This month we are starting a new regular post to keep you up-to-date with some of the highlights of our media coverage each month.
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) calls a 15% success rate for media pitches a good rate. Here at ACPS we achieve close to a 95% success rate. Check out to see if your story was one of our highlights.
The Washington Post
Four Washington Post Metro Front Pages in the past month
- This teacher raised money for 1,000 books so her students would learn to love reading (Jan. 20, 2020)
- ‘You’re chefs! This is a kitchen!’ It’s also a school cafeteria. That doesn’t mean the food has to be bland or frozen (Jan. 2, 2020)
- This Guatemalan immigrant survived being homeless to become a college graduate. Now, he’s teaching other immigrants at the school that helped save him (Dec. 29, 2019)
- At a Northern Virginia school, parents of different backgrounds speak the same language (Dec. 24, 2019)
Involvement in Boone’s Memorial
- 1000+ print, TV and radio stories using our photos, quotes, and content
- 15 stories identified, researched, written and pitched by the Office of Communications this month and shared on ACPS Express resulted in local and national news coverage.
Social media
9,000 engagements: Coach Boone
4,727 engagements: Senator Kaine visits JROTC
4,067 engagements: Winter Weather
3,450 engagements: Highlights of 2019 (#highlightsof2019)
3,192 engagements: National CTE Teacher of the Year Kimberly Wilson
1,356 engagements: High School Project Panel Event
Stats are based on first week of posting.
What it takes to get a story on the front page of The Washington Post Metro Section
The education section of the Washington Post is extremely competitive. Getting a story printed involves a lot of hard work from the Office of Communications. It requires:
- Identifying possible ACPS stories that will be of national interest
- Researching and writing those stories in a way that will appeal to the media and act as a written pitch
- Pitching the story and getting it accepted
- Setting up with staff and accompanying staff during interviews
- Ensuring media clearances
- Providing fast facts and additional background details
If you have a good story that you think would make the front page of the Washington Post Metro section, please send it to news@acps.k12.va.us.
What makes a good story?
Good stories should have at least one of the following attributes:
- Have a face — they are human interest stories
- Tell us about someone overcoming an issue or challenge
- Are something that makes your principal, department head or best friend go, “Wow”
- Involve something innovative that no other school division is doing
- Align with a national news event