize the platform to remind families and students on due dates if they choose. 

  • If you wish to change your contact information, please request corrections in Skyward Employee Access. Please make sure you have a cell phone listed on the second line. This will ensure you receive emergency communications to your cell phone. If you only have a landline on file, you will not receive emergency text messages. 

    Any changes or requested changes in ParentSquare will not be reflected until the corrections are made in Skyward. Once the corrections are made, the changes will be reflected in ParentSquare in approximately 24 hours.

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2023-06-16

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2023-06-16

Flyer Distribution

Individual schools may post flyers free of charge for their site that promote information and events related to the school, ASB clubs and sports, PTA/PTO, Oak Harbor Educational Foundation, or booster clubs. Digital flyers are distributed once a week on Tuesdays. For same-day flyer approval, flyers must be submitted in PDF format by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday selected. 

Submit a flyer through your site editor or email briefs@ohsd.net to request a user account.

Per board policy, paper copies of community flyers or announcements are not accepted or distributed. Community organizations must submit their own flyers in PDF format through Peachjar. Peachjar policies and terms prohibit school districts from posting flyers through the system on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any external organizations. Flyers submitted through the district also do not include the required disclaimer for external organizations.

Want to be included in Peachjar emails for your site? Staff may choose to register for a free Peachjar account at www.peachjar.com to receive flyers submitted for your school location.