How to set up your Head of School blog in 15 minutes or less [using WordPress]

Private / Christian School: How to set up your Head of School blog in 15 minutes or less [using WordPress]

As the Head of School, you want to have a voice where parents, students, alumni and prospective families hear directly from you. While inviting them to campus a few times a year may allow you face-to-face interaction, people nowadays expect more frequent communication.

Watch the video below to learn how to set up your own Head of School blog in 15 minutes or less using WordPress, one of the most popular blogging platforms.

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.In case you are new to blogging, here are 3 ways a Head of School can effectively blog for your school:

  1. PERSONALITY – your school, especially to prospective families, is an institution. While you likely are familiar with the many families and faces of your school, to the prospective family, you are a building with brick walls and curriculum. Having a weekly or biweekly blog (or more often, but not less), these families get to your heart and your vision. Even current families and alumni (who may not know you if there were different administrators) will be encouraged by learning more about the individual leading their school.  You can be serious, funny, or offer a combination of emotions that stimulate interest in your school.  Let them know about your family, your hobbies, and the things you do outside the school, too.
  2. MULTI-SENSORY – most of the time, we think of blogs as platforms for written content. However, from time to time, or exclusively, you can offer a video blog (or “vlog”) if you find this easier or more effective than writing.  In a vlog, families and students are inspired by your words, but also captivated by your body language and eye contact.
  3. CHALLENGE – when choosing your content to blog about, consider more than just boring announcements about the latest fundraising campaign. Rather, take trending topics (especially peruse Facebook and Twitter for what’s on the minds of people) and address these from your point of view. Perhaps there is education legislation that needs explaining, a spiritual examination of a controversial topic in the news or providing a unique worldview challenge for a global crisis making headlines. You are a leader so use this platform to show your students and families what kind of leader you really are!

Additional blog resources:

School Social Media Marketing: What To Do After You Post Your Blog

School Social Media Marketing: What To Do After You Post A Blog

I love the infographic checklist in this article, “12 Things To Do After You Wrote A Blogpost“ by Ruhani Rabin.  To tease you a little, here’s a summary of the first 6 items on the superbly simple checklist:

  1. Keyword optimize your post
  2. Syndicate your content
  3. Shorten your post’s URL
  4. Tailor your status updates
  5. Post teasers on other sites
  6. Bookmark your content

Click here to learn the final 6 suggestions and to read the full details (well worth your time!)

PS – if you need blogging ideas for your school, read “How to Think About Blog Topics For Your School” and “15 More Blog Topics For Your School” (articles from schneiderb.com).

PS2 – but why just put the responsibilities on heads of school? – consider “…Why teachers should have blogs” from Georg Couros.