School signs enhance communication, but they also reflect core elements about your school. When choosing a sign, think about the message you want to convey to the community, consider the impression you want to make to passersby, and try to make sure that you are reflecting your mission statement. You can say nearly anything with a sign, but here are just a few of the characteristics you may want to emphasize.
Welcome
There is no second chance to make a good first impression, and a sign can make a great first impression while also letting your community know they are welcome to your school anytime. To create a welcoming vibe, consider a sign that lets you change the letters or digitally program in different messages. Then, you can share special events as part of your welcoming identity.
School Pride
For a sign to show school pride, you can integrate a light box element that shows off your school name and mascot. Then, to enhance your efforts, also use your LED sign to display the dates of big games, the prom, or other special events.
Student Pride
In addition to school pride, you can use your sign to emphasize student pride. It’s good to know when a school is proud of its students. Use your sign to highlight student creations or accomplishments. Or, feature dates of school theatrical performances or sporting events so you can attract a big audience to cheer your students on. You may also want to use graphics to show some of the best classes your school offers. Pictures or short videos show your community what your students are doing much more effectively than words alone, and an LED school sign makes it possible to share.
Committed to the Parents
Parents are also an essential part of your school community. To be as productive as possible, you don't just want parents to drop their kids off and pick them up with no additional involvement. If you're committed to making parents part of your school community, emphasize that fact with your signage. Keep parents in the loop by showing PTA meeting dates, open houses, student-teacher meetings, early release dates, and days off. Additionally, use your sign to publish testing dates and other information to keep administrators, students, and parents well informed. You can also post early updates about inclement weather reports: "Check tomorrow for school closings, snow is coming!" With cloud-based software, you can even update the sign to say that school has been canceled - from the comfort of your home.
Tech-Forward
If your school is big on technology, tell folks with your signage. An LED school sign can host digital messages as well as a range of media inputs. You can program these signs in advance with a computer and even schedule different messages for different times and dates. When you have a sign that facilitates up-to-the-minute communications, you say "We speak STEM" to the community. On top of that, you can use your sign in innovative ways to further the perception that your school is serious about technology.
Bully-Free Zone
In this time of social unrest, it’s good to let your community know, you don’t care for bullies! You can share the fact that your school is a bully-free zone with messages on a changeable letter sign or on a digital sign. If you're having special events such as seminars to prevent bullying or teacher training to spot bullying, you can also share that information with the community on your sign.
In Need of Help
Sometimes, you need to ask for a little help, and that's okay. Just use your sign to ask for help and donations. Show volunteer opportunities and post fundraisers. For instance, you might want to put up messages such as. "Next month is our big garage sale. Please bring us your gently used items to support our school band." or "Check out the online cookie sale fundraiser."
Prestigious
Any quality sign makes your school look a bit more prestigious, but if you want to strike a more traditional tone, consider a monument style sign. These signs feature a masonry-inspired frame that can hold a changeable letter sign, a light box sign, or an LED sign so you can make multiple statements at once.
Community Involvement
In addition to parents and students, you may want to keep your community involved. You can use your sign to give special thanks to volunteers within the community or to showcase local business sponsors who donated to the school. With these types of messages, you send a signal that your school exists both inside the brick-and-mortar institution, but also as part of the community at large.
What do you want to say with your school sign? Regardless of your answer, we can help you get the school sign that makes your desired impression. To learn more, contact us at Stewart Signs.
