A Look Back at 2021

David Leshaw -

Every year it seems harder to keep up with the going-on's at school. According to our users, prioritizing the content and consistency of school communications has been, by far, the most effective way to stay on top of it all.

We prepared a list of top tips and insights we gathered from 2021. Take these best practices into consideration when creating your next school newsletter so you can start the new year feeling more prepared than ever.

2021’s Most Popular School Newsletter Trends

Most Popular Tip by Smore Users:
Be Consistent

The most common advice we heard from educators was to be consistent when sending school communications. Whether it be every month or every week, sending a school newsletter out at the same date and time dramatically improved its open and engagement rates. Find more newsletter tips in our interview with school librarian Elizabeth Graham:

How This Librarian Shares News & Info with a School Newsletter
As technology becomes more ingrained in classrooms and libraries, the very nature of school librarians has changed, as well. We recently spoke with school librarian Elizabeth Graham who shared her five keys to successful library communication.
Smore BlogAllison Brooks

Most Popular Day of the Week to Send Out Your School Newsletter:
Monday and Friday

While research states that the best day to send emails out is on Tuesday, it was Friday and Monday (respectively) that topped Smore’s list. It seems educators are either waiting until the last day to gather up and summarize the week’s happenings, or are using Sunday to create their beautiful newsletters and get it out first thing in the morning. Sound ‘bout right?

Most Popular Time of the Day to Send Out Your School Newsletter:
12-4 pm

Using your lunch break to send out your family and faculty communications? The most popular time of the day to send out school newsletters happened to be right in the middle of the day, from 12-4 pm. According to studies, that’s actually a great time for open rates! Parents are either on a lunch break checking their personal emails, or just back from lunch and getting it all read before heading back home.

Most Duplicated Newsletter Template from our Educator Hive:  
Fall is Here!

We fell hard for fall! Our most duplicated newsletter on the Educator Hive, Smore’s newsletter template center, was our Fall is Here template. The template contains lesson ideas, resources, and example content you can include in your seasonal newsletters to faculty and families.

Thanks for the memories and see you next year!