Navigating a school building is like finding your way through a maze. Whether you’re on a college campus or the grounds of an elementary school, it is so simple for anyone to get lost. It begins by locating the proper building, followed by figuring out parking and entrances, and then finally finding your way through endless hallways, alleys and staircases inside the structure to get to your destination. It can certainly be frustrating and it takes practice! But having clear signage inside and out of your school’s campus will help everyone get on the right path. Plus you can do it all while promoting school spirit!
Signage Needs in Schools
There are many instances when it’s important for a school to convey directions or a message to students, staff and guests.
- Safety: This comes first on the list for a reason—everyone’s safety is of the upmost importance. In general, a lot of the direction in this category comes from state and local requirements and guidelines. But beyond signage for safety exits and evacuation plans, schools need signs for pedestrian traffic, school crossings and speed calming signs. Standard metal signs on stakes will help with many of these needs.
- Exterior Directional: Beyond safety directions, there are many reasons a school will need other directional signage outside of the building. Signs are needed to direct traffic for carline pick-ups, bus pick-up/drop-off areas, and parking spot signs for visitors. For larger campuses, signs are often needed to direct drivers and delivery trucks toward popular buildings and areas of campus. Again, metal signs will work for these needs, as well as wooden post signs.
- Interior Directional: The maze continues! Not only will students need to find their way to your building, but inside as well. Directional signs help students find their way to certain wings of a building, a cluster of classrooms, the auditorium or gymnasium. But individual room signs are also necessary so students can find their specific classroom, a restroom or office.
- Building Welcome: Is it clear to newcomers that they have indeed found the right building? It’s important for a building to have the school name attached to the outside of the building, as well as street signs welcoming people to the school. This is a sign that often gets overlooked. Schools are usually happy to just stick with what’s been there for decades. But having dimensional letters attached to the building with its name is important, as well as a street sign (which can be a standard sign, or electronic for announcing important upcoming events and due date reminders).
- COIVD-19: The pandemic brings additional needs for signage—by showing the proper direction to walk to minimize crowding in halls and safety markers so students keep a safe distance in lunch lines and from the office desks. These can be done through vinyl wall and floor art, making them easily removable.
- Team Spirit: Using signs to decorate and promote school unity and team spirit is definitely one of the more fun sides to school signage. Window clings are great for projecting a message as people enter your building (the clings are see-through from the inside), and creating colorful, promotional window posters for display cases also will get your message across. Vinyl wall panels can help brighten up a hallway and cheer on your students.
Get an A+ for Proper School Signage
There are so many ways Epic Signs can help your school provide people with the directions they need and promote school spirit. Whether it’s through interior vinyl wall panels or exterior digital signage, we can help get your message across.