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The Superintendents to Watch award recognizes up to 25 school district leaders each year who have fewer than five years of experience as a superintendent and who demonstrate dynamic, fast-paced leadership with strong communication at its core.
Dr. Ginni McDonald demonstrates excellence and leadership through her innovative approach to communication, stakeholder engagement, and inclusive decision making. Dr. McDonald makes decisions based on the needs and wants for stakeholders, most importantly staff.
One great example of this is creating school calendars.
Dr. McDonald includes families and staff in the school calendar process, ensuring both groups have a voice through surveys. Dr. McDonald also makes sure all groups know the background and legal requirements regarding the calendars so all stakeholders are informed.
Another example would be Dr. McDonald's leadership in reconstructing the curriculum adoption process. Prior to Dr. McDonald's leadership, no staff other than adminstrators, and no families were invovled in the curriculum process. Dr. McDonald made sure to include instructional staff, administraors and families in the most recent curriculum update by developing a committee to review curriculums. This has made both staff and families feel more included in the decision making process.
Another example would be staff input on principal hires. When a principal transitions from their role, Dr. McDonald meets with all the staff at that specific campus and gathers feedback on what staff would like to see in their new principal.
Under Dr. McDonald's leadership, RSD established a variety of engagement platforms, including the Staff Ambassador Program, Faith Council, Community Champions for RSD council, PTO Council, and the Superintendent’s Student Leadership Team. These programs actively bring together diverse stakeholders—students, staff, parents, community members, and faith leaders—to engage in meaningful dialogue. Dr. McDonald's creation of these councils is a strategic effort to ensure every voice is heard, and that all stakeholders play an active role in shaping the district’s policies, priorities, and vision.
These stakehold engagement opportunities have been greatly impactful in building trust and developing a new relationship between RSD and our stakeholders. Prior to Dr. McDonald, there was no stakeholder engagement at the District level.
Another example would be the District's Staff Newsletter. This newsletter has helped bridge the gap between the District and staff. Prior to the newsletter, staff were not regularly informed on information outside of their buildings thus creating a culture of campus vs campus. Now with the newsletters, and opportunties such as the staff ambassador program, staff feel more informaed and the culture and the cutlure has shifted into campuses helping each other.
Dr. McDonald made sure communication is one of the four priorities in the strategic plan for the District.
The plan itself highlights the importance of maintaining open lines of communication with all members of the RSD community, including students, parents, staff, and external partners. Communication is woven into every strategic priority, emphasizing collaboration and engagement in achieving the district’s academic and operational goals.
Through regular presentations to community groups, she shares progress on the district’s strategic priorities, soliciting input to refine and improve the plan as necessary. This ongoing dialogue builds trust and reinforces RSD’s commitment to shared leadership with the community.
Dr. McDonald’s engagement efforts extend to specific groups like the Staff Ambassador Program, Faith Council, Community Champions for RSD, PTO Council, and the Superintendent’s Student Leadership Team, all of which have dedicated spaces for discussing the Strategic Plan. In these meetings, Dr. McDonald actively seeks out feedback, providing detailed updates on how the plan is progressing and where adjustments might be needed.
Dr. Ginni McDonald demonstrates active, visible involvement in the Russellville School District’s communication efforts by consistently modeling transparent, responsive, and inclusive communication. She leads by example, directly engaging with stakeholders across the district and ensuring that communication remains a key focus in all district activities.
One of the most visible ways Dr. McDonald participates in communication is through face-to-face engagement with various stakeholder groups. She actively leads and participates in meetings with the Staff Ambassador Program, Faith Council, Community Champions for RSD, PTO Council, and the Superintendent’s Student Leadership Team. In these forums, Dr. McDonald doesn’t just deliver information—she listens, fosters dialogue, and invites open feedback, showing that she values the input of everyone involved. By being present at these meetings, she ensures stakeholders are informed and engaged in the district’s decisions, demonstrating her commitment to direct, personal communication. These efforts are the first seen in the history of Russellville School District.
Dr. McDonald’s commitment to communication also extends to her leadership style. She frequently seeks input from staff and community members on district policies and initiatives, such as school calendars, collaboration time, and professional development opportunities. This level of engagement ensures that decisions are made collaboratively, with the voices of those impacted being a central part of the process. Her active solicitation of feedback demonstrates that communication is not a one-way street but a dynamic process of listening, responding, and adapting.
Through her face-to-face engagement, responsiveness to media, and modeling of effective communication for staff, Dr. McDonald has established herself as an active and visible leader in the district’s communication efforts. Her approach ensures that communication is not just a departmental function but a vital part of the district’s culture, supporting a more connected, transparent, and engaged school community. Her leadership in communication is a testament to her dedication to fostering a culture of openness and collaboration across the Russellville School District.
B.A. - Mississippi State University; MPA - University of Georgia
I believe school PR/communications is what I was born to do! One of the biggest decisions a parent can make is where to send their child to school, and it’s an honor to share with our parents the engaging work that their children are doing under the guidance of world-class teachers and leaders. On any given day, in any given school, there are many stories to be told and I take that charge seriously. As school communicators played a key role in COVID-19 communications, storytelling was more important than ever – not only did I share information with parents about our protocols, but I also made over 80 visits to schools last year and told a variety of stories about how students were thriving with both in-person and distance learning options. I also worked with principals to determine best mitigation practices and helped make those pervasive, because positive action must be the foundation of what we are ultimately communicating. School public relations is incredibly complex and I love that each day brings a new challenge.
My greatest school PR success was completing 11 nationally-innovative school communication audits using a process of research, planning, implementation, and evaluation. I am now in phase two of this project and am attending school council meetings to garner feedback from parents about school-level communication and how I can better support the work of their schools. One of the most significant findings is that as students take more ownership of their learning, they also take more ownership in parent communication. Therefore, next steps are to better prepare parents for this transition and to also determine best practices from exemplar teachers and coaches at the secondary level so we can strike the right balance with parents feeling informed and fostering student independence.
My greatest school PR challenge is overcoming rigidity. Like many PR professionals, I am detail-oriented and a self-described perfectionist. It’s a blessing and a curse to see when something is one pixel off, but the greatest challenge I have faced in my 13 years in this field is to learn to be more flexible. I might have an aversion to Comic Sans or Curlz, but it’s not the end of the world if those are a font favorite elsewhere. What’s more important is the bigger picture – staff and parents feeling well-informed and students growing and learning in positive school cultures. Instead of telling someone their website isn’t formatted properly, I now make a 2-3 minute screencast if I think there’s a quick tutorial I can offer to provide ongoing professional learning. By being much more flexible, I have deepened relationships and become better at supporting the most important job that occurs in our school system: teaching.
My favorite part of my job is the relationships. I often say that there is no substitute for showing up, and that’s why I make so many school visits each year. From getting to hold a gorgeous monarch butterfly to watching a vibrant student musical to seeing 3-D printing in action from engineering students, I have witnessed countless unique opportunities, and these experiences are just a small piece of what our students get to take part in each and every day. If I didn’t take the time to form relationships, I wouldn’t know that what students value is knowing that the photos I take may show up in their yearbooks. I wouldn’t know the myriad of annual activities that teachers do across our schools because I wouldn’t have witnessed them firsthand. I wouldn’t know about the families of our principals or what they believe makes their school unique. All of that is invaluable because at the end of the day and at the end of this career, relationships are what will remain – both professionally and personally.
The communication tool I use the most is Canva! I would be a brand ambassador if they asked! I am not very mathematically-minded and it can be challenging for someone with an eye for good design – but not an eye for rulers and gridlines – to be a graphic designer. However, Canva has made it possible and I am able to create aesthetically-pleasing graphics with short turn-around times. I have trained communication ambassadors at our schools how to use it as well. Right after Canva, the tool I most use is iMovie. I am completely self-taught in videography and using iMovie and Canva together has made me someone who can add “videographer” to their list of expertise.