Tips from the Field: 4 Easy Ways to Brand Your School Newsletters

☕️ Busy? Here's the TL;DR

Help your newsletter stand out in a crowded inbox
Put blank space to good use with your header.
A play on the name of your mascot makes a catchy title.
Keep school colors, logo, motto, & mission front and center.
Find a consistent feature (content or design) that's all you.

Want to get everyone communicating consistently?

We asked educators how they make their school newsletters stand out from the pack.

They shared a wealth of branding tips with us, from simple to sophisticated. So, whether you’ve got a school PR team backing you or you’re a lone principal forging ahead with your first newsletter, there’s advice here that will fit your needs.

Let’s dive in!

#1 Most popular area for branding? Headers!

Headers are important because they’re typically the first space folks see and offer a larger area for original imagery. A number of educators shared that they make headers on Canva and import them into their newsletters (if you'd like more info on how to do that, you can find an easy tutorial here!)

When you think about your header, think mission & impact.

Our @canva headers have a consistent template, but feature different student artwork as the background each week. This also informs the color scheme for the issue. pic.twitter.com/pvIx73mpLp
— Fredonia Central School District (@FredoniaCSD) October 4, 2022

Next, let’s consider your title.

While the first thing your audience sees is your header, the first thing they read is your title. So, it’s an ideal spot to inject a little brand identity. One fun way to do this is to use the name of your school or district mascot as part of your title.

We are the Wildcats so our newsletter is titled Wildcat Tales. 💙🐾
— Carly Woolery (@carly_woolery) October 8, 2022

Building brand identity is about building your reader’s connection to & identification with your school — why not via your mascot?!

Another easy win is to add school symbols.

Anytime you can weave in school colors, add your school logo and mascot, a school motto or mission statement, and stick with a consistent font, you are establishing brand identity. Readers will come to associate those design details with your school.

Much as you would with, say, your favorite cereal brand.

We use Canva to create custom headers for each site newsletter. We also used Canva to create a set of textured/gradient backgrounds in district colors to coordinate with each header. They may not be cute, but they look alright. pic.twitter.com/kgKqOjWoP8
— Ryan (@RyanMayers0205) October 4, 2022

Sometimes, you hit on an idea, and then it becomes your thing.

Sure, branding often focuses on images or details that are specific to your building (or product). But, branding is really just about giving meaning to your organization, with your newsletter being one vehicle for doing so. So, any creative idea that fits the mission of your school works just fine!

Here are a couple of fun examples:

I love how easy it is to integrate creative designs into our weekly updates for teachers! pic.twitter.com/DspBxxaVp7
— 𝕂𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕖 (@pressNseale) October 4, 2022

Ready to start branding your school newsletters? Here’s a template to help get you up and running. Just click to duplicate and personalize.