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District Communications Guidelines for Staff

Communications Guidelines for Staff

The Good News Is ... There’s Always Good News!

There are great stories happening in Bristol Tennessee City Schools each and every day. From classroom activities to individual achievements, we want to showcase our excellence!

The Communications Office Can Help

The BTCS Communications Office is excited to help you share these great stories with the local media and internally through our website and social media. The information on this page is intended to simplify the process for you. Please see the guidelines below related to your specific publicity need. If you have questions after you read the guidelines, email Communications Coordinator Rebecca House.


First of all ...What's News?

This is one of the most important questions of all. Is your story/activity unique? Does it set your school or classroom apart from the everyday activities throughout the district? How is it supporting our commitment to Engage. Challenge. Inspire.? How is it supporting our mission to ensure students achieve college and career readiness through academic excellence?


Social Media

Each school is in charge of the content and frequency of posts for your school-level social media accounts. Only the Bristol Tennessee City Schools Facebook page and BTCS_District Twitter page are maintained by the Communications Office. We invite you to follow us and "Share" or "Retweet" our posts. In turn, we will follow your school social media and "Share" and "Retweet" as appropriate. Your social media accounts will be the primary source for us to share your stories, however, all school-level posts will not be shared on the district social media sites. If a post is time sensitive and definitely needs to be shared at the district level, please email the Communications Office immediately following your school-level post.

Media Invites/Releases

With media invites and releases, we cannot guarantee the media will attend an event or publish what we send them. For the Communications Office to complete a media invite or release for your school, you must submit the Request for Media Release form one week prior to your scheduled event. This is not only a courtesy to our office but a practice that will help us build credibility with our local media. If you are a teacher or parent, make sure your building administrator knows about and approves of your request for media coverage.

What Do I Do If the Media Contacts Me?

Oftentimes the media will contact the Communications Office or the Director of Schools Office regarding a story they are working on. However from time to time, they might contact a building or a district employee directly. If a representative of the media contacts you regarding a story and requests an interview with you or a student, please contact the Communications Office and your building administrator before consenting to the interview. The exception to this would be if we initiated the media contact at your request.

Smile! Guide to Photos

At the start of each school year, families are provided with the opportunity to opt-out of photos for publicity purposes. Each school is responsible for maintaining a list for the school and ensuring a representative of the media or Communications Office does not photograph those students. For any photos emailed to the Communications Office by a school representative or posted on school social media sites or school websites, parental consent is assumed. Therefore, please be aware and cautious of your school's process for protecting the students who are not permitted to be photographed. If you have any doubts, speak with your building administrator. In addition, newspapers typically take their own photos for publication. It's rare for a photograph taken and submitted by the school district to be published in a local newspaper.

We sincerely thank you for the work you do each and every day!
Promoting the great things happening in our schools and district is easy because of your hard work and dedication!

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