First of all – I just want to say how AMAZED I am with our school leaders, teachers, paraprofessionals, food staff, custodial crews, bus drivers, and more. Looking back over the last two weeks, I can’t believe the amazing work you have all done to take care of your schools.
Thank you. As a mom of six with five still in K12 public education in the Midwest, I am in awe of the dedication, planning, quick adjustments, and execution that has happened. There is still much to do, but you do deserve to take a quick look back and recognize how far you’ve come!
Now I can’t help your school get through all of the hurdles in the weeks and months to come, but there is one thing I can help with.
And that is social media.
My team at #SocialSchool4EDU has been dedicated to helping schools celebrate their students through social media since 2014. We help create connections, sharing stories from schools for the community.
That looks a bit different right now than before COVID-19, but I believe social media plays an even bigger role than it did before. Social distancing is critical, but social connection is completely possible.
Last week, I wrote a blog post sharing 36 social media ideas for temporarily closed K12 schools. Read it right here.
This week I have something even better! I’m pleased to share real post examples from schools across the country. Grab one or two of these ideas and run with them. Don’t feel like you need to do them all.
Special note: #SocialSchool4EDU doesn’t work with all of these schools directly. I’m lucky enough to learn from talented #SchoolPR communicators from across North America. I watch what they are doing and then I share it with everyone!
Before you start any of these ideas, keep three things in mind:
- What are the needs of my students, staff, and families right now? Is this going to help serve that need?
- Do the photos or videos I’m sharing respect social distancing? We should be leading by example!
- If you ask for submissions of photos, email is the simplest and safest way of getting images. Another option is to ask for folks to share on social using a specific hashtag. I recommend sticking with your school or district hashtag, but you’ll see examples of specific hashtags in the post examples below.
My post descriptions will be brief. They speak for themselves. Look at the photos and videos, but also pay attention to their captions!
And you’re also invited to my free webinar on Wednesday, April 1st at Noon EST. I’m going to share 15 ideas working right now – and then I’ll do a live Q&A! Join us by signing up now.
If you have questions about any of these ideas, I have a special announcement at the end of the blog about how I can help support your school even more in this challenging time.
- Harmony Public Schools, Texas – Check out this simple message to parents. I know many schools adapted this to their district. That’s the great thing about schools – we all serve different communities. You can use any of these ideas in your district!
- Shelby County Schools, Alabama – Watch a video message from the superintendent. Direct communication like this is a powerful and authentic way to connect.
- Alexandria City Public Schools, Virginia – Check out this daily update from the superintendent. I love how the post highlights the key talking points and ultimately drives people back to the website, where all of the daily videos are archived.
- Chisholm School District, Minnesota – Another sweet idea that shows compassion to your families!
- Reading School District, Pennsylvania – This isn’t the finished product, yet, but Reading will be sharing short videos from staff members. Here is how they are organizing it!
- Chesapeake Public Schools, Virginia – Photos of students working at home were put into a video with a simple, heartfelt message.
- Lawrence County Schools, Alabama – Check out this virtual spirit week!
- Eudora Schools, Kansas – What a great reminder to check your school marquee! We all think about communicating with technology, but going low-tech is ok too!
- School District of Neillsville, Wisconsin – A cute photo of kids receiving their free snacks – and showing some LOVE for their milk!
- Superior Public Schools, Nebraska – You can still highlight seniors. This feature started at school but can continue with student-submitted videos. Instagram and Instagram Stories are a great way to stay connected to students at this time!
- New Auburn School District, Wisconsin – Share photos and videos of your free food program. This school is including mystery riders each day for students to look forward to waiving to!
- Prior Lake Savage Area Schools, Minnesota – What an amazing performance of the Prior Lake High School song – while practicing social distancing, of course!
- Saint Bernard School, Connecticut – “What does distance learning look like for you?” This is a great example of sharing photos of students, working at home!
- Three Lakes School District, Wisconsin – Don’t forget that teachers are also working remotely! This series highlights teachers’ at-home workspaces with #DeskoftheDay.
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina – Check out these encouraging messages, painted on rocks.
- Crookston Public Schools, Minnesota – Listen into more amazing music performances, achieved through the power of technology!
- Carroll ISD, Texas – Get your school mascot involved!
- Fall Creek School District, Wisconsin – This live video with a superintendent starts with a story feature and includes contests supporting local businesses! (Please note copyright concerns; visit this link for resources on publishing companies lifting restrictions.)
- School District of Shell Lake, Wisconsin – Social media can be a great place to double check that all families are connecting with the schools.
- Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District, Texas – This is a great graphic that communicates free meal schedules in a larger district.
- Mineral Point School District, Wisconsin – What an awesome idea: Sharing artwork from students.
- West Allegheny School District, Pennsylvania – Have you seen a teacher parade yet? Here’s an idea for how to announce it – and this link takes you to a short video of the parade.
- Oostburg School District, Wisconsin – Let staff get creative with characters they create and share through video.
- Portage Community School District, Wisconsin – This post specifically tells the community how they are planning to communicate with them. Fantastic!
What an amazing collection of great posts! Do you have something you’d like to share with schools across the country? Post it below!
Time to fulfill my promise: How I can help support you during this challenging time.
Actually, it’s not just me. It’s an entire community!
You can find it inside of our online membership program. We are extending free access to our Social Media for Schools Membership Program for a short time.
This is a community to support you in your role as a school communicator. Within it, you will be able to access our complete webinar and training directory on critical topics.
Sign up now.
With the tips and videos we are sharing daily, one member said:
Keep resources coming… As a social media manager I’m getting no advanced notice of what is happening next to research and figure what and how to post along the next step of the path. Your lives and quick FB posts bullets were perfect for us to know how to respond best fast.” – Natalie Eiting, South Milwaukee School District, WI
After your free trial, you are NOT automatically re-enrolled. No credit card information is collected on this form. You will be removed from the group on April 20th unless you pay the membership fee.
