Contact:

Deborah Bush-Suflita, (518) 464-3960
dbushsuf@gw.neric.org

CoSer: 611-7511
Service Code: 611.020

Note: Our parent newsletters won a Golden Achievement Award recognizing exemplary public relations activities from the National School Public Relations Association in 2008, and a New York School Public Relations Association Award of Honor in 2009.

According to a recent University of New Hampshire study, schools would need to increase per pupil spending by more than $1,000 to achieve the same results that are gained by parent involvement. Yet, effective outreach with parents can be a challenge for many school districts — which means important partnerships between parents and schools can suffer.

In an effort to help school districts with this all-important communication task, the Capital Region BOCES Communications Service offers a reader-friendly series of newsletters designed to offer parents cutting-edge insights into many of today’s educational issues. A fully developed feature story in each newsletter provides parents with information on how to help their children succeed in school and the 21st-century workplace, including practical tips, books, Web sites and other resources. In addition to the main story and sidebars, there is space for each school to include localized stories and information or we will provide themed copy for that space, as requested.

Each series consists of 4 four-page issues per year (districts can opt for fewer issues) and are geared toward parents’ interests and information needs at specific school levels:

Seeds of Learning — for pre-school parents.

Stepping Stones — for elementary parents.

Bridges — for junior high or middle school parents.

Pathways — for high school parents.

Each year we develop a new story list, tapping into teachers and administrators at our client schools for their ideas on critical topics. Example of feature stories from our 2009-2010 series include: Good technology gone bad; Ten things parents (and teens) should know about high school; Helping kids stay fit and healthy; Surprising ways to get your kids to read; Stomp out bullying; and Seven skills every student needs.

By coordinating newsletter production among multiple districts, we are able to reduce the writing, layout and printing costs for districts. Please note: Printing costs are additional and vary based on quantity requested and number of districts participating in each issue. We also offer districts the option to purchase electronic rights to the materials contained in our Parent Central newsletter series. Districts that purchase electronic rights may use the content on their Web sites or in their newsletters or other district publications.

2010-11 Pricing: Prices are for content production and layout only (printing is additional):

Pre-school: $360 per issue

Elementary: $360 per issue

Middle School/Jr. High: $360 per issue

High School: $360 per issue

Electronic rights only: $175 per article or $150 each for three or more