It’s a jungle out there! If you’re managing social media for a school, you know it’s easy for your posts to get lost in a waterfall of content. When people scroll their Facebook and Instagram newsfeeds, they’re bombarded by an endless stream of posts from friends, brands, and businesses. 

All that content is controlled by an algorithm, which determines what people will (and won’t) see in their feeds. Unfortunately, just because you post on your page doesn’t mean your followers will see it. In fact, only a small percentage of your fans will see any given post!

So what should you do? You have such amazing stories to tell about your school! How can you make sure they’re seen?

The secret is engagement. Simply put, the more likes, comments, and shares your content earns, the more people those posts will reach. Plus, the people who engage will be shown more posts from your page because the algorithm knows they like your content. Win-win!

If you want to use social media to positively communicate with your parents, families, community, and beyond, you need to learn how to drive engagement. Let’s break down eight social media post ideas that have worked well for schools nationwide and why they’re easy to replicate at your school!

Idea 1: Staff Features

Your staff is amazing! When you feature staff members who are beloved by your school, alumni, and wider community, your posts are almost guaranteed to perform well. 

Check out this post from Gardner Edgerton School District in Kansas. It’s a simple photo and caption about a staff member waving at people as they come to school. But it earned 49 comments, four shares, and over 350 likes and loves!

Here’s another example from St. Francis Preparatory in New York. The video features Mr. Charles, a school custodian, receiving love from students at the end of their graduation ceremony. This Reel earned over 2,000 likes and tons of positive comments. 

The bottom line? Find ways to feature your staff! Whether you’re sharing authentic moments like these two examples or just posting staff directory photos individually with a shout-out, every week, find a way to celebrate your staff!

Idea 2: Student Features

Just like shining a light on staff members, student features will always do well on social media. 

Check out this fantastic example from McCallie School in Tennessee. While the caption is pretty long, it’s OK to use this tactic when you have a powerful story to share. Combined with the excellent photos, this post earned nearly 200 likes and loves, about a dozen comments, and several shares. 

You could feature students every week using a nomination process within your school. Get your staff involved to help you recognize students who are working hard and doing great things. You cannot be the only storyteller in your school district!

Here’s another student spotlight example from Hibbing Schools in Minnesota. It’s a simple art photo that reached over a million people! We’re not quite sure if it’s because of the beautiful stained glass or Bob Ross photo-bombing in the background, but either way, the post earned a ton of positive engagement.

Find ways to feature your students creating and accomplishing great things inside and outside of the classroom. Your social media audience will reward you with great engagement! 

Idea 3: School Spirit 

People love school spirit! This fun example is from St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School in Virginia. What I really like about this post is the combination of photos and videos.

Did you know that when you post from the Instagram app, you’re able to share both photos and videos in the same post? It’s called a carousel! Instagram recently upgraded this feature, so you can now have up to 20 pieces of media in one post. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, just confirmed that you will get more reach when you post a carousel versus a single image.

Facebook guru Mari Smith writes: “One of the main reasons that carousel posts can get more reach on IG is that if your post doesn’t perform that well at first, the IG algorithm will select another of the ‘frames’ (images/videos) to show in the feed instead. This creates more opportunities for engagement which can equate to more reach.”

Use this to your advantage and capture all the school spirit happening in your school during a big sporting event, a spirit week, your marching band, and more. 

Williamson County Schools in Tennessee posted several homecoming photos in one Facebook post and received tons of positive engagement in the process. This post had over 260 likes, 15 comments, and 22 shares! 

The bottom line? If you have a bunch of great school spirit photos, don’t be afraid to share them!

Idea 4: Trending Reels

Instagram Reels are a great format to really elevate your storytelling. These short-form videos reach over double the number of people compared to any other type of content on Instagram, so now is the time to prioritize Reels in your social media strategy. Plus, did you know that you can share Reels on both Instagram and Facebook? 

This example from Maranatha Christian Academy in Minnesota took advantage of a trend around graduation season. The video was viewed millions of times and earned over 300,000 likes on Instagram.

Keep an eye on trending Reels by scrolling through your feed every week. You can also include students in your social media content creation because they’re likely seeing even more trending ideas in their own feeds. 

When it comes to Reels, authentic videos perform well, too. It doesn’t have to be all trends! In this example, O’Dea High School in Washington had a student interview people around the school for Valentine’s Day using a mini microphone. You can copy this idea for any time of the year – it doesn’t have to be Valentine’s Day!

Idea 5: Throwback Thursday

People love nostalgia. If they went to school in the 80s or earlier, they probably used actual typewriters in class – so imagine the memories that this post from Hempfield School District in Pennsylvania evoked!

These throwback posts are truly timeless. People love to see the 80s big hair, the outdated technology, and the classic cars from years past. You’ll get alumni and parents excited about these posts, especially! 

So, if you want to earn tons of engagement, dust off some old yearbooks, snap photos of what you find inside, and post one picture every Thursday. Not sure what to write in the caption? Here’s a free download with 52 Throwback Thursday Captions to help you out!

Idea 6: Staff Recruitment

Recruitment is more than just a flyer. Your school is probably struggling to recruit support staff, teachers, bus drivers, and more. How can you inject some new life into your advertising efforts? 

I love this example from Higley Unified School District in Arizona! Instead of just posting a “we’re hiring” flyer or graphic, the team created this very simple short video and earned tons of engagement.

You don’t need to create a new video every time you have an open position, but try to come up with new ideas to advertise for open roles. Remember, you’re also trying to retain current staff, so find ways to feature your staff members regularly (see idea #1, above!) on social media, too. 

Idea 7: User-Generated Content

Did you know that you can change the settings on Facebook to allow people to share photos in your posts’ comments? All you have to do is go to “Settings & Privacy” on your Facebook page. Then, under “Audience & Visibility,” select “Pages & Tagging.” On the line that says “Who can post on your Page?” select “Everyone.”

You might want to consider allowing photo comments for a limited period of time, such as the first day of school, so that proud parents can share their photos with you. You could also provide an email address for photo submissions if you prefer. 

Once you receive user-submitted photos, you can publish them as a Facebook album, Instagram Reel, carousel post, and more! People love to see their own pictures on the school page, so it’s an easy win for earning likes, comments, and shares. 

See it in action: Stephenville ISD in Texas posted this and received hundreds of comments!!

Idea 8: Alumni Roll Call

Looking for a home run social media post? Try posting an alumni roll call!

Texarkana Independent School District in Texas has the perfect example. Posted around Homecoming, this post received nearly 700 comments in addition to positive reactions and shares. Graduation season is another great time to post something like this.

What I love about this post is that it teaches your followers that you want them to comment, so they’ll comment on other posts, too. It also connects classmates together and encourages people to follow your page. 

If you post this and notice a lot of people commenting the same year, try featuring that year in your next Throwback Thursday post. Those alumni are paying attention!

Need more ideas for simple questions that people can’t resist answering? Check out these 52 examples. 

Bonus Idea: Authentic Moments

My best tip for increasing your social media engagement is just to capture and share authentic moments that put your school in a positive light. 

Troy City School District in New York posted this video of the Homecoming Queen crowning. It was the district’s first-ever post to break half a million reached! It’s a truly authentic reaction of pure joy and school spirit.

We witness these kinds of moments every single day in our schools. Whether it’s a student helping a friend, a teacher helping someone experience a learning breakthrough, or kids having a blast on the playground – those are the photos and videos that need to be captured and shared on social media. 

Increasing engagement isn’t about tricking the algorithm. It’s about giving people moments of light in their mindless social media feeds. It’s about showcasing the students and staff members who make your district truly special. And it’s about telling stories that connect people in your community.