Schools must communicate with students, teachers, and parents on many levels.
Therefore, installing public displays throughout the school seems like a great idea.
But is digital signage always the right choice for a school?
What does a school benefit from a digital signage setup?
And what kind of resources are required to run a successful digital signage setup?
Read on to get the full picture.
Existing Methods
Before the digital age, we were tied to posting printed notes on boards. Nowadays, a variety of digital tools help us communicate, like emails, social media, websites, and instant messaging.
Since schools already have established methods for mass-communicating with students, parents, and staff, it may seem unnecessary to share additional messages on public displays throughout the school.
So, the question is, with so many methods to deliver your message today, what do we benefit from digital signage that doesn’t exist in other methods?
Who reads my message?
The first and most obvious answer begins with the other end of your message.
When you are using social media and messaging services to share messages with your audience, you can be pretty sure a vast number of people will see them.
But while your message gets through, it has arrived with a myriad of other messages, waiting to be read just like yours.
So your message might not get the attention it needs, if any. And even when your message gets the attention it deserves, the actions that should follow, like adding an event to a calendar or looking through photos of the last trip, are less likely to happen.
The reader might be in the middle of a workday or in line at the store. The attention span is short, and your message is not in a favorable place to win.
Recent surveys highlight that parents are increasingly overwhelmed by the volume of school-related communications. A 2024 Censuswide survey found that the average parent receives over 80 emails per month concerning their children's activities, leading to essential messages being overlooked. Additionally, a report from Motherly indicates that 52% of parents feel overwhelmed by their email, with 49% stating it adds to their mental load. This communication overload can result in critical information being missed, as parents struggle to keep up with the constant influx of messages.
In contrast, digital signage is a choice, not a chore. When you walk inside a school building, your environment shifts, and everything is about school. Now your attention is in its best condition to receive new information regarding the school activities.
Public displays exist in a focused environment, where messages are more likely to be noticed, absorbed, and remembered by everyone passing by.
If you have a well-positioned screen with easily read content, you can be sure that 100% of the people who walk past it have read and acknowledged it, even multiple times.
And you didn’t require them to open their phone or be distracted from their day-to-day activities.
The Benefits
However, not every piece of content is suitable for digital signage. While some things, such as a 100-word document, may not be well-suited for digital signage, others perform best on public displays.
So what can you display on digital signage that wouldn’t have the same effect otherwise?
Here are the leading subjects schools are finding best to show with digital signage:
🎉 Celebrating Achievements
Has a student received a medal?
Has the school volunteered in the community?
Digital signage is an excellent way to share photos and videos celebrating the school’s achievements with the broader community.
📅 Schedule Changes
Timetables change often, for both staff and students.
With digital displays, everyone knows exactly where to find the most up-to-date information.
📣 Events
Have an upcoming event? Public displays work as ongoing, visual reminders.
Was the event a big success? Share the photos afterward.
People love spotting themselves on screen — it builds a sense of connection.
🏫 Admin Messages
From new policies and parking info to office hours — almost any kind of message can go on screen.
It’s a straightforward, consistent way to reach everyone, without relying on emails or group messages.
👩🏫 Staff Recognition
A new teacher, a promotion, or a farewell deserves to be acknowledged.
Some schools even create “Get to Know the Teacher” slides to help staff feel more familiar and appreciated.
🎨 Art Showcase
Students often produce impressive creative work.
Putting their art on public display is a great way to celebrate their efforts and encourage pride in their accomplishments.
🧭 Wayfinding
Is everyone getting lost on their way to the administration office?
A well-placed digital sign removes the guesswork. You can even update directions or event locations dynamically—perfect for busy days like registration, PTA meetings, or graduations.
🍽 Cafeteria Menus
What’s on the menu today?
What's the nutrition values?
Digital signage makes it easy to share daily cafeteria information with each diner.
🚨 Emergency Alerts
In a crisis, timing and clarity are critical.
Digital displays can be used to show real-time alerts—like exit instructions or safety protocols—tailored to the location of each screen. Your information will be ready when its most needed.
What’s required to run
Let’s divide this into two pieces - the initial investment, and the ongoing maintenance.
Initial Investment
The first and most obvious is a screen.
On the low end of the budget, you can get any screen that you can hang. It can be an old TV, a cheap screen on sale. Mounting it on the wall requires some tools handling but if you have someone who knows how to drill holes in a wall, you’ll probably get past it easily.
On the higher end - ask your IT or multimedia expert about professional screens.
The next thing you’ll need is a software to run the content.
In the case of a school, using an existing presentation software is usually a quick win, you just grab the shared public link, and put it on the screen.
Next thing you’ll need is optional, if your screen can show a URL, or install a proprietary app on it, you can get away without any external device attached to your screen.
In case you still need one, look for hardware that is affordable for you, accessible and easy to maintain, then find the software that is compatible with it.
Ongoing Maintenance
Content Management
For ongoing maintenance, you need a clear plan regarding who’s updating the screens and how it is being integrated in their work. Having screens that don’t update is worse than having no screens at all, so make sure you know how you keep the screens fresh.
Error Handling
The last thing, is knowing who is going to handle malfunctions.
Is it you? Can you handle an occasionally failed screen? Do you have someone to delegate this to?
It’s important you choose hardware and software that will match your handling abilities, usually, when you invest more in the hardware, you’ll get more peace of mind.
The sweet spot here is a professional grade display, that will cost more in the initial investment, but will eliminate the need for other hardware, and will usually run for years without interruption. Make sure you get a model your chosen software supports.
Summary
While there are definitely other ways to get your message across, sometimes more directly, a public display has some advantages over other methods.
The ability to be in front of their audience when it is most likely to receive the message, and in a non-intrusive manner open up new possibilities to share more content.
While there is some research and work involved in setting this up, if you feel your school can benefit from digital signage, it is worth the effort, as great communication often lead to great results in many other aspects.
Your main concern on ongoing basis is making sure someone is in charge of keeping the content fresh, this is a recipe for a screen that everyone will turn to for the most accurate information.