Family Guide for Students with Disabilities in Boston Public Schools
Role: Writing, design, web development View the Family Guide The Challenge Special education is exceedingly complex. To effectively work with their children’s schools, families must master federal and state laws and regulations while also learning about the specific procedures and departments of their school district. Boston Public Schools asked the Federation for Children with Special…
FCSN Media Relations
The Federation for Children with Special Needs is the only agency of its kind in Massachusetts, and should be positioned as a unique voice for special education families. To pursue this goal, I am actively working to deepen our relationships with Boston Globe reporters. The Globe’s award-winning Spotlight team, along with other education reporters, remain…
Media Relations & Crisis Communications for CPS
As media contact for Cambridge Public Schools, I coordinated our response to many media inquiries. This meant being prepared to provide a swift, reassuring, and highly-quotable response during crises as well as identifying “good stories” taking place in our schools. Following are a few (non-paywalled) examples. Wrote Solicited Managed Crisis Communications Some of our the…
Supporting a youth-serving agency when COVID forced everyone to move online
The Challenge Coronavirus temporarily shut the doors of West End House Boys and Girls Club. As many schools and agencies serving young people posted lists of at-home activities people could do at home, West End House wanted to create something more interactive for youth and more responsive to the needs of families. They had a…
A More Responsive “Schools at a Glance”
The Challenge Cambridge Public Schools uses a Controlled Choice system for school assignments, which means that when families register for school for the first time, they are asked to choose between a number of options that may have available seats. A lottery is held for Kindergarten seats, but for the rest of the grades (and…
Feature Story for Cambridge Citywide Newsletter
The Challenge I was busy and on a deadline to meet the publication schedule for the City’s magazine-style publication, The Cambridge Life. We had beautiful photographs taken by Bethany Versoy, and I wanted to capture the spirit of the award-winning fine arts programs at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. I had some names of high…
Outreach to Build the Cambridge SE-PAC
The Challenge All Massachusetts school districts are required to support development of an advisory group composed of special education parents, known as a SE-PAC. The Cambridge School Committee had voted to create a paid staff position to support the activities of this group, including organizing workshops and meetings and conducting outreach for mutual support and…
Capital Campaign Package for “Coach’s Campaign”
The Challenge Thanks to good management and sound governance, Cunningham Children’s Home had successfully built two brand new buildings for children and youth with severe emotional and behavioral disabilities in Urbana, Illinois. Both had been made possible through generous support from United Methodist Women across the state, whose faith inspired them to heed the words…
New Logo & Branding for Cunningham Children’s Home
The Challenge Cunningham Children’s Home, a therapeutic treatment, child welfare and special education agency in West Central Illinois, needed a new logo. The existing logo and color palette did not tell our story and did nothing to convey our mission and work. With help from a talented graphic designer, I led a consultative stakeholder process…