Northshore Community is mailed to 48,000 homes and businesses in the district three times per year (fall, winter and spring). The magazine is also distributed to the schools, local public libraries, doctor's offices and other community gathering places.

For many years the school district mailed a variety of publications to people who live in the district. In 2004 the publications budget was cut by 25 percent and we sought better, more efficient ways of using the remaining budget. Instead of sending out a variety of publications each year, one consolidated publication (Northshore Community) was used to provide information. New web printing technologies means that the cost of printing is much lower than in years past. Saturation mailing delivers the publication to every address in the district because it is the most cost-effective distribution method.

A primary goal of the publication is to reach those who live or work in the district but who don't have students enrolled in school. There are more people in our district who don't have children enrolled in the schools than those that do, but everyone in the district helps to fund schools through their property taxes. It is important to regularly report how those tax dollars are being spent.

The magazine also provides information about pre-school and kindergarten registration - for parents whose children are not yet enrolled in school - making it difficult to communicate with them in any other way.

Your comments and questions are welcomed. Please send them to community@nsd.org