Inside the School Newsletters That Worked Best in 2025

TL; DR

Smore’s December webinar highlighted school newsletter best practices that made 2025’s strongest newsletters work. Clear structure helped families scan quickly. Consistent formatting built trust. A more human tone encouraged families to keep opening. The session also paired an educator with a marketer so viewers could see communication through two connected lenses: what families need to navigate school life and what drives engagement. 

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How Schools Built Clearer, More Engaging Newsletters in 2025

At the end of each year, communication teams look for ways to strengthen family engagement without increasing workload. That is what inspired Smore’s recent webinar, where Smore’s Director of Growth Marketing, David Leshaw, joined Smore’s Director of Education, Dr. Kara Stern, to break down newsletters that connected with families in 2025.

The combination of educator and marketer insights was one of the most interesting parts of the session. Kara focused on clarity, consistency, and connection. David shared the marketing principles behind why certain choices increased opens and clicks. Together, they showed how school newsletter best practices, like simple design decisions, can help families read more and feel more connected.

Below are three highlights from the session. The full webinar includes a deeper walkthrough of templates and additional examples you can use right away.

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1. Strong Newsletters Shared Three Qualities

The strongest newsletters in 2025 were clear, consistent, and human.

Clarity

Simple headers and clean spacing helped families understand what they were looking at in seconds.

Consistency

Predictable layouts and formatting reduced friction and built trust.

Connection

Warm tone and real school moments kept newsletters personal.

Kara explained why these qualities matter for family relationships. David connected them to engagement drivers marketers rely on every day. Together, they showed why these choices lead to higher readership.

2. Mobile-Ready Design Supported Busy Families

During the session, Kara and David walked through a set of newsletters that worked especially well on mobile.

These newsletters used mobile best practices like:

• Large headings that guided the eye
• Short paragraphs that supported quick reading
• Visual spacing that reduced clutter
• Clear hierarchy of information
• One small interactive element

Kara discussed why families benefit from design that supports scanning. David explained how this visual hierarchy mirrors best practices in marketing emails.

3. District Newsletters Worked Best When They Reached All Audiences

One district example shown in the webinar highlighted leadership updates, staff stories, parent testimonials, and student learning in a clear layout.

Kara focused on the community-building impact of this format. David explained how inclusive content supports engagement across multiple audience segments.

This example also provided a model that district leaders can use to guide building-level communication.

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What You Did Not See Here (The Real Tease 😉)

These highlights are a small part of the full session. The webinar includes:

A closer look at newsletter templates that improved engagement

David and Kara showed specific templates from classrooms, buildings, and districts and explained why each layout worked. These were practical examples that communication teams can adopt.

Kara’s Method

Kara shared the five-step framework behind Smore’s most-used templates. It included reader intent, mobile-first structure, scroll length, visual support, and interaction.

She also pointed viewers to her templates on the Educator Hive, which teams can use right away.

Watch the Webinar On Demand

The school newsletter best practices and strategies work across district communication offices, school leadership teams, and classroom educators. No matter your role, you will walk away with approaches you can try next month.

Watch the full webinar here.