In the rush to adapt to virtual meetings and events, schools everywhere have found themselves navigating unfamiliar territory. Video calls and webinars have become an everyday tool for connecting with families, students, and staff—but making these virtual moments feel engaging can be a challenge.

“You’re on mute.” “Can I share my screen?” “Is it recording?”

The content of the meeting is always key, but the ‘run of show’ and the setting, even a virtual one, play an important role in how your school is perceived.

Custom Zoom Backgrounds For Your School

What may seem like a small detail is actually an opportunity to showcase your school’s personality, reinforce your brand, and add a touch of creativity to virtual interactions. From campus snapshots to school-branded designs, these backgrounds can transform a messy office into a lasting impression.

How to Create Your Own Zoom Virtual Background

Creating your own Zoom virtual background is simple and can be a fun way to personalize your school’s virtual meetings. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started:

1. Choose or Create an Image

You can use any image you have on hand, download one from online, or design your own. If you want to create a custom image, there are plenty of tools like Canva or Adobe Spark that make it easy to design one.

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Image Format: Make sure your image is in the correct file format—Zoom accepts GIF, JPG/JPEG, and PNG formats.
• Image Size: For best results, the recommended size is 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels. A minimum size of 960 pixels by 540 pixels can also work, but higher-resolution images tend to look cleaner.
• File Size: Keep the file size under 5MB so it uploads easily. If your image is too large, you can compress it without losing quality with tools like Squoosh or TinyPNG.

If you’re creating a background from scratch, you can use a school logo, a favorite campus photo, or even design something with your school’s colors and mascot.

2. How to Set Up a Virtual Background in Zoom

Once you have your image ready, it’s time to set it up in Zoom.

Before a Meeting:

• Open the Zoom app on your desktop.
• Click on the settings icon in the top-right corner of the app (it looks like a gear).
• In the settings menu, select “Background & Effects” on the left sidebar.
• Under the “Virtual Background” section, you’ll see a few default background options. To add your custom image, click the “+” button next to where it says “Virtual Background.”
• Upload the image file you want to use, and it will appear as your virtual background.

During a Meeting:

• Start or join a Zoom meeting.
• In the bottom left corner of the screen, click the upward arrow (^) next to the Stop Video button.
• Select “Adjust  Background 7 Effects” from the menu.
• If you’ve already uploaded your background, you can choose it from the list. If not, click the “+” button to upload your image.
• The background will automatically apply to your video feed.

3. Additional Tips for Success

Green Screen Option: If you have a physical green screen behind you, check the “I have a green screen” option in the virtual background settings for a crisper image.
Lighting: Good lighting can help your background look better. Make sure the light is in front of you, not behind, to avoid shadows that affect the background quality.

Virtual Engagement Strategies for Schools

Schools are relying more on virtual events to connect with families and prospective students. Virtual backgrounds can be a small but powerful part of creating professional, engaging interactions. When hosting virtual revisit days, parent panels, or even student orientation sessions, a custom virtual background can make a significant difference in how your school is perceived.

Rather than having teachers and staff sit in front of a cluttered background, using a clean, branded image of your campus or school logo keeps the focus on the message you’re delivering. It adds a layer of polish to virtual interactions, giving the event a more organized, put-together feel.

Ways to Implement This:

• Virtual Admissions Events: Custom backgrounds showcasing campus images or school mascots can help prospective families visualize the school environment, even from their living rooms.
• Staff Meetings: School-branded backgrounds create a consistent, professional look across internal meetings, reinforcing a unified message.
• Revisit Days and Panels: Setting a tone with a well-designed background adds a bit of excitement and school pride, improving the overall experience.

Promoting virtual backgrounds in this way ties directly into a school’s larger strategy of using online tools to stay connected with families and maintain a professional image.

Keep Reading: How to Host Virtual School Events: A 10-Step Planning Guide

School Branded Virtual Backgrounds

Brand consistency is key when it comes to school marketing. Every communication touchpoint, including virtual meetings, should reflect your school’s brand. Virtual backgrounds provide an easy way to extend your branding into virtual spaces. By using a background that includes your school’s logo, colors, or even a familiar spot on campus, you strengthen your visual identity, just like Skyline High School's approach.

Having different staff members or school ambassadors use the same virtual background during meetings with prospective families builds trust. It reinforces the idea that your school is well-organized and intentional about its image, which leaves a lasting impression on those you interact with.

Suggestions for Branding Your Virtual Backgrounds:

• Logo and Colors: Keep it simple with a clean background featuring your school’s logo and colors. It’s a subtle yet effective way to remind participants of your school’s brand.
• Photos of Campus: Feature popular campus locations, such as a beautiful quad, athletic field, or iconic building. This can give virtual attendees a sense of being there without physically visiting.
• Branded Templates for Families: Share school-branded Zoom backgrounds with your community for events like virtual orientations or parent-teacher conferences, adding a sense of unity and pride.

Branding is how your school presents itself in every interaction, and virtual backgrounds can easily fit into a cohesive marketing strategy.

Repurposing Your School’s Virtual Backgrounds

Since you’ve put the effort into creating these branded backgrounds, consider repurposing them into banners for your other digital content to save time and keep your visual identity consistent across all platforms.

How Digital Content Creation Fits In:

• Social Media: Use the same designs across Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube headers to create a cohesive look and feel across your platforms.
• Newsletters: Incorporate those custom backgrounds into your digital newsletters to make the email experience more visually engaging.
• Website Visuals: Feature your campus and school brand in website banners or landing pages to maintain a consistent story throughout your digital content.

Running a Successful Virtual Event

Virtual backgrounds are a small piece of the bigger picture: running successful virtual events. Schools are increasingly using virtual tools to host open houses, parent-teacher conferences, and information sessions. Having a virtual event strategy ensures these interactions are seamless and impactful.

A strong virtual event plan requires careful coordination of branding, communication, and follow-up to provide a meaningful experience for families. Your school needs to think about how it manages the event, promotes it, and keeps families engaged—Berkshire School offers multiple opportunities for families to connect virtually for its admissions events with open houses, presentations, and roundtables to discuss all aspects of student life.

Considerations for Virtual Event Management:

• Promotion: Use email campaigns, social media, and your school’s website to advertise the event and encourage registration.
• Post-Event Follow-Up: After the event, send a thank-you email or a survey to participants to gather feedback and keep the conversation going.
• Real-Time Engagement: During the event, use polls or Q&A features to engage participants and assign staff to moderate chat rooms for smooth communication.

Focus on Community Engagement

Schools are always looking for new ways to engage with their communities, and virtual backgrounds offer a creative solution for this. Whether it’s internal staff meetings or virtual events for families, custom backgrounds are an easy way to generate school pride and involvement.

How to Use Custom Virtual Backgrounds for Community Engagement:

• School Spirit Contests: Encourage students and families to create their own Zoom backgrounds and vote on their favorites. This can be a fun way to get the community involved while showing off creativity.
• Virtual Graduations: Use special backgrounds to highlight graduation events, with photos of campus or congratulatory messages. Have staff and families use the same background to create unity in the celebration.
• Internal Engagement: Create custom backgrounds for internal meetings that feature motivational quotes, upcoming events, or even light-hearted images to boost morale and keep everyone connected.

Key Takeaway

Beyond improving the aesthetics of your school’s next meeting, these virtual touches can be a part of a broader strategy to boost school engagement, improve branding consistency, and connect with your community in fun and memorable ways.