ACPS encourages your use of social media as an employee to tell the story of how every student is succeeding in our schools. Dozens of ACPS schools, departments, groups and employees — such as George Mason Elementary (@GMasonPrincipal) and the ACPS Family and Community Engagement Center (on Twitter and Facebook) — are already using social media to directly reach thousands in our community every day.
This is an intro to how you can get involved on social media effectively, professionally and safely.
Getting Started — Do you know the rules?
Before diving in and signing up for a social media account for your school, department or group, make sure you know and follow these three important policies:
1. Register your account with the ACPS Social Media Registry.
This is required for all social media accounts that represent an ACPS school, department, group or specific job position, such as superintendent or principal. This is not required for individual staff accounts. Visit the ACPS Social Media Registry sign up page.
2. Follow School Board Policies.
Please carefully read and adhere to the Alexandria City School Board policies regarding social media and use of technology:
GAC-R – ACPS SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATIONS (PDF)
GAC – EMPLOYEE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA (PDF)
IIBEB – STUDENT USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA (PDF)
GAB/IIBEA – RESPONSIBLE COMPUTER SYSTEM USE (PDF)
3. Check student photo and media permissions.
At the beginning of the school year, parents/guardians are provided with the ACPS Signature Form (PDF), which allows them to bar ACPS from publishing their child’s photograph, image, voice, writings, classwork or artwork.
This information is recorded in a student’s profile in PowerSchool, under “Custom Screens” then “Signature Page Information.” If there is no ‘x’ marked for Section C: Media Participation, then the student’s photo and work is allowed to be published in print and digital media, including social media. By default, ACPS may publish photos of students unless their parent/guardian says otherwise. There are only a handful of students division-wide who have been opted out, so please take note of who those students are in your school.
Tip: Enter the following search string on the PowerSchool Start Page to find all students in your school whose parents/guardians have opted them out of photo and media.
U_ACPS_SIGNATURE_FORM.MEDIA_RELEASE_REFUSED=1
Ready to get started?
In an upcoming article we’ll tell you how to get started on Twitter.
Please note that social media sites may be filtered on school networks, and therefore you will need to use a smartphone to access these sites at schools.
If you have questions about social media use at ACPS, feel free to email the Office of Communications at news@acps.k12.va.us.
The Communications office oversees all of the division-level social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and we are happy to answer your questions and help you get started!
Together, we are stronger in spreading the message that Every Student Succeeds.