the Situation
In fall 2021, as students returned to in-person schooling after a long period of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tukwila School District brought in Team Soapbox to help manage both ongoing and rapid response communications on public health and academic topics.
Tukwila serves 3,000 students enrolled in five schools. About 40 percent of students qualify for English Language Learner services and the student body at large speaks more than 80 unique languages. These needs informed our communications strategy and approach to multiple District audiences, including staff, students, and families.
The Approach
Team Soapbox worked with District administrators and nurses to quickly develop a COVID-19 communications handbook that could support staff in their outreach efforts. The handbook we developed included email, robocall, and text templates for student COVID exposure and quarantine scenarios, and messaging that was utilized in rapid response communications about shifts to temporary remote learning, mask guidance, and other health-related communications.
We collaborated with the District’s Family Liaisons – culturally-competent outreach specialists – to transcreate informational materials to reach students and families speaking Spanish, Vietnamese, Dari, Nepali, Somali, and Burmese, and to improve access to translated materials for all language groups.
Team Soapbox also supported ongoing communications about academic program changes – such as curriculum updates and multi-language learning programs – and crisis communications around student safety. Our strategic counsel has led to the development of more robust issue-response communications protocols and systems that can help District staff manage future challenges.
