School District 21 has published a community newsletter for many, many years. For a long time, School District 21 published and sent out The Grapevine to community members. Then, under the direction of Superintendent Dr. Gary Mical and the Board of Education's Communications Committee, a re-examination of the District newsletter resulted in The Author.

With an updated, large format and color pictures, this seasonal dcoument provides community members across School District 21 with:
- an understanding of what current students are doing
- how teachers go about completing their work today
- how School District 21 manages its financial responsibilities and other operational issues.

Links to the current and previous versions of The Author are available here as PDF documents.