Division of Community Relations

The district's Division of Community Relations' primary goal is to support students through fostering strong relationships with community partners, enhancing effective communication and protecting the district's brand. To do this, the division is divided into three main pieces: the Communications Office, the Partners in Excellence Program and the district's 501(c)3 educational foundation the Village.

Services Available:

The Division of Community Relations strives to make interacting with the district as easy as possible. Please click on the appropriate links below:

About the District

Open Records

For Media

NEWS

Latest Videos:

For More Video Content, follow us on Social!

We post a lot of our videos to our YouTube Channel but we're also trying to more active with Instagram/Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts and other creative messaging platforms. Make sure you follow us everywhere so you don't miss a thing!

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Instagram

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The District Mobile App:

The Dougherty County School System is pleased to offer a comprehensive mobile app for parents and students.

This app, which is available on both the Apple IOS App Store and the Google Play Store, allows parents to follow their student's school and get push notifications about important information.

Additionally, parents and students can have real-time access to school menus, event information and a school-specific Live Feed.

APP

Our team:

Lakisha Bruce

Lakisha Bryant-Bruce

As Director of Community Relations, LaKisha Bryant Bruce is responsible for providing professional leadership and assistance in areas of community relations, public information, program administration and the development of the 501(c)3 for the school district.

LaKisha holds a Master of Arts degree in Communications (Advertising/Public Relations emphasis) from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Claflin College in Orangeburg, SC. She has held many positions in the Albany community. Some of her most notable positions prior to joining the Dougherty County School System were President & CEO for United Way of Southwest Georgia and Executive Director for Girls Incorporated of Albany.

LaKisha has received numerous professional awards throughout her career. The two that she is the most proud of are the White House & ONDCP Champion of Change Award (2011) for the work the her team at Girls Inc. led with her girls in the area of drug and substance abuse prevention. The second award is the Georgia Trend Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Best & Brightest Professionals (2007).

You can reach her at lakisha.bruce@docoschools.org

JD Sumner

J.D. Sumner

From award-winning journalist to tech-savvy storyteller, JD has spent nearly two decades weaving narratives across every platform imaginable. Whether wielding words, crafting multimedia, or capturing moments through video and audio, he's obsessed with finding the most impactful ways to connect.

Now, he leverages his storytelling arsenal for the Dougherty County School System as its assistant director for Community Relations, where he constantly is sniffing out cutting-edge tools and workflow tricks to make every message sing.

Consider him your friendly neighborhood narrative alchemist, always on the hunt for that magical blend of technology and creativity that elevates communication to an art form.

You can reach him at john.sumner@docoschools.org

Hydea Collins

Hydea Collins

I’m Hydea Collins, a Digital Content Specialist based in Albany, Georgia. With a knack for storytelling, I bring projects to life through photography and videography. As a Communications Specialist for the Dougherty County School System, I work closely with district employees, providing training on effective communication tools. My passion for social media management and video production helps me craft engaging content that connects with our community and inspires collaboration. When I'm not behind the camera, I love exploring new creative avenues!

You can reach her at hydea.collins@docoschools.org