Twitter, the microblogging site that has become a social media powerhouse, has also become a new media tool for private-independent schools. If you are tweeting now as part of your communication plan for constituents—or if you haven’t gotten into it yet—here are four tips to make your efforts highly effective.

Facebook and other social media outlets give you immediate access to your constituents. You can share information quickly and provide links to your Web site and other areas. Facebook also gives those constituents plenty of opportunity to talk back. This is a good thing, since you want to engage those individuals; you want your “fans” to say great things about your school.

Social media has quickly become part of the fiber of our culture—a pervasive yet effective means of connecting with your community and spreading the word about your school to a broader audience. In a recent Webinar hosted by edsocialmedia.com titled Social Media and Branding: Composing a Cohesive Tune, Rob Norman of Turnaround Marketing Communications asked, “How can I create branded content?” His answer was “give the audience what they want.”

Since the start of the new school year we’ve published several articles about bullying. Here is a simple checklist you can distribute to students and teachers.

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Do you know your risks? While the stereotype is that diabetes appears only in older people who weight more than recommended, in fact, this illness can affect anyone of any age or size. Take this oppurtunity to familiarize yourself with the warning signs and risks of Diabetes Type 1 and Type 2.

Students age 14 to 18 from around the world have a chance to get their experiments onto the International Space Station thanks to the YouTube Space Lab, launched by Lenovo and Google!

The Los Angeles Times recently reported on an unusual fund-raising event at an LA area public high school—food truck night.

We live in a society that is plugged in 24/7/365. Whether we’re engaged through social media, working from home, or staying current on our smart devices, we’re constantly being fed information—at an enormous rate. This has enabled a trend of today’s work force working around the clock (or, at least checking in/being updated), putting their health aside in order to get ahead.

For those of us who grew up in the 1960s, getting excited about space travel seemed to be part of our daily life. First the Gemini missions, then Apollo 8 orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve. And who wasn’t holding their breath for “one small step for man…one giant leap for mankind”? For kids today, space missions are just, well, are. NASA wants to change that.

Commentary by Barbara Beachley, ISM Associate Consultant "I’m so tired of everyone talking about preparing us for the 21st century! Hello, we’re 10% done with it already!” An insightful junior made this statement in my advisory group when I was an academic administrator, and it reminded me of why students are at the center of my work. They usually know a lot more than I do, and that’s good news because they’re soon going to be running the world.