LEADINGtheJOURNEY
An E-newsletter on EXCELLENCE in Leadership
Student Publications
The principal serves as the publisher of all student publications. Publishers carefully monitor the development, presentation, and distribution of digital and paper newspapers, journals, yearbooks, student and faculty photos, etc. Publications should routinely be reviewed cooperatively with faculty sponsors in advance of production and distribution.
Specific information for sponsors includes:
- Budget parameters
- Editorial prerogatives
- Parameters for securing and selecting advertisers/vendors
- Protocol/procedures for processing legitimate complaints and/or concerns
- Publication and distribution deadline dates
- Student charges
- Student privacy issues, including media release forms
(Found in the Handbook for Principals 2024, under Curricular Programs, p.59.)
November 2025 | Volume 14, No. 4
Previous Issues
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The Principal and Student Publications:
Nurturing Voice, Leadership, and Mission
By Ray Tetz
Director of Communications and Community Engagement—Pacific Union Conference
Student voices matter. Trust young people with the opportunity to speak up and you won’t be disappointed. (Surprised, maybe, but not disappointed.)
Faithfulness for the big decisions is developed through opportunities for smaller ones. Student publications are places for students to model and see the results of accuracy, transparency, fairness, and living up to their commitments.
And perhaps the most important from a strategic standpoint, community thrives on communication. Student publications are not just a way to help develop those whose voices will help shape our institutions and communities in the future. They are also one of the most fertile ways in which the tapestry of grace and service created in a school is shared with a wide audience.
One of the first ways I was invited to participate in the greater life of my school was in the eighth grade, when my English teacher encouraged me to help create a student newspaper. For kids who didn’t know how to type, this was a challenge. The articles were about 35 words long, but they gave us a chance to take note of what was important in our world—in our own voices. I look back on that experience as the moment when I realized there was something special about expressing myself while also speaking up for my community.
In academy, Miss Edith Davis, the most perceptive and determined teacher I ever had, told me, “You may actually have talent, but you are possibly the most undisciplined writer I’ve ever taught.” She proceeded to propel me into the editorship of the student newspaper while mercilessly marking up my attempts at writing. I came to trust her for her honesty and transparency, and we remained lifelong friends. I remember her hauling me in for a meeting with the principal so he would know what we were planning. That may have been my first administrative meeting.
When my family moved to a new city and a new academy during my junior year, I joined both the yearbook and the student newspaper, serving as the newspaper editor my senior year. I began looking for ways to get my writing published outside of school, and I helped start a publication at my church. I got my first taste of publishing and began to realize that publications could be used to help build community, advocacy, and consensus.
Student publications taught me three enduring lessons that had little to do with the quality of my writing.
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Principals have a special opportunity to connect with students, families, and the wider community through student publications. While they cannot replace regular marketing and student life publications, student publications can serve as winsome first-person narratives of the true character and mission of the school community.
Publications help principals and faculty connect the dots between life at school and the ebb and flow of daily living. Nurturing the young leadership of student publications is an important way for administrators to forge broader, more productive relationships with students themselves, their wide circles of friends and influence, and their parents and grandparents. (And student communicators make great recruiters!) Through student publications, one can readily observe and nurture the growth of students with interests in media and communication, while knowing that much of their creative expression will be useful in linking the mission of an Adventist academy to the communities it is called to serve.
Are Your Student Publications and Social Media Accounts Marketing Your School?
By Dan Nicola
Principal—Monterey Bay Academy
Let's face it—student publications and social media can be a real headache. Students with an axe to grind, staff members who don't take their role as publications sponsor seriously, inappropriate content, and missed deadlines—all these things can inadvertently contribute to negative marketing for your school. The fallout can be significant, potentially eroding community trust and support or even leading to legal issues.
On the other hand, with some proper planning and oversight, your student publications and social media platforms can serve as some of your school's most significant marketing tools. By sharing stories, events, and achievements, your students can help build the school's identity and create a positive image within your community. And besides, what parent doesn't want to see their son or daughter featured in an Instagram post or read a well-written article by or about their child in the school newsletter?
We need to acknowledge that there is an inherent risk in a school allowing students access to any school publication or social media platform, and many principals will seek the lowest-risk option rather than put themselves or their school in a precarious position. However, Gary Ryan Blair, president of The Goals Guy, a training organization that specializes in helping clients enhance their performance and achieve their goals, says this about risk:
"Creative risk-taking is essential to success in any goal where the stakes are high. Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution, which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize an opportunity."
Collaborate with Students on Clear Guidelines
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Set Expectations: Work together to establish clear guidelines that outline the type of content that is acceptable. Make sure to cover tone, language, accuracy, and appropriateness for the school community.
Balance Free Expression with Responsibility: Encourage students to thoughtfully evaluate whether the publication in question is the appropriate platform for their topic.
Encourage Positive Themes
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Highlight School Achievements: Remind students that everyone wants their accomplishments celebrated—whether academic, extracurricular, or community-based.
Feature Role Models: Encourage students to write stories about inspirational figures in the school community—teachers, students, alumni, etc.
Promote Inclusivity: Ensure that content reflects the diverse interests, backgrounds, and perspectives of the entire school community.
Foster Open Communication
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Encourage Dialogue: Find time for regular dialogue between the principal, faculty, and student editors to help maintain alignment between the publication's goals and the school's values.
Address Controversial Topics Thoughtfully: If a sensitive or controversial issue arises, guide students through handling it responsibly, offering perspectives from various sides of the debate, and discussing how to present the ideas in a balanced, respectful way or whether it needs to be published at all.
Provide Training and Mentorship
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Journalism Workshops: Offer workshops on journalistic ethics, writing skills, and the importance of fact-checking.
Social Media Content: Discuss the psychological impact of online content and how positivity can boost mental health, spread kindness, and reduce stress.
Faculty Advisors: Appoint experienced teachers or faculty members who can guide students through the editorial process and ensure content aligns with the school's mission.
Encourage Professionalism
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Adopt Editorial Standards: Help students develop a student-led editorial board and set professional editorial checks and balances that they implement themselves, such as reviewing drafts, ensuring proper sourcing of information, and avoiding content that contributes to harmful or unrealistic standards or comparisons.
Promote Ethical Reporting: Teach students the importance of journalistic ethics, including accuracy, fairness, impartiality, and kindness.
Review and Approve Content
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Pre-Publication Review: As the school board-designated publisher, the principal or a trusted designee should review all content before publication. Reviewing content ensures that nothing inappropriate, inaccurate, or harmful will be printed.
Constructive Feedback: If a piece needs revision, offer constructive feedback to students to help them grow while also ensuring that the final product represents the school well.
Promote School Spirit and Community Engagement
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Support School Initiatives: Encourage students to cover and participate in school events like spiritual activities, sports events, clubs, and academic competitions to foster school spirit and showcase the positive aspects of the school.
Celebrate Community Involvement: Highlight community outreach programs and partnerships with local organizations that the school is part of, reinforcing the school's role as a positive influence on the community.
Ensure Transparency and Accountability
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Publish a Code of Ethics: Engage the students in writing a code of ethics or mission statement that is accessible to all, so everyone understands the goals and values behind the content.
Encourage Accountability: Teach students the importance of accountability by encouraging them to correct mistakes, issue apologies when necessary, and stand by their work with integrity.
Clarify the Principal's Role: Help students understand that the school board has vested the principal with the responsibility of being the publisher for all school publications, and that there always has to be someone who exercises final editorial control.
Monitor Impact
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Evaluate Feedback: Periodically ask students, parents, and faculty for their opinions on the content. Are the articles viewed positively? Is there any feedback that could lead to improvements?
Adapt Over Time: Be open to evolving the guidelines and content style based on feedback and the changing interests or concerns of the target audience to keep the publication relevant and aligned with the community's values.
The answer to the question in this article's title is, of course, yes. Everything we do is marketing our school, either positively or negatively. Allowing students a voice and a platform is essential to developing them into happy, engaged, and well-rounded young people who feel a sense of ownership and pride in representing their school through the written word and social media. The key is to establish a process that students helped develop to ensure their buy-in when the inevitable criticisms arise. By engaging your students in projecting a positive image and protecting the integrity of the school through school publications and social media platforms, you will have developed them into the strongest and most effective allies in marketing your school could ever wish for.
Social Media Platforms:
Powerful Tools for Communication
By Brian Harris
Director for Secondary Education— North Pacific Union Conference
Oh, for the days when the school administrator only needed to concern themselves with printed publications! Whether or not you share that sentiment, those times are clearly behind us. Today, the scope of school publications has broadened to include a variety of digital platforms and media. It can be a bit daunting and more than a bit distracting as you try to manage the associated challenges. My goal is to provide simple, actionable advice to help you navigate these complex waters.
Follow Applicable Laws
When considering school media accounts, there are three main legal areas to be aware of. Not all these laws may apply to your school, so it's best to consult with your superintendent and your conference's legal department for guidance.
- FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act): This law primarily governs public schools, but private schools receiving federal funds (such as those from Title programs) are also required to comply. FERPA protects students' educational records and personally identifiable information.
- COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). Schools must ensure no personal data from students under 13 is shared through school-managed accounts without verified parental consent.
- State Privacy and Defamation Laws. Private schools must adhere to state-level privacy, defamation, and cyberbullying statutes.
It is essential to follow best practices when sharing any information related to students, including avoiding posting students' names, photos, identifiable details, voice recordings, or geolocation data without obtaining written consent from a parent or guardian. Additionally, ensure that an annual media release form is collected for every student, and that the use of this information is restricted to broad, non-sensitive contexts.
Establish Schoolwide Media Policy
Principals should take the lead in creating or reviewing a social media and communication policy that includes:
- Purpose and values: Align social media use with the school's mission and vision.
- Approval process: Require administrative approval for all official posts.
- Confidentiality clause: Prohibit the disclosure of personal information about students, parents, or staff.
- Media permissions: Ensure that up-to-date consent forms are obtained for all visual media.
- Crisis management plan: Outline how communication will be handled during emergencies or controversies.
- Professional boundaries: Clarify expectations for how employees should interact with students online.
Promote Professional and Ethical Practice
As leaders in faith-based education, principals should ensure that all content—official or personal—reflects respect, dignity, and the institution's mission. Encourage students and staff to use social media as a tool for positive outreach, not division.
Teach students and staff alike about digital ethics:
- Respect privacy and consent.
- Think critically before posting—assume all posts are public and permanent.
- Address cyberbullying promptly and constructively.
Practical Tips for Safe and Effective Use
- Use official school accounts only for public communication.
- Keep login credentials secure and share with at least two administrators.
- Schedule posts thoughtfully—avoid live posting of identifiable events.
- Respond to comments professionally and steer clear of online debates.
- Archive official posts for documentation and accountability.
Social media platforms—such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok—offer powerful tools for communication, connection, and community engagement in Seventh-day Adventist schools. When used responsibly, they help share mission, celebrate student success, and build trust with families.
REFERENCES
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99. (1974).
U.S. Department of Education. (2023). Protecting student privacy under FERPA. https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506; 16 CFR Part 312. (1998).
Federal Trade Commission. (2023). Complying with COPPA: Frequently asked questions. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/complying-coppa-frequently-asked-questions
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). (2023). Social media guidelines for schools. https://www.nais.org/
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). (2023). Student data privacy laws. https://www.ncsl.org/
American Association of School Administrators (AASA). (2022). Social media use in schools: Best practices for administrators. https://www.aasa.org/
North American Division Office of Education (NAD). (2021). Guide to responsible communication and digital citizenship for Adventist schools. Silver Spring, MD: NAD Education Department.