Indian Prairie gets higher 'communication' scores

Redesigned school Web sites, increased e-mail to parents and Superintendent Kathryn Birkett's "world tour of PTAs" all have contributed to Indian Prairie Unit District 204's increased communication scores, officials said.

By 2012, the district aims to be given an "A" grade in communication by at least 55 percent of the community. In a 2009 survey, 45.2 percent of the community gave the district an A, compared to 34.8 percent in 2005.

"The question that was more interesting for us was 'How good of a job are we doing keeping you informed as a community?' In 2005 only 35 percent of the community said we did an excellent or above-average job," district spokeswoman Janet Buglio said.

"In 2009 that number increased significantly to 52.6 percent, which made us very, very happy."

Roughly 61 percent of parents who responded to the survey said direct e-mail was their main source for information about the district while 57 percent of alumni parents and 36 percent of non-parents rely on newspapers to learn about the district happenings.

Birkett's active approach to running the district also has been recognized by the number of community events the superintendent has participated in all of last year compared to the first six months of this year. Then-Superintendent Stephen Daeschner attended 11 events last year, compared to the 48 already attended by Birkett since June 2009.

Next up for the district is making sure every school has an updated Web site by the start of next year and a more in-depth review of the most recent community survey.