In today’s digital age, effective communication is key to keeping students, parents, and staff informed and engaged. School newsletters serve as a vital tool for sharing important updates, showcasing achievements, and fostering a sense of community within schools. However, crafting visually appealing and informative newsletters can be a challenging task for busy educators. Recently, I have seen some school leaders talking about the use of ‘Smore’ as a digital tool for creating such news bulletins in a timely and visually appealing manner. Upon investigation, it is clear to see just how effective a tool may be.
Templates
For ease of use, Smore includes a range of templates suited for the educational setting, including weekly bulletins, staff notices and event invitations.
These templates help you to structure your newsletter, and allow for clear headings, titles, etc. A fantastic feature of Smore is the range of options you have for interactive engagement with your newsletter – links to both Google and Microsoft Forms can be embedded into your newsletter, as well as event invitations for upcoming school performances, staff meetings, etc.
![](https://i0.wp.com/teachnet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Smore-1.png?resize=1024%2C513&ssl=1)
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Smore does have educator account options starting at $99 per year. However, there is a free option that allows you to trial it and create up to 3 newsletters. This will allow you to experiment and see how you would be able to use it for your school community. If you were to use these for weekly updates, it certainly could be a worthwhile investment. Check out a sample newsletter I was able to create in under 5 minutes. [https://www.smore.com/n/a6yk2]
![](https://i0.wp.com/teachnet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Smore-3.png?resize=709%2C868&ssl=1)
In conclusion, Smore serves as a powerful tool for creating visually appealing school newsletters. By leveraging its intuitive design features, school leaders or teachers can streamline the newsletter creation process and effectively communicate with their school community. Whether it’s sharing important announcements, celebrating achievements, or showcasing student work, Smore empowers schools to deliver engaging and informative newsletters that leave a lasting impression.