Communications Program Guide

When photographing a student, staff should consult the database of "district/school media releases" in Tableau before publishing photos or video, including our official channels such as ParentSquare, websites, social media, and school yearbooks. To learn more, read the excerpt from the 2025-2026 Annual Parent Notice. Parents are given a reasonable amount of time to grant or deny media release during NVUSD’s annual data confirmation period at the beginning of the academic year. 

If you are having trouble signing into Tableau, submit a ticket in Incident IQ. If you signed-in but cannot find the Data Confirmation Releases, search for "Authorizations DB" in the upper right corner.

Remember, the media release only includes use by NVUSD and media outlets, which include news organizations. Use includes an approved student's first name and last initial (preferred), photo, or video on school-related stories. News media should be referred to the Communications Department before arriving on campus to ensure they are capturing photos and videos of only students who have approved photo releases authorizing them to do so.

Other organizations must obtain their own release from parents.

It is best practice to also verbally ask students for approval, especially middle and high school students, who can be sensitive to their image being posted. 

It is not necessary to collect media release forms for campus shots in public places or crowd scenes where individual faces cannot be seen. 

Note: please do not forget to check the release when considering LIVE streaming of events or classes.

Media (Photo/Video) Release FAQ

Expectations and Learning Opportunities

Training and Feedback Running Agenda

The district and each school site have an official NVUSD website. In order to optimize navigation for families, community members, and staff accessing information on our website, we have created a staff portal. To sign into the staff portal, follow the directions on the staff login page. Any staff that forgets their Rapid Identity password, must change it through Rapid Identity before signing into the website staff portal. Staff will not be able to make changes to their password through the website portal. 

All school websites should have the District logo present and clickable in the upper left corner of the site and a familiar layout including a standardized header, hero slideshow, icon panel, calendar, showcase boxes, News Feed, and standardized footer. All interior pages should have the District logo present, along with the standardized header and footer.

The Communications Department will support school sites and departments with updating their websites during the summer months and the winter break. All update requests should be shared with the Communications Department through the sites point of contact or the principal. General school site updates, such as the staff directory or slideshows, and other changes requested during other times of the year will be completed by the site point of contact (webmaster) or as the Communications Department is able. School site point of contact (webmaster) please refer to these expectations throughout the year to keep your school's website current and relevant to for our families.

The Communications Department maintains official district accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Employees who manage social media accounts at school sites are expected to follow existing board policies when engaging in conversations on social media.  Complete Social Media Responsible Use Guidelines provide Napa Valley Unified School District faculty and staff with resources and best practices when utilizing district-or-school-sponsored social media. 

Facebook and Instagram are the two social media platforms that can be registered as "NVUSD official social media sites."

The Site-District Communications folder has information on important district-wide topics and offers clear messaging that can be shared within our organization and school communities. Principals and Office Managers will determine the appropriate communication channel (newsletter, in-person, both, neither) for each topic or message as there are times when topics simply cannot be explained adequately in a short, one-paragraph newsletter blurb

Editorial: The Communications Department follows an editorial style guide based on the Associated Press Stylebook. In general, the district follows the AP style for external-facing publications such as press releases, articles, stories, etc. Specifics are outlined in the NVUSD Style Guide. School sites may reference this guide and adopt practices as they wish.

Guiding Board Policy and Regulation

Board Policy 1100: Communication With The Public

Board Policy 1113: District And School Web Sites       
Regulation 1113: District And School Web Sites

Policy 1114: District-Sponsored Social Media
Regulation 1114: District-Sponsored Social Media

Policy 1325: Advertising And Promotion

Regulation 1325: Advertising And Promotion