Maintaining your public relations policies

If you are like most school employees, you know that your district maintains a list of policies. But you’ve probably never read them. It’s only when there’s a question — or worse, a crisis — that you pull them out.

It’s worth the effort, however, to take some time to become acquainted with your district’s policies and procedures. Policies around public relations are especially important to know because they address how you deal with parents and the community.

Your policies are your playbook

Policies are not particularly entertaining reading, but they are critical to the smooth operation of a school district. In a nutshell, they are your district’s playbook.

They tell you how to handle almost any situation that arises. They also take the heat off employees by specifically spelling out what is and isn’t allowed so you don’t have to make decisions on a case-by-case basis.

What can you release in a public records request? Check the policy.

Can a Little League team hang its banners on the fence outside a school? Check your policy about advertising on district property.

What if someone wants to make a formal complaint against a staff member? Check the policy.

Parents, staff and the community find policies reassuring because it’s clear there are rules and regulations guiding the district in its decisions. The superintendent or staff can’t change the rules on a whim. The district’s response to requests and situations is dictated by the policies that the school board has approved.

Developing policies is a team effort

While the school board adopts policies, the process of developing and implementing them is a team effort. The communications director, for example, may take the lead in suggesting changes to public relations policies, but others on the leadership team should weigh in because they can add different perspectives. The curriculum director should be involved in recommending changes to policies around instruction, but other district leaders should also review them and offer input.

Checking policies is easier now that most districts post them online. A pitfall for many districts, however, is that they fall behind in keeping them updated, so the posted policies are not always current. That’s why it’s important to have a regular schedule for reviewing and updating your policies.

OSBA offers a policy service, providing sample policies and suggested updates when changes are required by statutes. Many districts see this as an efficient way to stay on top of what can be a time- consuming and onerous chore. It can also be helpful to check out the policies of neighboring districts. Find more information about OSBA’s policy services at http://www.ohioschoolboards.org/policy-services.

Regular policy updates

Policies must be updated regularly as laws change and new situations arise. Many districts establish a standing committee to review policies quarterly or annually. They may invite a cross section of people to serve on the committee — both staff and community members — who either have an interest in the policy or will be affected by it.

In some districts, policies are given to a director who suggests updates. Then the superintendent’s leadership team reviews the proposed changes before sending them to the school board for approval. In other districts, a school board subcommittee reviews policies for updates. It sends draft proposals to the superintendent’s leadership team for review and input before the full board considers them.

Policies on public relations should address everything from communicating during board meetings to handling complaints. Topics might include:

• establishing a news policy based on honesty, openness, fairness and timeliness and defining roles and responsibilities when dealing with the media;
• establishing the board’s commitment to two-way communications;
• providing guidelines for distributing materials, promotions, contests and student solicitation of funds;
• communicating and cooperating with governmental agencies;
• recognizing employees;
• recognizing students;
• providing for open communications during board meetings;
• planning for emergency communications;
• supporting staff and community participation in decision-making;
• providing for the periodic evaluation of the public relations program;
• handling complaints about staff or programs;
• establishing staff members as integral members of the communications team;
• establishing quality guidelines for distributing district information through publications and online.

Once you have updated your policies, be sure to let people know how to access them. Post them on your website. You may even want to create a brochure, summarizing your public relations policies, for various target audiences. For instance, community groups and churches want to know about policies and procedures related to using school facilities and advertising.

Keeping policies relevant and up to date is not the glamour work of a school district, but it is critical to a district’s success.

Sample public relations policies:

• Beaverton (Ore.) School District — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/67075
• Everett (Wash.) School District — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/39291
• Spokane (Wash.) Public Schools — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/94238

Contributed by Connie Potter, communications consultant

Tips and tricks for using hashtags

Hashtags have taken the social networking world by storm. The symbol, also known as the pound sign, was first introduced on Twitter in 2007. Gradually, it has become accepted on most social networks, including Instagram and Facebook. In fact, hashtag officially was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014.

A hashtag is any word or grouping of words preceded by #: #justlikethis #easypeasy.

Hashtags can be placed anywhere in your posts. They can be used as a standalone statement or joke:

Eating the last of the kids Halloween candy while they sleep. #sorrynotsorry #parentingfail

Or they can be used in a post’s text like any other word group:

Daughter woke up and caught me eating her #Halloweencandy and now I have to buy her a pony.

They can also be used to call attention to a post at the outset:

#Halloween is the first episode in the must-watch holiday snack willpower season — who will make the cut? Stay tuned!

The more you use hashtags, the more comfortable you will become. So let’s talk about why you want to use them in the first place.

What does a hashtag do?

It isn’t easy to gauge a hashtag’s effect from a single post, or how exactly it helps your post’s reach. At their core, hashtags are a sorting and grouping function that enables searching and group conversations.

“Hashtags tie public conversations from all different users into a single stream, which you can find by searching for a hashtag, clicking on it or using a third-party monitoring tool,” writes Lindsay Kolowich at HubSpot.com (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/91373). “Note that for a post with a hashtag to appear in a search, the post must be public.”

Hashtags increase engagement

A post without hashtags will only be visible to  your followers. A hashtag makes your post searchable, because it immediately puts it in a group of other posts with the same hashtag. People who look for information or contacts related to the topic can now find and follow you, even days or weeks after you have posted.

For example, any of your followers who want to get involved in what you said about #teachingEL can click on the hashtag in your post and join a group of people who are discussing that topic. Hashtags build relationships.

Hashtags often are used to unite conversations around things like:

• events or conferences, #INBOUND17 or #Rio2016;
• disasters or emergencies, #Aleppo or #PrayForNice;
• holidays or celebrations, #EarthDay or #NationalPistachioDay;
• popular culture topics, #GameofThrones or #PokemonGO.

For hashtags to work on Facebook and Instagram, your post must be public. For social media managers, your Facebook page or group setting already should be public. However, your private Facebook account is likely set so only your friends or acquaintances can see your posts. If not, you may want to check your settings.

Are there any rules for hashtags?

For those who pride themselves on their grammar skills, the emoticon-rich and spelling-free zones of most social networking sites can seem confusing and arbitrary. To a certain extent, anything goes.

That said, there is one unwritten rule: Hashtags are best used sparingly. One hashtag is best, two is okay and three is the absolute maximum — and you’d better have a good reason. Hashtags slow the pace of reading. Add too many hashtags and your reader stalls in place. Even avid Twitter users get #frustrated #reading #toomany #hashtags. Keep an eye on the flow of the text:

@DragonConOrganizers #notenoughfoodtrucks #crowdcontrol @ComiConSD does it better #learnfromthepros @MegansFoodTruckB

There is a second rule, but it’s really the same  rule. While we’re not talking about usernames, rule No. 1 applies to tagging people as well. As you can see in  the example above, mentioning two additional parties doesn’t improve the message. Also, the likelihood of someone searching for #notenoughfoodtrucks is small. This would be an improvement:

@DragonConOrganizers We are #starving! Next year open the door to #foodtrucks like @MegansFoodTruckB – delicious comics-friendly fare!

What are your engagement goals, and how can hashtags help?

Because most Facebook and Instagram posts are made by individuals and set to private, group hashtag discussions tend to be led by social media managers, brands and influencers. This means the playing space is smaller but more visible.

On the other hand, every tweet you make will show up in your followers’ feeds. On Facebook, fewer than 10% of your followers may see a post unless they have liked content on your page or engaged with your page within a week of following you. That means your level of engagement needs to be higher.

As with all social engagement, you need to know what you want to say, why you want to say it and how it will further your goals.

The best thing about hashtags is that the conversations are already happening. A simple search of trending hashtags will show you if your school should be involved in a conversation. Doing so will show you exactly how far hashtags can take you.

Sample school district hashtags

In a speech to the Consortium for School Networking, Daniel Rezac, director of academic technology at Quest Academy, said, “Twitter helps school districts create a positive media stream, and helps to tell the story of their learning.” He shared URLs and hashtags that school districts have used effectively at http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/26009.

Contributed by Megan J. Wilson, Los Angeles-based freelance writer and communications consultant

Enhancing internal communications: Producing a strong employee newsletter to engage and inform

When people think about communications plans and strategies, they generally focus on external communications. While communicating with stakeholders, parents, community members and the press is critical, we can’t forget that one of our most important audiences is within our own walls.

Staff can be your biggest champions and key communicators if they are engaged, empowered and kept informed. Strong, consistent internal communications can have a huge impact both on employee morale and the messages staff pass on.

There are many strategies and tactics that can be used to support a robust internal communications plan. These include in-person meetings, presentations, emails, fliers, staff videos and informal conversations. However, the focus here is on one specific tool that can be used to both engage and inform staff — the employee newsletter.

Just as internal communications too often take a back seat to external efforts, employee newsletters often do not get the time or focus they deserve. Far too often, staff newsletters — when they exist at all — are light on substance, too technical or simply boring. Here are a few tips to help design a strong employee newsletter and get your message out.

It’s all about balance

A good staff newsletter needs to find the right balance between content-rich pieces, fun pieces and information that is relevant and meaningful to your specific audience. The six categories below provide examples of different types of content that can provide variety and balance to your newsletter.

• Timely information: Keep information timely to increase reader’s interest. While this can be challenging, especially with a monthly or quarterly newsletter, think about topics that you have been communicating externally in the last week or two, or things that are coming up in the next few weeks. What are the hot  topics in your communications world right now? This can include updates on community or parent nights, staff events, recent press releases or exciting press coverage,  or upcoming changes or announcements staff should be aware of.
• Audience-specific information: What might be critical to you or district leadership may not be what is on the minds of most staff. Keep your ear to the ground. Find out what people are concerned or curious about. Include updates on those topics in your staff newsletter. This is particularly true during times of change. Often, we are inclined to wait until we have all of the information to share with staff. However, staff generally will appreciate regular status updates and tidbits of information even if you can’t provide all of the details. Keeping people in the loop as much as possible will help minimize rumors and worry.
• Common messaging: Staff members can be some of your most critical messaging ambassadors. Don’t assume your staff all understand your latest initiative, priority or key messages. Most people have to hear things several times before they stick. Use your staff newsletter as an opportunity to model and share the key messages you  are using externally. Make sure to keep the tone engaging and informational rather than preachy. If people feel like they are getting propaganda or being talked down to, they will tune out or reject the message.
• Community-building content: A staff newsletter should not just be informational, although quality, timely and relevant information is important. It also should be fun and provide an opportunity to build a sense of community. Examples of community-building content include: staff birthday/wedding/baby announcements; staff quotes or stories, or quotes from staff’s kids or grandkids; hires, promotions and retirements; employee contests, challenges or activities; staff profiles or features; staff recognition or honors; office/department/school recognition or news; or personal, school or district-level success stories. This is a great place to celebrate your staff and the contributions they make to your school or district. Consider an ongoing series of profiles or staff highlights or a “day in the life” section highlighting  work of different staff. This can help people understand the work their colleagues do every day and help to strengthen connection and build employee morale.
• General updates: There is a wide range of content that can be of value to staff including health and wellness updates about flu season, health fair and stress management strategies; policy reminders; facilities updates; and weather or travel tips.
• Just for fun: Humor, riddles, comics, jokes, puzzles and word games can all be fun additions to help spice  up a staff newsletter. Keep things fun, but always keep things appropriate and in good taste. If in doubt, leave it out.

Short and sweet

The list of possible topic areas above is just a suggestion, and not all newsletters should include all of these in every issue. Short and sweet should be the rule, and this goes for both your overall newsletter and each individual article. Use bold headers, pictures and bullets to break up text and make the content easier to skim. If the newsletter is electronic, provide hyperlinks to more content or additional details when needed. Break longer pieces into a series to be spread out over multiple issues.

Look, feel, and tone

Just as with external newsletters or print pieces, your layout, graphics and writing style can have a huge impact on whether someone will start — and then continue — reading. Invite people in with a clean, simple and visually appealing layout. Use pictures or graphics to liven things up. Even in short pieces, try and focus on your storytelling. Painting a picture with your words and graphics will help to engage your readers.

Solicit and respond to feedback

If possible, use a newsletter tool that allows you to track open and click-through rates. Test what types of headers, formats and styles get the most readership. Gather feedback on how people use the newsletter  and what they would like to see. Provide a venue for people to suggest future topics or submit questions to be addressed in future issues. Empowering staff to engage with and help shape the direction of the newsletter will result in increased readership and greater impact. Don’t be afraid to make changes if something isn’t working. Consider an annual survey to identify areas of success and opportunities for growth and improvement. Thank staff for their feedback, suggestions and engagement. Remember this newsletter is about and for your staff; let them help you make it a success.

Resources

• How to Make Your Internal Email Newsletter a Winner http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/40533
• Tips to Creating an Engaging Internal Newsletter http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/51934

Contributed by Crystal Greene, communications consultant

Sample graduation speeches

Every high school graduation is different.

My son made root beer floats and passed around chocolate chip cookies at his commencement. Yes, he did this in his cap and gown while sitting in the  rows of graduates. He did so with the blessing of the administration, which checked and approved his cooler full of goodies beforehand.

Three years later at a different high school, our daughter’s graduation was more formal until someone inflated a life-sized naked doll, and the students batted it around. A school official finally corralled the doll and stashed it under the stage where it remained conspicuous, at a very unfortunate angle, to the audience on our side of the pavilion.

At another high school, the ceremony seemed to be all about the school bigwigs, not the students. That so bothered me that I pilloried the event in a newspaper column. The following graduation speech tips are based on best practices I learned by watching both good and bad graduation events.

Know your audience

My first point about giving graduation speeches is to know your audience. Are you speaking to the graduates or parents? Good graduation speeches are short graduation speeches. They are specific speeches, written and spoken from the heart to your audience instead of platitudes addressed to all.

Know the event’s tone

Know the school and if the atmosphere will be formal, relaxed or in-between. Will flying beach balls be celebrated or confiscated? I assume we all can agree that blow-up dolls are inappropriate.

If the atmosphere is easy-going, a stuffed-shirt speech will fall flat. If it’s highly formal, wisecracks might not go over well. Or they might be a welcome change. In any case, practice your speech beforehand, but be prepared to adjust your approach on the fly.

Remember the students

• Relax — Hard as that may sound, this is about the graduates. A week later if anyone remembers what you said, that will be a bonus.
• Pick a theme, and stick to it — Unless you’re skilled at impromptu remarks, it’s a good idea to avoid going off script unless there is something obvious you can bring  to the speech from the event such as the driving rain, squawking birds or noisy traffic.
• Three seems to be a magic number for speeches — Three major points or three anecdotes. Or give a list, such as five tips for moving out of the house as soon as you can, five people to thank tonight or your future in five minutes.

Another tip: Know where your speech comes in the ceremony. By the time you speak, will the students have their diplomas or will they still be “almost graduates?” Such details will affect your wording.

Sample speeches

Following are two sample speeches that use the speech-writing guidelines I mentioned above. They are honest in their details and written from my heart but also written in different ways and aimed at different audiences. Each is about seven minutes long.

Graduates

Dear graduates,

You have achieved a great milestone. Everyone is congratulating you. They should. High school graduation is a big deal. But I am here tonight to tell you that you will fail. Because that is how you will succeed.

Your success will be determined by how well you rise from failure. From your mistakes. From your lost opportunities. From your heartbreaks.

As a failure myself, and as someone who has had a terrific career as a result, I would like to share three brief stories with you.

The first is about J. Vaun.

Google tells me that J. Vaun now is a well-regarded professor at the University of Georgia. But this story is from our days as high school classmates in Twin Falls, Idaho.

J. Vaun was a speedy guy on the high school cross- country team — until he crashed a snowmobile. He lived. But the medical experts said he might not walk again, let alone run.

J. Vaun defied the odds. And he led our cross- country team to the state championship. Not because he was fast. Heck, no. He no longer was a top runner. But he had learned to walk and run again. Not fast. But still to run.

In the school locker room after each workout, J. Vaun’s teammates would see the blood oozing from his legs.

With that kind of commitment, how could his teammates not work just as hard?

Story No. 2 is about a high school trombonist, Heather, whose jazz band I saw at a regional competition. She was the featured soloist for one song. At least she was supposed to be.

Picture a jazz band sitting and standing on risers. The trombones were on a top row.

As Heather stepped down the risers to take her place in front of the band, she had an attack of the “oopsies.”

She knocked over a microphone. She bumped into music stands. Her own music went flying.

As she bent to pick up her music, the slide came off her trombone and slid beneath the risers.

Meanwhile, her bandmates had moved into the softer, background harmonies indicating her solo should have started.

Heather scrambled. She retrieved her trombone slide. She got the music back on her music stand. The microphone was back in position.

She swung her trombone to her lips.

And came into the song …

At the exact right spot in the solo … 

Playing with all the confidence in the world.

Somehow, Heather had never lost track of where she was … of who she was.

The audience went wild.

She went on to attend a distinguished music conservatory.

Heather inspires me to this day. She is the type of employee I would hire in an instant. She knew how to fail but also to “keep on keeping on.”

Because we’re all going to fail sometimes. Including me, which is my final story today.

Early in my newspaper career, I never wanted anything more than to get a prestigious journalism fellowship at Stanford University.

I was chosen as a finalist and flew to California for the interview. I bought a brand-new suit for the occasion.

Picture this. The interviewers and I are facing each other. The chairs are plush, so I’m struggling to sit up straight.

Partway through our discussion, as I’m squiggling, the interviewers suddenly made a face. As I walked to my rental car afterward, I was puzzled. Then I happened to look down.

The zipper on my brand-new pants — the new suit I had worn for the first time that day — apparently had broken during the interview.

I didn’t get the fellowship. I was crushed. I felt like the failure of failures.

I was so down for so long that my boss did something to cheer me up. He let me volunteer as an unpaid journalism instructor at a local university.

That started my side career as a university professor. It turned out I was decent instructor. I love teaching. And now I get paid for it.

I’ve taught journalism for more than 25 years. I’ve gone all over the United States, from the University of California, Berkeley, to the University of Delaware to conduct seminars and teach classes.

All because of a broken zipper.

In high school, back in the dinosaur era, I had written the following phrase for a class assignment: The success of my life is due to all my failures. I never realized how prophetic that would be.

Oh, and by the way, four years ago I, again, bought a new suit. I was officiating at the wedding of my son and our future daughter-in-law. This time I double- checked the suit ahead of time.

I’d learned from my failure.

Parents

Dear almost graduates,

You are seven minutes away from graduating. Congratulations. High school graduation is a big deal.

But that’s all I have to say to you this  afternoon.

Wait … I’m not done … I want to talk to your families. You can take a few minutes’ snooze while I do. Just don’t snore.

Dear families,

Well, here we are. We remember their arrival into the world as if it were yesterday. But our kiddies are  now moments from adulthood, at least in the eyes of the world.

Adulthood does not come with a guidebook. Nor did our babies nearly two decades ago. We stumbled and persevered and helped one another through parenthood. And now we must let these fledgling adults stumble and persevere and help one another.

At some point, they’ll move out of our homes, whether for travel or college or work. And they’ll be better off if they have experienced at least a few months of semi-independence.

This does not mean that curfews or rules or home responsibilities should disappear. But it could be time to renegotiate those rules. They need the opportunity to try. To succeed. And, yes, to fail.

Besides, it’s amazing what young people learn about the importance of sleep once they stay up all hours and are still expected to be on the job at 6 a.m. As a former young person, I can attest to that.

So, parents, this is the time to focus on what is important — to keep the family safety net intact but to back off on the micromanaging.

This is hard. But if our newly minted adults wash the reds and the whites together in hot water when doing the laundry, it is not a catastrophe. Rather, it is a laundry lesson in pink.

If they burn the family dinner, it is not a crisis as long as they don’t set the house on fire.

If they get yelled at by the boss for oversleeping, the boss has taken care of the matter and we don’t need to reiterate the obvious.

Young adults think they know everything. They don’t. Neither do we. They just need to know we’ll always be there for them. Here are five lessons we  can share with them as we, and they, prepare for their departure into the adult world.

First, you don’t have to know what you want to do when you grow up. It’s good to make plans. But be open to the unexpected.

Follow your passion. Just make sure you have a side job that allows you to support yourself (and a family, if you have one).

It’s OK if college is not for you, or not right away. If you want a good job that could last a lifetime, consider the trades. Train as a machinist or a mechanic. Or maybe a long-haul truck driver. Good-paying job openings abound in those fields for employees who are drug-free and will show up on time for work every day.

Second, hard work and attention to detail will make up for other weaknesses. Fifty to 70% of your success in your career will depend not on your skills but on your emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is a combination of how  you treat others plus how you get along with others plus good work habits.

Third, never judge your worth or your value to society by the size of your paycheck. Pay is based on the relative size of the labor pool that has the required skills, experience and work ethic. That is why professional baseball players make millions of dollars and daycare workers too often are paid minimum wage. If life were fair, it would be the other way around.

Fourth, life is not fair. Umpires make mistakes. So do bosses, co-workers, spouses and everyone else, including you. Forgive them; forgive yourself.

And do your part by setting an example. Treat others fairly, and own up to your mistakes.

Finally, be kind, courteous and respectful toward everyone, regardless of their abilities, or lack thereof, or their perceived status in life.

It’s the right thing to do. Besides, what goes around comes around.

Contributed by communication consultant Dick Hughes. This essay is based in part on newspaper columns he wrote. Contact him at thehughesisms@gmail.com.

Key 2017-2018 dates for school calendars

Here are some special days to note on your school year calendar. The dates are provided by Resources for Planning the School Calendar 2017-2018, published and distributed by Educational Research Service and the National School Public Relations Association, 15948 Derwood Road, Rockville, MD 20855. Order online at nspra.org/products or call (301) 519-0496. The price is $38 per copy, plus an estimated $10 shipping and handling.

2017

Date — Observance/Holiday September — Library Card Sign-up Month
Sept. 4 — Labor Day
Sept. 8 — International Literacy Day
Sept. 10 — Grandparents’ Day
Sept. 11 — Patriot Day
Sept. 10-16 — National Arts in Education Week
Sept. 15 — National Hispanic Heritage Month
Sept. 15-16 — Mexican Independence Days
Sept. 16 — Mayflower Day
Sept. 17 — Citizenship Day
Sept. 17-23 — Constitution Week
Sept. 20-22 — Rosh Hashanah*
Sept. 21 — International Day of Peace
Sept. 22 — First day of autumn
Sept. 28 — National Good Neighbor Day
Sept. 29-30 — Yom Kippur
October — Crime Prevention Month
October — Czech Heritage Month
October — Italian-American Heritage Month
October — National Bullying Prevention Month
October — National Principals Month
October — Polish-American Heritage Month
October — Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Month
Oct. 2 — Child Health Day
Oct. 4 — International Walk to School Day
Oct. 6 — German-American Day
Oct. 8-14 — National Metric Week
Oct. 9-13 — National School Lunch Week
Oct. 9-15 — Fire Prevention Week
Oct. 9-15 — National Educational Office Professionals Week
Oct. 10 — Canadian Thanksgiving
Oct. 10 — Columbus Day
Oct. 15-21 — National Character Counts Week
Oct. 16 — World Food Day
Oct. 16-20 — National School Bus Safety Week
Oct. 23-31 — Red Ribbon Week
Oct. 24 — United Nations Day
Oct. 28 — Make a Difference Day
Oct. 31 — Halloween
November — Native American Heritage Month
Nov. 5 — Standard time
Nov. 7 — Election Day
Nov. 11 — Veterans Day
Nov. 13-17 — American Education Week
Nov. 15 — Education Support Professionals Day
Nov. 16 — National Parental Involvement Day
Nov. 17 — Substitute Educators Day
Nov. 19 — Gettysburg Address anniversary
Nov. 19-25 — National Family Week
Nov. 23 — Thanksgiving Day
Dec. 1 — World AIDS Day
Dec. 7 — Pearl Harbor Day
Dec. 10 — Human Rights Day
Dec. 12-20 — Hanukkah*
Dec. 15 — Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 21 — First Day of Winter
Dec. 25 — Christmas
Dec. 26 — Kwanzaa

2018

Date — Observance/Holiday
January — School Board Recognition Month
Jan. 1 — New Year’s Day
Jan. 1 — Emancipation Proclamation anniversary
Jan. 15 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan. 21 — World Religion Day
February — African-American History Month
February — National Children’s Dental Health Month
Feb. 1 — National Freedom Day
Feb. 2 — Groundhog Day
Feb. 5-9 — National School Counseling Week
Feb. 12 — Abraham Lincoln’s birthday
Feb. 13 — Mardi Gras
Feb. 14 — Ash Wednesday
Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day
Feb. 14 to March 31 — Lent
Feb. 16 — Chinese New Year
Feb. 17 — National PTA Founders Day
Feb. 17-24 — National FFA Week
Feb. 19 — Presidents’ Day
Feb. 22 — George Washington’s birthday
March — American Red Cross Month
March — Irish-American Heritage Month
March — Music in Our Schools Month
March — National Middle Level Education Month
March — National Nutrition Month
March — Social Work Month
March — Women’s History Month
March — Youth Art Month
March 2 — National Education Association’s Read Across America (Dr. Seuss’ birthday)
March 5-9 — National School Breakfast Week
March 5-11 — National Foreign Language Week
March 8 — International Women’s Day
March 11 — Johnny Appleseed Day
March 11 — Daylight saving time
March 12-16 — Classified School Employees Week. Dates differ in some states. It’s usually scheduled for the first or second week in March.
March 15 — Absolutely Incredible Kid Day
March 17 — St. Patrick’s Day
March 18-24 — National Poison Prevention Week
March 20 — First day of spring
March 21 — Bahá’í New Year’s Day
March 21 — International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
March 30 — Good Friday
March 30-31 — Passover* (first days)
April — National Poetry Month
April — National Autism Awareness Month
April 1 — April Fools’ Day
April 1 — Easter
April 2 — International Children’s Book Day
April 6-7 — Passover (concluding days)
April 7 — World Health Day
April 8-14 — National Library Week
April 11-12 — Holocaust Remembrance Day*
April 15-21 — National Coin Week
April 15-21 — National Student Leadership Week
April 16 — Patriot’s Day
April 17-21 — Public School Volunteer Week
April 22 — Earth Day
April 22-28 — Administrative Professionals Week
April 23-27 — National Volunteer Week
April 25 — Administrative Professionals Day
April 26 — Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day
April 27 — National Arbor Day
May — Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
May — Better Hearing and Speech Month
May — National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
May — Preservation Month
May — Food Allergy Action Month
May 1-7 — National Physical Education and Sports Week
May 1 — Law Day
May 3 — World Press Freedom Day
May 4 — Horace Mann’s Birthday
May 4 — School Lunch Hero Day
May 5 — Cinco de Mayo
May 6-12 — Be Kind to Animals Week
May 6-13 — National Music Week
May 7-11 — Teacher Appreciation Week
May 8 — National Teacher Day
May 8 — World Red Cross Day
May 9 — National Bike to School Day
May 9 — National School Nurse Day
May 13 — Mother’s Day
May 16 — First Day of Ramadan
May 20 — Armed Forces Day
May 20-26 — National Educational Bosses’ Week
May 21 — Victoria Day (Canada)
May 28 — Memorial Day
May 31 — World No Tobacco Day
June and July — Fireworks Safety Month
June — Caribbean-American Heritage Month
June — Great Outdoors Month
June 5 — World Environment Day
June 10 — Race Unity Day
June 10-14 — National History Day Contest
June 14 — Flag Day
June 16 — International Day of the African Child
June 17 — Father’s Day
June 19 — Juneteenth
June 21 — First day of summer

*Begins at sunset on the preceding day

Please note: Some groups or states celebrate appreciation days or weeks on different dates, particularly those for classified school employees and teachers.