Morning Bell: School Marketing Plans, Board Shake-Up, Tightened Security

Kyle Stokes / StateImpact Indiana

An advertisement for Maconaquah schools along U.S. Highway 31, just south of Peru. Schools have started marketing themselves to families to stop students from transferring to private schools or other districts.

During 2012, school districts work to developing marketing plans – “Just a few years ago, most public schools didnt have to think about marketing because students went to a school district associated with their neighborhood. However, the voucher program, passed by the Legislature in 2011, is the biggest test yet of an idea to offer families more choices and give public schools greater incentive to improve the quality of their offerings.” Evansville Courier & Press

EACS board’s new faces look to break the mold – “But in recent months, the board’s meetings have become a public arena for disagreements and bickering over contracts, policies and past board decisions.” Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Vigo schools to clamp down on security – “In Vigo County, once the school day begins, front entrances will be locked at the elementary and middle schools. Visitors will have to use a buzzer or video system to gain entrance, and the district is making technology upgrades to some of the schools that don’t have those systems.” Terre Haute Tribune-Star

Mitch Daniels eager to start working at Purdue on Jan. 14 – “The outgoing, two-term governor said Friday that as soon as Mike Pence is sworn in as Indiana’s 50th governor, Daniels will drive to West Lafayette.” Lafayette Journal and Courier

DREAMers, MOOCs, and Charter Schools: The Coming Year in Education – “When it comes to public education, 2013 is likely to be a year of new thinking, from innovative approaches to classroom technology to a potentially game-changing decision by the Supreme Court on affirmative action. States and school districts will continue to struggle with the recession’s fiscal fallout, even as demands for more programs and services — including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) initiatives, extended learning time, and early childhood education — increase.” (We’ll be chiming in later today with our own list of stories to watch in 2013.) The Atlantic