Make open house and back-to-school night easier to find
On back-to-school night, families arrive in a rush and many don’t know the building. Screens at the entrance and in the main hallways can greet them, share the schedule and point the way, so staff spend the night talking with parents instead of giving directions.
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Why it matters
New families don’t know where anything is
Ninth-grade and transfer families walk in without a map, and the printed schedules run out early. Staff at the door repeat the same directions all night. The first impression is a crowded hallway and a line of questions.
Ideas for Open House and Back-to-School Night
A welcome with the event name
Greet families with the name of the night and the date. Add the principal’s photo and a one-line welcome.
The evening’s schedule
Show when the general session starts and how long each class visit lasts, in large type.
Where to go
Point families to the gym, the library, the counseling office and each grade’s wing. Use simple arrows and room numbers.
Sign-up tables and volunteers
Promote the PTA table, booster club sign-ups and current volunteer needs.
What’s ahead this fall
Preview picture day, the first home game and the fall concert so families add them to their calendars.
Welcomes in families’ languages
If your school serves families who speak other languages, add welcome slides written or checked by your staff.
How it works with Digital Signage
Open House and Back-to-School Night, step by step.
Three steps
Build the night in Google Slides
Link the front office’s open house deck to the screen once. Room changes made in Slides reach the screen at its next refresh, which happens about every 20 minutes.
Schedule it for the evening only
Set the open house items to start the afternoon of the event and end that night, so the screen is back to normal by morning.
Check every screen before doors open
Use the editor’s preview and online status to confirm each hallway screen shows the right thing before families arrive.
Setups vary by school; your demo confirms what yours will use.
Best practices
Tips to get it right.
Open House and Back-to-School Night tips
Use the same room names as the map
If the printed map says B-wing, the screen should too.
Put directions near the doors
Families need the where-to-go slide at the entrance, not halfway down the hall.
Keep the arrival screen short
During arrival, two or three slides are enough: welcome, schedule and where to go.
Plan for questions after
Add a slide with the main office number or school website for questions families think of on the drive home.
Keep exploring
More Digital Signage use cases
Questions
Open House and Back-to-School Night questions
A welcome, the night’s schedule, directions to key rooms and the sign-up tables families should visit. Keep it to a few slides during arrival, when people only have a few seconds to look.
You can schedule open house content to play only that evening, preview each screen from the editor and confirm it’s online before families walk in. The next morning, the screens return to their usual timelines.
Yes, as an image or PDF added to the timeline. A simple map with the evening’s rooms highlighted is easier to read than a full floor plan.
It depends on your timeline and equipment. Book a demo and we’ll check your current screens, talk through placement with your facilities and IT teams and quote the setup you choose.
Your next step
Plan your Digital Signage.
We'll show how an announcement gets on screen and comes off again when the moment has passed.
