Schools across the country are using classroom management apps to enhance the education of students and help teachers improve their lesson plans. These apps help teachers better manage grades, student attendance, seating charts, parent communication, and more. 

Many schools are incorporating technology into their lesson plans to further engage their students and get them excited about learning. Some examples are so innovative that they've caught the attention of local news outlets and gone viral! 

Schools and parent communication have reached a crossroad in recent years thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and mobile apps. Currently, 77% of all U.S. adults own a smartphone and nearly 55% of them receive news alerts on their phones. As this trend toward mobile communication continues, technology companies are fast developing mobile apps that cater to the needs of school communities. Now teachers, parents, and students can communicate and collaborate more easily without having to rely on more traditional forms of communication like phone calls and letters.

Social media platforms have become such a powerful communication and marketing tool that even SNA publishes resources to help teach nutrition programs how to create effective social media strategy. While online communities continue to grow and change, Facebook still remains one of the most used social platform, even compared to Instagram and Twitter.

With so many active users, Facebook can be a huge asset to promoting your program and encouraging parents to have their kids grab lunch at school. So let's make sure we're doing everything we can to grab their attention and get real returns with your Facebook social strategy. 

Here are 9 dos and donts to effectively managing your nutrition program's Facebook Page:

Recently, it's become common to see pictures of school meals shared online that students and parents deem unacceptable. Or, to see an article that negatively compares American school lunches to those from other countries. Unfortunately, this trend perpetuates an already dangerous, false stigma that all American school lunches are unacceptable. And we know that's not the case!

Parents want to be assured that their students are served healthy, delicious meals at school, but may be wary if that is actually the case based on content they see online. Combating this negative stigma can be difficult, but it's become a necessary battle for school nutrition departments across the country.

Here are a few tips that can help you get upset parents on board with schools meals:

Most have started – thinking, planning, and organizing for the 2017-2018 school year. It's never too early to begin organizing materials, student class enrollment, back to school kick off, student registration events, and fall programs.

Does student lunch participation come to mind? How do you plan to get more students involved in purchasing lunch? Do you consider the short lunch period – where cafeteria staff feel rushed to transact students and make sure they have time to eat?

Our research shows that for every student who submits cash or check payment, it can take up to 7 seconds for the transaction to complete.

What does that mean? 50 students could add 6 minutes to each lunch period.  If those same students prepaid for their meals, more time can be spent making additional sales at your serving lines.

MySchoolBucks provides a library of supporting material to help promote its service to students and parents. Utilizing these FREE resources can help get the word out to parents, increase participation and speed up your serving lines!

Promotional materials are also available for School Store users. Promote a school event, apparel, tech fees and more! Create a custom flyer, add your own message and logo and have them sent directly to you.

To place an order or access any of these materials, be sure to visit MySchoolBucks Marketing Central.  

In the morning, school breakfast offers the necessary nutrition a student needs to thrive and grow in the classroom throughout the day. Across the county, districts have been adopting and growing their school breakfast programs.

We've rounded up our top 3 articles about school breakfast:

TED is a nonprofit organization that strives to spread ideas, spark curiosity, share information, and start conversations about topics that matter. Their short-form, powerful TED Talks cover a myriad of topics from technology to sociology and fine arts to nutrition.

In the spirit of sharing ideas, we've rounded up 5 inspirational, thought-provoking TED Talks that will get you talking about nutrition in schools:

Meeting and connecting with other nutrition professionals is a great way to help develop and grow your career in school nutrition. After all, your peers are your best resource to learn new tips and skills, understand best practices, and share success stories. Here are a number of ways you can connect with other school nutrition professionals in your area:

Did you know that over 82% of internet users ages 18-29 and 79% of internet users ages 30-49 are on Facebook?  Even more important than this stat is the fact that many of these users are likely your district's parents.  Creating a business page on Facebook to promote your school nutrition program provides a whole new way to engage with parents in a fun and rewarding way.  Use it to showcase the nutritious food your staff is preparing each day, build trust with your parents, solicit valuable feedback, and more.