Find a teacher that is willing to sponsor the newspaper. Check the experience and credentials of the teacher, and look for someone who has ideas on how to make the newspaper fresh and exciting for students. Find a teacher who can handle the students in an authoritative manner and can copy edit stories while offering ways to improve at the same time.
Meet with the school administration and get approval prior to starting the newspaper. Discuss the idea for the newspaper and what it will look like, including how this will benefit students in an educational way.
Assemble a student staff. Advertise the school newspaper as a chance to write stories about the school and fellow classmates. Organize a mock-interview process as a way for the students to experience going through an interview, and look for students that have a variety of interests such as feature writing, sports and opinion pieces.
Introduce a basic journalism unit to the students including discussing freedom of speech and how it applies to the journalism field. Assign practice articles for the students to write, and visit the library to show the staff how to properly research an article and find sources from books.
Decide the size of the newspaper and how often it will be printed. Determine the number and types of articles to be included in each issue.
Brainstorm specific stories with the newspaper staff, and ask the students to choose what they would like to write. Offer different kinds of stories such as class activities, sports, poetry, fashion advice or individual feature stories on teachers and students. Localize local, state and national events on a school level, explaining how that event impacts students. Divide any remaining stories among the writing staff, making sure each student has an equal number of writing responsibilities.
Develop a budget for the newspaper. Find a way to absorb printing costs and distribution through advertising or fees if no budget is available for a school newspaper. Decide how the proceeds will be spent if additional money is available.
Find a way to print the completed newspaper such as through the school district or a local newspaper. Shop around to find the most reasonable price if the school district does not have any printing services.
Create the templates for the articles, and work on a basic layout for the newspaper. Involve the students in the design process, so that they can learn exactly what goes into creating a newspaper.
Set deadlines for each article depending on the length and the amount of time that will be needed. Require that the stories be written during the allotted time for the newspaper to meet so you can help out and answer questions. Offer constructive criticism and helpful information to the students, so their writing can improve.
Proofread the articles soon after they are submitted. Meet one-on-one with each student to discuss the articles and any revisions they need to complete prior to publishing.
Find a location to distribute the newspaper. Assign one of the newspaper staff members to go to each classroom and advertise the newspaper with information on where to find it.