Mastering Social Media for Schools

You might feel alone in your role as a school communicator, but you don’t need to! Today’s episode uncovers all of the wonderful opportunities available to you through an NSPRA membership. Are you frustrated with reporting impersonating accounts or other inappropriate content on social media platforms that impact your students? Learn about the program NSPRA has with CoSN to talk directly with soci...

Today’s guest, Emily Rojas, absolutely loves her job celebrating students and staff in Dalton Public Schools. Find out more about her journey to her role in school PR! Finding great stories to share on social media takes work. Emily breaks down how their Publicist Program works. She covers how the employees are identified, trained, and measured on their duties that are rewarded with a small stipen...

Today’s guest has spent 33 years in education and has only recently retired to coach teachers and leaders. Dr. Matthew Murphy believes in the power of social media and shares many examples in our interview. Why are some leaders so fearful of social media? Matthew believes there are two main reasons and explains them in detail. This is really helpful for those listeners who struggle with getting so...

Are you overwhelmed with the thought of creating a campaign in your district? You’re in the right spot! Megan will break down her simple process. Learn the step-by-step process of using the RPIE (Research, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation) to plan your campaign.  Hear two specific examples of how Megan put this process to work in two different districts, and learn the success of each! Be inspi...

With 45 schools to celebrate and only 4 people in the communications department, you’ll be amazed at the storytelling that’s happening from Buncombe County Schools! Breanna will share specific strategies that are working to receive great content to share on their social media channels. Are you considering TikTok for your district? Breanna shares why they started using TikTok in August of 2022, wha...

Social media has dramatically impacted the growth of this small Catholic school in Mahtomedi, MN. Stephanie will share their story. How do you make people feel like they are part of your school? Check out the Facebook and Instagram channels for St. Jude of the Lake Catholic School (links below). Stephanie will share her strategies for telling such remarkable stories. You may never know the impact...

Student recruitment is the focus of Lincoln Barretta Consulting. They work with schools across the country to grow enrollment. Lou shares two ways to recruit students: digitally and through community outreach. Social media is key to recruitment, and Lou will highlight three helpful strategies for schools to follow, along with identifying the one thing he sees many schools getting wrong. What kind...

Today you will learn from one of the best, Christy McGee, APR. She has 17 years of experience in school PR and serves a district with 8,000 students. In the summer of 2020, she realized she couldn’t continue at the 24/7 pace she had been operating. Christy shares many practical tips to avoid burnout.  Grab two strategies to get more great content from your schools. Learn what some of the best-perf...

Let’s give our community a peek into what is actually happening inside our classrooms by sharing photos and videos of student learning. Do you have standout programs or advanced technology in your schools? Share short videos of students talking about it. Are there business partnerships that you could highlight before the end of the school year? Make plans for celebrating your seniors now. Andrea s...

Today’s guest has a passion for equity in our schools and you will hear where that comes from as Heidi shares her story. Equity 365 is an initiative that the Arizona School Boards Association has implemented. You’ll learn how you might be able to incorporate it into your district. How do you define educational equity in your district? Heidi shares the importance of doing the work to help navigate...

When I started searching for Columbia Public Schools on social media, I couldn’t find it! In this interview, you’ll find out why. And I’m really intrigued by this approach! Aurora shares her journey into school communications and why she absolutely LOVES sharing the amazing, wonderful stories happening in her district. Canva is a go-to tool for most of us. Aurora will dive into some of her best ti...

He’s only one year in, but guest Jason Laz is making a big impact for his district in New York. Jason will share a simple tip (one that I’ve never shared) to get more photo submissions from parents and the community. What is Jason’s trick for inspiration and support in his role? He is part of the #SocialSchool4EDU membership program. He’ll break down why it has been so helpful for him as a one-per...

Today’s guest recently transitioned from a school communicator to a vendor, but that is only part of his journey that we talk about today. All students and staff want a sense of belonging within your school. Josh shares practical tips on how to do that, using his journey to focus on the LGBTQ+ community. How do you ensure that you're celebrating all of your students and staff? Look under the...

Families and supporters of this charter school in Texas want to see what students and staff are doing in the classroom. Social media is the perfect spot! The evolution since starting their pages and school in 2019 has transformed from posting information only to sharing fun, behind-the-scenes stories. Staff features have been very successful for Great Hearts Lakeside, and Donna shares how she coor...

Angela is back with the newest data you need to make informed decisions on your marketing and communications strategies. How are parents searching for schools? The latest parent survey lets you know the top methods and how your school can ensure it shows up! What about social media? You’ll learn the top three social media channels parents say they are using when learning more about your school. Wi...

Looking to engage students in a meaningful way? Use Instagram Reels! Megan Renihan and Pioneer Joe are making “Reel” connections and you are going to learn all about it in this episode. Megan shares her tips for consistency, hashtags, and trending audio. Looking to reach even more people? Try out the Collabs feature where your Reel can be posted on several accounts at the same time. Discover some...

As Superintendent of Santa Ana Unified School District, Jerry Almendarez has embraced social media to not only tell stories but to lead with social influence. The Brand Ambassador Program has enabled the district to tell thousands of stories through various school social media accounts. Jerry defines the value of social media for a school district. Social media storytelling should relate to your p...

Great communication and social media can truly shift your district's culture. Tanisha shares how showcasing all of the positive stories has made a difference in the Seguin community. Getting enough content is never a concern for this district. Listen to the many ways Tanisha receives stories to feature. Want to try something fun? Consider a green screen video with your athletes or fine arts s...

The business partnership program at Princeton City School District started with just 38 businesses, but has recently passed 500. This interview will share how they built such a strong program. When Tom and Tricia approached businesses, they flipped the question. Instead of asking “What can you do for our school?,” they asked, “What can we do for your business?” It changed everything. Tricia will s...

With a background in broadcasting, Tom has used his “outside” view of education to help him communicate for the Allegan Area ESA in Michigan for the past 11 years. In his role, Tom helps serve 8 local school districts and 2 academies with support for social media and communication. Using social media for a financing campaign? Listen in to some of Tom’s best tips. Networking is key to your survival...

Learn the tool Sarah utilizes to stay on top of all of the social media platforms in her district of 7200 students. Getting the right content to share on social media is a challenge. Sarah shares three keys to doing this, which include building relationships, embracing the quality of content received, and asking for help. COVID really changed the role of a school communicator. Sarah shares her own...

This very special episode is a replay of a global webinar that I recently shared. I invite you over to my YouTube channel to watch this episode ! Facebook has changed SO much! It's almost unrecognizable from a few years ago. In this webinar, I break down what has changed, what schools need to know, and how you can make the most of Facebook in the 2022/2023 school year.  Facebook users have a...

Schools get many things wrong when it comes to websites, and Tara is going to break down those top 4 things in today’s episode. After working with schools around the world, Tara shares some of the trends that are working well for school websites.  What social media feed should you embed on your website? Tara recommends Instagram and shares the reasons why. If you are looking to incorporate more st...

Are you struggling as a one-person communications team? Then you are in the right spot. Callen Moore is shining bright when it comes to social media in her district of 14,600 students.  Callen breaks down her simple system of getting equal coverage of her 15 schools on social media. Hint- she doesn’t do it alone. She has amazing school ambassadors who help! What post garnered 295 comments in less...

It takes a village, and today you’ll meet two of the awesome school communicators from Humble ISD in Texas! Are you trying to organize your Twitter accounts in your district? Yvonne and Lori share how they did it, starting with the account names, in their large school district with more than 40 different schools. Have you ever been to social media for schools church? Well, our guests will take you...