What social media content is worth highlighting in a school newsletter?

Highlight content that tells a story families want to share or save. Student project showcases, sports milestones, teacher spotlights, community partnerships, and event photos are all worth surfacing in a newsletter. Avoid highlighting content that requires account login or content that has already expired from your feed.

How do I drive newsletter subscribers to follow the school's social accounts?

Include a brief sentence in the newsletter that explains what families will see on social: 'Follow us on Instagram for daily photos from classrooms and events.' A specific value proposition, not just 'follow us,' gives families a reason to take the action.

Should I include screenshots of social posts in the newsletter?

Including a thumbnail image from a recent post alongside a direct link to your social page is more effective than embedding the full post. It gives families a visual hook without requiring them to navigate complex embed codes. Check your newsletter platform's image support before designing this section.

What if our school's social following is small? Is it worth highlighting?

Yes. A newsletter that highlights social content is as much about driving new followers as it is about engaging existing ones. Every newsletter that includes a link to your social page gives you a chance to grow your audience from your most engaged community: the families who read your newsletter.

Can Daystage newsletters include links to school social media pages?

Yes. Daystage newsletters support text links and image links, so you can include a direct link to your Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter page alongside a brief description. Families can click through directly from the newsletter to follow or view your social content.

School Newsletter: Social Media Highlight

Most schools have active social media accounts and a family newsletter that never mentions them. That is a missed opportunity in both directions. Your newsletter audience is your most engaged community, and turning newsletter readers into social followers deepens their connection to the school. At the same time, your best social content, the photos and stories that capture what school life actually looks like, makes your newsletter richer when it is referenced there. This guide shows how to connect the two.

Why the Newsletter and Social Should Work Together

Newsletter and social media serve different functions. The newsletter carries detailed information: dates, decisions, policies, and updates that families need to act on. Social media carries visual, emotional content: the photo of the science fair project, the video of the kindergartners doing morning meeting, the short clip from the spring concert. When the newsletter points families toward the social content that brings those newsletter updates to life, both channels become more valuable.

The Social Highlight Section in a Newsletter

Add a brief "What We Shared This Week" or "Follow Us For More" section at the bottom of your regular newsletter. Keep it to two to three lines. Include a direct link to your most recent relevant post or to your school's main social page. A sentence that tells families what they will see when they click makes them more likely to follow through than a bare link.

What Content Bridges Well Between Channels

The best content for cross-referencing is visual and story-driven. If you published a newsletter about your new outdoor classroom, linking to the Instagram post showing students working in the space gives the newsletter story a face. If you announced a student achievement award in the newsletter, the social post where you tagged the family and celebrated publicly gives that story its emotional payoff. Think of the newsletter as the informational layer and social as the visual layer for the same story.

Sample Template Excerpt

Here is a social highlight section you can drop into your newsletter:

"Catch up on what you missed this month: We shared photos from last week's science fair on Instagram, the highlights from our 5th grade field trip on Facebook, and a short video from this morning's kindergarten reading celebration on our school YouTube channel. Follow us at the links below to see school life between newsletters. [Instagram link] [Facebook link] [YouTube link]"

Driving Social Follows Without Being Pushy

One sentence per newsletter is enough. "Follow us on Instagram to see daily photos from classrooms" is direct, specific, and does not feel like a marketing pitch. You do not need to include a follow request in every single newsletter, but a consistent presence of social links and a brief value proposition every few issues steadily grows your following from the audience that is already paying attention to your communications.

Keeping Social Content School-Appropriate for Sharing

Before pointing newsletter families toward a social account, make sure the content there is consistently school-appropriate and reflects your community well. A newsletter that links families to a social feed with off-brand or outdated content does more harm than good. Review your social presence before adding it to your newsletter as a regular feature.

Measuring What Works

If your newsletter platform shows click data, track which newsletter links drive the most traffic to your social pages. That information tells you which types of content families are most interested in and helps you refine what you highlight in future newsletters. Schools that treat their newsletter as a data source rather than a one-way broadcast become more effective communicators over time.

School Newsletter: Social Media Highlight Communication Template