Parents who want to get the lowdown on what’s up at their children’s school now have to look no further than Facebook.
At least parents in the Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District, where a new Facebook page has been created.
“‘Like’ us on Facebook,” Mattituck High School principal Shawn Petretti said at a recent school board meeting. He explained that the decision to turn to Facebook seemed a natural one, as parents began turning to social media in greater numbers. “This is a social platform that a lot of parents are using to communicate and get news — one-stop shopping for information, for a lot of adults.”
In fact, Petretti added, more parents go to Facebook before the school district’s website, so social media seemed a good way to spread school and club news, school closings, announcements, cancellations, fundraising and sports updates.
“We announce all that information in the building but anyone who has a teenager or a child, especially a boy, knows that they tell you nothing,” he laughed. “This is a good way to get information directly to parents.”
In the first week after the district’s open house, the page has 100 “likes”, that number has spiked to 230 so far. “We have 620 families; we need 620 ‘likes’:, Petretti said.
Individuals can comment on the site but comments will be moderated, the district said.
“Communication is important to us,” said district superintendent Dr. Anne Smith.
Also turning to technology, Cutchogue East Principal Kathleen Devine has also started creating slideshows to post online and share with families, via a link on the district’s website, so that they can see “what’s going on in the day of a life of their child,” she said.
