NE School Communicator of the Year Award Acceptance / by Rochelle Santos

Photos of the SCOY Award and presentation by Meghan Baule, now immediate past-president of the NESPRA Organization.

A photo of the SCOY Award, School Communicator Day gift, and the award presentation by then NESPRA President, Meghan Baule (Director of Communications for Colchester School District, Vermont).

Accepting the New England School Communicator of the Year (SCOY) award was both a career highlight for me and also a challenging moment. While I shared my gratitude with my fellow school communicators in the room, I am sharing my acceptance remarks here for those who were not present. I do want to share my sincerest thanks to everyone who's been part of my PreK-12 Education Communication journey. It's been such a privilege.


Rochelle Santos, SCOY Award Recipient, reading remarks at the 2024 NESPRA Conference.

I tried, several times, to envision what this exact moment would feel like; to imagine what I would say and how I would get through this relatively brief acceptance speech. Receiving this award is humbling and so incredibly validating, and I am thankful to just have been nominated. I was shocked and am honored to be the first New England School Communicator of the Year Award recipient. While I am absolutely celebrating this humbly and gratefully, this is a difficult time for me. I will explain why, but I’d like to start by taking a quick look back.

It’s interesting, this concept of being the first, as it’s been a consistent theme in my professional career. In almost every role I’ve ever held - I was the first and many cases, the only. I’ve always created something out of nothing. I seek knowledge and learn where I am unfamiliar. I create systems and structures guided by best practice, feedback, and research. I test and learn. I share the negative and identify needs so that I have marked places for improvement. I innovate. When playbooks don’t exist, I’ve created them.

Being the Media and Communications Manager in Framingham was my favorite, shining example of this. In February of 2018, I took the job interview for fun when I had already accepted another position. When the FPS interview was over, I got into my car and was about to leave the parking lot when the HR person called me and asked me to come back upstairs. I walked in the room for a second time, confused. I was presented with the question, “what's it going to take to make this work?”. I was shocked and humbled then too. I crunched the numbers all weekend before determining there was no way I could accept the job financially, even though I wanted it so badly. I never expected the district to meet me at a salary that made it possible for me to accept this first-of-its-kind role.

Unfortunately, after 6 years of giving my heart and soul, game-changing, and supporting the community where I was raised and am raising my own children, my position has been eliminated for next year. It’s hard to say outloud and I can admit that I was really sad in the weeks that followed. It took some time and launching my own series of public announcements before I could really process and move forward.

Why on earth am I sharing this as part of my acceptance today? Because it’s important for me, and for all of us, that we remember our paths to school communications, that we take pride in our accomplishments along the way, and that we hear and focus on the voice of the many and even better, that we raise and support the voice of those who historically haven't been able to. It’s important that we remember our ‘whys’, our focus, our commitment to accessibility, to sharing what’s good, and to supporting positive culture wherever possible. Although I am so happy and honored to accept this award today and on School Communicators Day, this is not about me and it was never about money. It’s always been about creating access, sharing important information, helping to support our caregivers, and building positive relationships with staff.

This award is so bittersweet because I have immense pride in all that I’ve done to be worthy of this honor and at the same time, I don’t know where my future in K-12 Communications lies. I am so, so thankful for every opportunity to have led and learned alongside all of you. 

I'd like to share a few thanks for this moment - 

  • Thank you to the NESPRA E-board and all of you - current and future members for being my peers, supporting this work day-in and day-out, and for your commitment to learn and improve.

  • I'd like to thank the Award Committee for choosing me to receive this incredible, inaugural honor.

  • I need to thank our Superintendent and those who participated in the hiring process for my role - for choosing me and giving me the opportunity to serve my community.

  • I'd like to thank my team including Mariah Linnett for nominating me and for gathering support and material for my submission. 

  • I'd also like to thank the many FPS Staff members and faculty who have put into practice all of the communications-related tactics needed to build partnerships in our community.

  • Speaking of the Framingham community, while they aren’t here, I'd also like to thank all of those who supported my position and stepped in with the most thoughtful comments and gestures when I was in a low place several weeks ago.

  • And last, but not least, I must thank my family and especially my husband who created space for me to support and love my family AND my community - and who also coined the phrase ‘Framingham never sleeps’ for those late nights, early mornings, and weekends.

Thank you so much!