School Crisis Communications Consultants
The way you navigate the first 24 to 72 hours of a critical incident sets the tone for how your organization will get through the crisis.
When a serious issue is unfolding, staff or constituents are mad or traumatized, and the media is calling… you need calm, competent, experienced support. Handle it poorly, and the negative effects could live on for years. Handle it well, and your organization can actually grow stronger.
J.Marie & Associates has decades of experience jumping in to help school districts and school leaders effectively navigate critical incidents as they unfold. These experiences include:
Death/serious injury accidents in the school community
Bus accidents
School violence
Staff or student misconduct
Racist, sexist, or other discriminatory action(s)
Labor/management issues
Votes of ‘No Confidence’
Leadership discord or similarly disruptive matters
Heated parent response to board decisions
Natural disasters
Local or regional circumstance affecting schools
School fire, vandalism, or other school-interrupting event
Student walk-outs
When you work with J.Marie & Associates, you get the support you need.
We’ll conduct an initial consultation and situational analysis with your organization’s leadership, develop a messaging plan and timeline, and craft key messages for each primary audience.
We work directly with employees to write initial messaging, which typically includes leadership talking points and tips, messages for staff, constituents, website, and social media.
In addition to these, we excel at leadership support and coaching leaders through crises. This could include organizational trauma management guidance, media interview preparation, and/or brief training of leadership team, staff, and/or board related to what to expect, how to talk about what has happened, what not to say, and/or how to navigate “grocery store conversations.”
You can rely on J.Marie & Associates when facing critical incidents within your school community.
“We have trusted J.Marie to work in our most delicate and complex situations. She is masterful at creating relationships even in times of great tension and distrust.”
Andy Wolf
Washington Association of School Administrators