Why you should follow this superintendent’s social media strategy

In the nation’s eighth-largest school district, The School District of Philadelphia, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. relies on social media to achieve one goal: to operate as a collaborative, result-oriented leader.

You’ll find Watlington actively engaging with his community—and other district leaders around the country—on LinkedIn and Instagram, the latter of which he says resonates the most with his student advisory council members.

Like most superintendents, he takes a celebratory approach to content creation, highlighting some of the district’s recent accomplishments and partnerships with key community stakeholders.

One of his most recent engaging posts was made on Thanksgiving as he recognized the hard work his staff has done to earn a number of achievements, including boosting student enrollment, increasing the district’s graduation rate and reducing the number of dropouts by more than 1,400 students.

The district itself is also very active on social media, garnering nearly 30,000 followers who receive much of the district’s news through Instagram alone.

Watlington says he’s very intentional with his social media posts as he tries to avoid oversharing and only post what’s relevant to the community.

“I’m a collaborative and result-oriented leader,” he says. “That is my brand in The School District of Philadelphia. We’re laser-focused on one thing, which is our North Star: to become the fastest-improving large urban school district in the country having implemented an aggressive, research-based five-year strategic plan titled, ‘Accelerate Philly.'”

He’s found that people want to hear good news on social media, and he says he’s fascinated with how many people are unaware of the great things happening in the district.

“The posts have to be short, sweet, compelling, catch people’s attention and tell a quick story in 60 seconds,” he adds.

Celebrating the district’s progress with its strategic plan on social media is a primary focus for Watlington and his team. One of the goals is to close the gap between how parents and community members work with the school district as equal partners.

“I connect more with a large number of parent and advocacy groups on social media,” explains Watlington. “I learn more about what their concerns are or what’s brewing in some communities in Philadelphia from our team that helps me monitor the chatter on various social media.”

Watlington has some advice for newer and veteran superintendents who have yet to tap into social media as a leadership tool: “Communication is your superpower.”

Superintendents must recognize that the 21st century demands ongoing communication that’s coherent, interesting or inspiring, he says. The key is learning how to not over-saturate your district’s news to the point where people stop paying attention.

“We’ve got to recognize what the communications research says because people are so busy,” he says. “You’ve got to tell people things 10 times in 10 different avenues in 10 different ways. But we’ve got to do it in a fond, creative way.”