Tools & Tactics

An essential communications tool, the Albemarle County Public Schools website helps the division meet the diverse communication needs of our school communities and increases opportunities for meaningful engagement. Our website support mobile-first design and meets accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Albemarle Engage, the division's blog, is dedicated to highlighting positive happenings around the division. Here, we also often highlight different departments or employees while celebrating observances throughout the year.

Our monthly newsletter, Connections, is a way to connect with our community on a monthly basis and share positive and important news with our stakeholders. Designed to be visually pleasing and dynamic, Connections is sent to all staff, parents, and secondary students on the last Friday of each month.

Connections contains a short message from the superintendent each month, a parent perspective on current events in the division, upcoming events and opportunities, and much more!

The Division Compass: ACPS Employee News Blog (commonly referred to as "Compass") is an online publication for all employees that provides real-time access to messages about benefits and compensation, budget and policy updates, professional development and grant opportunities, safety and wellness, special events, surveys, teacher resources, and more!

The school division currently uses BrightArrow, a mass notification system, to communicate emergency and non-emergency messages to subscribed parents/guardians and employees via email, phone and/or text. Messages relayed through our Electronic School Notification System (ESNS) might address crisis situations, schedule changes, school-specific announcements, survey invitations, upcoming events, and more.

Parents/Guardians have the opportunity to sign up for electronic notifications (email, phone and/or text) when they register their child for school and when they review their child's registration and contact information at the beginning of each school year. Parents can also sign up to receive electronic notifications anytime of year by contacting their child's school.

Employees who want to receive electronic notifications (email and/or phone) may provide or update their contact information using the division's web-based update tool (login required).

Each year, the school board works with the division's Legislative & Public Affairs Officer to develop their legislative priorities and share their positions on policies and legislative initiatives. The Legislative Agenda is one means by which the division communicates this information to our state legislators. View the 2024 Legislative Agenda »

TV, radio or print coverage of division events or news stories may result from a press release or alternate marketing efforts by the Office of Strategic Communications, such as a phone call directly to a reporter.

If your school or department would like to publicize an upcoming event or news story, please complete the ACPS Media Coverage Form (ACPS login required).

Our Portraits of a Division aim to highlight the amazing staff and students we know are scattered all throughout our division. We post two types of features here: Portrait of a Student, which highlights students from all across our division, and Portrait of an ACPS Staff Member, which highlights our amazing employees.

The Communications team often helps school board members and members of the superintendent’s cabinet prepare to present at various division and community meetings as well as local, state and national conferences.

The Office of Strategic Communications also provides guiding language to key communicators throughout the division (division and school leaders, teachers, office associates who serve as first points of contact, etc.) in response to developing news or a particular event or issue.

A press release in the form of a news release, media advisory, or public service announcement is one way our school division can actively inform and engage the community regarding important actions or decisions and outreach activities that promote services, programs, accomplishments, and opportunities for partnership.

The division occasionally places advertisements in local print publications to leverage the identity of the division.

The Required Notifications web page is the platform by which the division meets certain requirements set forth by federal code, state code or regulation, and/or Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) policy regarding annual notifications, public hearings, and postings.

For each of our elementary, middle and high schools, the division maintains an online School Fact Sheet that presents general information, including photos of school administration; facility information; details about the school's feeder pattern and attendance area; and a link to the Virginia Department of Education’s School Quality Profile, which reports details about student achievement, college and career readiness, program completion, school safety, teacher quality, and other topics of interest to parents and the general public.

School Fact Sheets primarily are aimed at new and potential community members who are seeking general information about our individual schools.

The division virtually shares information and collaborates with our community and larger audiences through multiple social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Social media posts may include text, photos and/or videos.

The Superintendent's Advisory Bulletin (SAB) is a weekly communication from the Superintendent’s Office to the Leadership Team (login required). It contains action items and important messages that help inform principals and department directors.

Video is just one way the Communications team works with schools and departments across the division to promote the work we are doing in our division to facilitate high-quality teaching and learning. Members of the public can visit our ACPS Videos page to watch a featured video and preview other recent videos. All ACPS videos are available through our YouTube channel.

Each summer, the school division publishes a wall calendar featuring student artwork created during the previous school year. The calendar highlights dates of important school events and observances and provides other useful or frequently requested information. The division mails one copy of the calendar to each school family and supplies a copy to every employee.

On Monday of each week, students and staff receive a pop-up message when they first open the web browser on their ACPS-issued device.

The student pop-up page features alternating weeks of student spotlights and motivational quotes, a fun fact for the week, highlights for the month, as well as a roundup of media coverage from the week. It also lists events, holidays, and other observances happening in the week to come.

The staff version of the pop-up page presents an “ICYMI” (in case you missed it) section featuring media coverage from the past week, a section listing upcoming holidays and observances, and a “This Week” section that previews events for the upcoming week. Each week, the staff page also features a quote from an administrator from one of our schools or departments on how they plan to incorporate our new strategic plan, Learning for All, into their school or department.