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Get district news your way
Communication builds trust with our Anoka-Hennepin communities, confidence in our district and schools, and support for providing a high quality education for all students.
As a public institution, Anoka-Hennepin is accountable to its parents/guardians and other citizens, informing them about their investment in public education and seeking their insight on helping the school district deliver high quality educational programs that meet the needs of its students and communities.
Stay tuned to the following outlets for news and information:
- FOCUS on Anoka-Hennepin e-newsletter
- Focus newsletter, which includes a Grad Spotlight feature
- Action of the School Board
- Parent Engage 360 podcast
- Links to school communications (e-newsletters, social media pages)
Do you have a news tip to share? Contact the communication and public relations department.
District news
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College and Career Specialists support families in harnessing resources, navigating future pathways
(01/07/2025) Each high school in the district provides students with opportunities to connect with the Career and College Specialist at their school to assist with resources and information about post-secondary pathways.
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Students provide key support for Toys for Joy distribution
(01/06/2025) The holidays for thousands of Anoka County families and students were a little brighter following the annual Toys for Joy distribution held Dec. 19 and 20 at the Anoka Armory.
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Life lessons, lasting impressions: Peer connections engage learning in middle school health classes
(12/23/2024) Every month, high school students from Anoka and Coon Rapids high schools link up to support sixth-graders across the district, thanks to a 25-plus year partnership with the University of Minnesota Extension’s 4-H program.
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Northdale Middle School WEB leaders engage in winter fun with Eisenhower Elementary students
(12/20/2024) Eighth grade WEB leaders at Northdale Middle School (NMS) welcomed kindergarten and first grade students from Eisenhower Elementary School on Dec. 16 and 17 for a fun-filled hour of winter activities. Students teamed up to create winter arts and crafts, including a winter wonderland scene and ornaments.
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Choose your preferred communication methods with AHlert
Anoka-Hennepin families now have the ability to choose their preferred communication method(s) for receiving automated messages. The service is being provided through a program called AHlert and will share items such as principal updates, lunch account balances and winter weather closings.
Families can choose whether they’d like to receive phone calls, text messages, email, or a combination of the three. Follow these step-by-step directions in the AHlert program to get started:
- Login to A-HConnect and select the AHlert icon.
- Once you’ve reached the AHlert screen, select the “calling preferences” link on the right-hand side.
- Check or un-check the “active” box to enable or disable delivery devices.
- Click the “save changes” button on the bottom left.
Note: If there is not a cell phone number listed in the system for you or the phone number or email shown is incorrect, please contact your child/children’s school(s).
Families will still be able to receive winter weather-related school closing and other emergency information through the venues they’re familiar with (website, e-news, social media); this service is simply an addition to these regular communications.
If you signed up to receive text notifications sometime in the last two years (called Weather Alert in 2013-14, AHlert in 2014-15), you’ll need to re-subscribe using the directions above.As always, call 763-506-HELP (4357) with questions.
Communication guidelines
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Photo guidelines
Anoka-Hennepin staff, volunteers, representatives of the news media and others occasionally photograph, audiotape or videotape students in the schools. The photos, audiotape and videotape may be used in newsletters, newspapers, activity programs, yearbooks, brochures, on television, in educational videotapes, on webpages, in podcast episodes, and other appropriate uses.Parents/guardians may choose to limit the use of their child's photo. When a child enrolls in an Anoka-Hennepin School, parent/guardian(s) will be asked to select one of the following options:- No restriction: A child's photo will be taken and/or a child may be videotaped or audiotaped for all purposes as described in paragraph one above.
- Partial restriction: A child’s portrait/photo will be taken by the contracted school portrait photographer but used only for internal school identification records and in the school yearbook (as an individual portrait or as part of a traditional class photo/group photo taken by our school photo vendor).
- Full restriction: A child’s portrait/photo will be taken by the contracted school portrait photographer but used only for internal school identification records; it will not be used in the school yearbook or as part of a traditional class photo/group photo.
The parents’/guardians’ choices will be recorded in the child’s records. If parents wish to restrict their child's name, they must make a request in writing as described in the student records policy. Parents/guardians may change their photo option choice at any time by completing a new photo option form, which is available from their school.
Please note: Although the school will take reasonable steps to prevent students with full or partial restrictions from being photographed, except for portrait photos taken by the contracted school portrait photographer, the school cannot guarantee that a student will not be photographed/videotaped as part of a large group, such as participating in a school assembly, walking through a school hallway, and other situations where there are large numbers of students.
Parents taking photos: We do not restrict parents from taking photos during events such as track and field, class plays, etc. We do not attempt to ensure they aren’t taking photos of students who don’t have photo releases.
Updated Aug. 4, 2015
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Guidelines for e-news, web
The Anoka-Hennepin School District disseminates information to staff and community electronically via the:- In the Know e-newsletter (ITK).
- Backpack Online e-newsletter (BPO).
- School and Program Events Calendar (which is repeated/pushed to e-news, social media and web).
- Announcements of workshops, classes, events, etc., will be included in district e-news, social media & web if they are sponsored or co-sponsored by the district or a school within the district, or by a consortium to which the district belongs (TIES and North Suburban Integration School Districts).
- Announcements by non-district or non-school organizations may be included if they have written endorsement by an appropriate district administrator.
- Announcements of fundraisers will be included only if they benefit a school, the school district or the Anoka-Hennepin Educational Foundation, or if they benefit a current staff member or his or her spouse and/or children.
All requests for distribution of materials to staff on school property (i.e., paper copies of a brochure sent to teachers' mail boxes in staff lounges) or students on school property should be sent to Community Education.
Requests to promote potential school-based activities, lyceums, student competitions, etc. should be sent directly to the director of elementary curriculum or director of secondary curriculum to determine if they meet student or staff needs. Requests to promote parent education programs should be sent to the parent involvement coordinator to determine if they meet parent needs. Requests to promote events involving Continuing Education Units (CEUs), should be sent to the Continuing Education Committee to see if they meet district CEU standards.
Requests to promote products or services (graduate classes, staff discounts, etc.) via electronic dissemination or paper distribution of materials on school property will not be permitted as the distribution of materials that promote commercial sales of services or products to staff or students is generally prohibited by the district's advertising policy and guidelines (905.0 and 905.0G).
In accordance with the Distribution of Materials on School Property by Non-School Persons policy, in the event that permission to distribute materials is denied, the individual who made the request may seek reconsideration of the decision by the superintendent. The request for reconsideration must be in writing and explain why distribution is desirable and in the interest of district staff.
All requests for electronic dissemination via ITK, BPO or the School and Program Events Calendar should be sent to the Communication and Public Relations department. The department will review submissions on a case-by-case basis and notify the submitter within 10 business days (usually sooner) of approval or denial.
Updated May 13, 2013
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Guidelines for social media
- Be respectful. Personal attacks on anyone for any reason will not be tolerated. Also, inappropriate remarks and profanity will be deleted.
- No grandstanding on favorite topics or ranting on personal issues. This social media site is not about any one individual; it's about all of us who care about our public schools and our students. No one wants to see it hijacked by someone using it as a personal forum or by posting too frequently.
- Keep comments on topic. This social media site is dedicated to the Anoka-Hennepin School District. Comments of all kinds are welcome so long as they directly relate to Anoka-Hennepin schools or the topic of discussion. This site is checked regularly, but it may not be monitored at all hours of the day.
- The focus of this social media site is for sharing news and insights about our school/classroom/educational setting. Business or political postings should be done on a personal social media site.
- Contact employees privately for specific questions. Directories are available on school websites, ahschools.us/schools. Users should not expect responses to every question or comment posted.
- Contact the School Board via the district website, ahschools.us/schoolboard. The board also welcomes public input at its regular meeting, 6:30 p.m. the fourth Monday of every month.
- Employees of Anoka-Hennepin schools may have personal social media sites. Don’t be surprised or offended if your friend request on a personal social media site is ignored.
- We take seriously the privacy of our students. Comments about grades, student records or unflattering student behavior are not to be posted here. If you have a serious question about those matters, please contact your school/classroom/educational setting. Don't put anything on our social media site that you wouldn't otherwise share with everyone – this is social media, remember.
Abuse of the above can lead to blocking or removal from our social media site – and that’s not our intent. Questions? Contact the district's communication and public relations department at info@ahschools.us.
Last updated 11/08/2010
Executive Director of Communication and Public Relations
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Jim Skelly
763-506-1111
Jim Skelly
Executive Director of Communication and Public Relations
763-506-1111
james.skelly@ahschools.us