*groan*
I know, I know… we’re talking about yet another “celebration month” that you, as a school social media manager, need to keep up with.
But I believe that National Principals Month presents a unique opportunity! By humanizing school leaders, you have the chance to forge deeper connections among families, staff, students, and school administration.
Recognizing your school principals on social media is about more than just checking off another box. It’s about acknowledging their dedication and hard work, which often goes unnoticed.
Are you ready to shake things up this year and really help your principals shine on social media? Today’s blog is going to inspire you with a TON of exciting and creative ideas. Admire and acquire… and make them your own!
Go deeper into this topic by listening to my podcast conversation with the Director of Membership for #SocialSchool4EDU, Melissa Marti, all about National School Principals Month!
Post Idea 1: Simple “Thank You” Caption
Sometimes, the best advice is to keep things very simple. Pull your principal(s)’ school headshot and post a heartfelt caption encouraging people to engage with the post. Here are four templates you can customize!
Caption 1
October is National Principals Month! Help us celebrate our amazing principals for their hard work. Thank you for all you do for our students, staff, and community! 👏 #YourHashtag #ThankAPrincipal
Caption 2
Please join us in celebrating National Principals Month by showing appreciation for our hard-working, dedicated, caring principal at (SCHOOL NAME): (PRINCIPAL NAME)! Thank you, (PRINCIPAL NAME), for putting the students and staff first! 🎉💙 #YourHashtag
Caption 3
Thank you to all of our principals for their leadership and direction in educating our students! October is National Principals Month, and we are extremely proud of our dedicated school administrators and their work in creating safe and successful school cultures. Please join us in taking some time to thank our principals for everything they do!
Post Idea 2: Share Fun Facts
Another simple post idea is “Meet the Principal,” where you share fun facts about your leaders. I love the way Texarkana ISD in Texas formatted its post so that people click each graphic to read the fun fact. This format works great if you have multiple principals within your district:
Whether you’re featuring one principal at a time or several, it’s always a good idea to keep the words on your graphics to a minimum. It’s more ADA-compliant and eye-catching without a bunch of tiny text! Include your fun facts in the caption of the post.
Here are some ideas for interview questions:
- What is one of your hidden talents?
- What would the students be surprised to find out about you?
- What is your favorite band?
- What is your favorite movie?
- What is your favorite food?
Post Idea 3: Throwback Memories
#ThrowbackThursdays are a reliable social media feature that continues to get great traction for school districts. Why not dedicate your October #TBTs to your principals?
Here are a few ways you could do it:
Ask your principal to submit a photo of themselves from when they were in school. For example, your high school principal could submit a photo from when they were in high school, your elementary school principal could submit a photo from when they were in elementary school – you get the gist!
Once you have the photo(s) gathered, your social media post could be a “then and now” feature, like this example from Novato Unified School District in California:
You could also post throwback photos but not include the name of the principal. Ask your followers to “guess who” in the caption of your post. Bonus points if your principals graduated from your district!
Another idea is to have your principals send you baby photos and run a “guess who” throwback feature. This went over really well in Hillsdale Local Schools in Ohio:
Post Idea 4: All Principals in One Post
Now, you might have skimmed through those first three ideas and laughed to yourself… because you work in a really big district and have DOZENS of principals to feature! How can you possibly recognize them all?
Here are two ways you can give each principal some love without blacking out your entire content calendar for the month of October!
Waunakee Community School District in Wisconsin proves that you don’t need to create graphics to have an effective post. Each principal is listed in the caption with emojis to break up the text, and then submitted photos (or staff headshots) are the post visuals. Easy!
Keller ISD in Texas recognized a total of 42 principals in one social media post! Here’s how the communications team accomplished it:
Post Idea 5: Easy Reels
Hop on the short-form video trend (but is it really a trend if Reels have been popular for several years now?!) by creating Reels videos to recognize your principals!
Simply grab photos and/or video clips that include your principal(s), find some music, and edit them together within the Instagram app. You’ll have a Reel in minutes! Use one of the caption ideas from my first post idea, above, to encourage engagement.
If you’re in a time crunch, use the search feature on your school page to search for your principal’s name and you’ll find all of the photos you’ve ever shared of them.
Post Idea 6: Student Video Clips
Now, we’re getting into some post ideas that require a little more legwork, but the effort will definitely pay off. Harness the power of the algorithm and lean into video content for your school!
Ask your students why they love their principal and record their answers. Create a video with those clips, like New Auburn School District in Wisconsin:
I love the creativity of Jefferson Parish Schools in Louisiana! It’s an older video (shot in 2020 so students are wearing masks) but the idea is timeless – have students spell the word “principal” and say what each letter stands for:
Post Idea 7: Staff Video Clips
In the same vein as the student video clips, ask your staff to share a message of appreciation for your principals. These can be edited together into a montage, like this example from New Auburn School District in Wisconsin:
Post Idea 8: Thank You from the Board
Here’s an idea that goes outside the box a bit! Your principal likely reports to the superintendent and also interacts with the school board. Why not get some words of appreciation from those higher-ups?
That’s exactly what Seneca Valley School District in Pennsylvania did! I love this professionally shot video that includes real photos and videos of principals “in action”:
Post Idea 9: Day in the Life Video
A few months ago, I shared step-by-step instructions for creating a “Day in the Life of a Teacher” video for social media. You could take that exact template and turn it into a “Day in the Life of a Principal” video!
Follow a principal around for a day and showcase their daily activities, interactions, and challenges. Include an interview with the principal reflecting on their role and use that as the voiceover.
Here’s how the teacher version turned out for Lee’s Summit R-7 School District in Missouri:
Wait… Are You SURE October is the Right Date?
In addition to National Principal Month, there is School Principals Day on May 1st and National Assistant Principal Week on April 7-11. Should you also recognize principals on those dates?
#SocialSchool4EDU’s Director of Membership, Melissa Marti, has this excellent insight:
I think it’s important to celebrate our principals and assistant principals, but I don’t think they need to be celebrated formally multiple times throughout the year. The first week of May is already jam-packed with other recognition days, so I celebrate our principals in October and skip the day in May. For assistant principals: If you have a smaller district with only a few assistant principals and you want to throw them into the National Principal Month celebrations, you could definitely skip their week in April. But if you have a lot of assistant principals and don’t want to juggle recognizing them along with all your principals in October, then the week in April is the perfect time to give them a shoutout.
Time to Celebrate National Principals Month!
I hope this blog has gotten you excited about celebrating your principals this October!
You have a lot on your plate, so I give you permission to pick the post idea that works best for your workload. A couple of photos and a heartfelt caption go a LONG way! If you can enlist students to help, one of those video or Reels ideas could come together pretty quickly.
No matter what you decide to do, I’m here to cheer you on – every step of the way. Make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter so you never miss a helpful article like this one!
