How School Districts Can Use Social Media To Get The Word Out
School districts today are faced with an unprecedented amount of activities, issues and questions from their communities. This kind of information needs to be made available to the public in a quick and effective manner. But, how do school districts get the word out fast enough?
The answer is social media. Online platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, can be an integral part of a school district’s culture from professional outreach to announcing school lunches.
Here are a few tips on how school districts can use social media.
Community Outreach:
- Give parents, students and others up-to-date information on activities by communicating fundraising progress, time and location changes, new program additions and more.
- Acknowledge school clubs and groups, teachers and students for outstanding accomplishments. (Be sure that you don’t use students’ full names or tag them in photos without parental consent.)
- Announce daily updates such as school lunches, if buses are running late, the weather and the school’s sports team’s game lineup for the day.
Professional Development:
School districts can use social media to provide information on the latest trends, tools or articles regarding education. It can easily be shared with teachers and administrators. This is also a great way to show parents that the school is ahead of the curve!
Parental Communication:
Communicate with parents by answering their tweets or replying to their Facebook posts. Address questions and problems in a fast and effective manner. You may also update parents on important school issues that directly impact them, such as school budget information and school board meetings. A school can even benefit from live-streaming board and budget meetings on Facebook and Twitter for parents that can’t attend the meetings.
Course Assignments:
Teachers can create private groups on Facebook for each of their classes that focus on course curriculum. Assignments and online assessments can be posted to make studying easier for their students. To ensure there are no safety issues, teachers can provide group information to the school district administrators and the parents so they can easily access the page.
These are just a few of the many ways school districts can use social networking to get the word out about their school. By using social networking sites, a school district will be better connected to their community, which is a win win situation for everyone!
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