Dist. 57 wins national awards for communication efforts, launches redesigned website

Mount Prospect School District 57's communications efforts have been honored by the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). The District won the following two awards:

• Golden Achievement Award for "Educating and Engaging our Community While Saving Valuable Resources." The letter from NSPRA states: "You are one of a select group of winners and we congratulate you and the leadership of your district for being a leader in school communication."

• Award of Merit for "School District-E-Newsletter (External Audience)." There were 512 publication entries; just seven received Awards of Merit in the e-newsletter/external audience category. District 57 publishes its newsletter two to three times a year and, to save the cost of printing, distributes it via email, social media and the website.

"NSPRA considers school districts from all over the country for these prestigious awards. We are very proud to be singled out," says Dr. Elaine Aumiller, superintendent of schools. "District 57 does not have vast resources to devote to communication. But we try to find innovative and cost-effective ways to keep our community informed, engaged and up to date. Communication is a big priority for us, so we are very pleased that our efforts have been recognized by this national organization."

Aumiller says District 57 will continue to focus on communication in the upcoming school year, and this includes the launch of a new-and-improved website. The site, located at www.d57.org, features a more streamlined design. It is easier to use and provides quick access to all of the information and tools that parents need, according to Aumiller.

The individual school websites also have been redesigned to be consistent with the main site and provide better service to users. In addition, each site has its own mobile version.

"The redesign project incorporated input from many stakeholders, including parents and staff," Aumiller says. "We think our community members will really like the improvements."

District 57 serves more than 2,000 prekindergarten through eighth-grade students in the community of Mount Prospect, preparing them to learn and succeed in a changing world.

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