How to Subscribe to Events on Your School Calendar

Many families try to keep track of school events in their personal calendars.

The problem is that school events change. New fundraisers get added. Meeting times shift. Programs get rescheduled.

Instead of manually typing events into your calendar, you can connect directly to your school’s Big Nest calendar.

Once connected, events can appear automatically on your phone, tablet, or computer.

There are two ways to do this and I’ll explain them both below.

 

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Option 1: Download Events to Your Calendar

This is a good option if your PTO, PTG, PTA typically sets their events in the begining of the school year and it unlikely they’ll change. If you’re a newer parent group or your antipate some mid-year updates and addition, skip to option2.

Option 1 is simplest option. You simply download all the events at once once.

This approach will the current events to your calendar, but it will not update automatically if events change later.

To do this:

1. Visit your school’s Calendar page.
2. Click Download Calendar.
3. Open the downloaded file on your device.
4. You may have to tap on it to get your calendar app to load the events.

Most phones and computers will automatically ask if you want to add the events to your calendar.

Once confirmed, the events will appear alongside your personal calendar entries.

This option works well if you only want a snapshot of the current events.

 

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Option 2: Subscribe to the Calendar

The better option is to subscribe to the calendar.

When you subscribe, your calendar app (iCal, Google Calendar, or Outlook) periodically checks the Big Nest calendar for updates.

That means:

• new events appear automatically
• date changes update automatically
• canceled events disappear automatically

You only need to subscribe once.

After that, your calendar stays in sync with the school.

To subscribe:

1. Visit your Big Nest Calendar page (usually /calendar)
2. Click Subscribe to Calendar.
3. Copy the subscription link.
4. Open your calendar app and paste in the URL.

Most calendar apps allow you to add a subscription link under settings like:

Add Calendar → From URL

This works with:

• Apple Calendar (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
• Google Calendar
• Outlook
• most other calendar apps

 

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How Often Calendars Update

When you subscribe to a calendar, your device periodically checks for updates.

Each calendar app handles this slightly differently.

Typical refresh behavior:

Apple Calendar

• usually checks every 15–60 minutes
• sometimes updates immediately when the calendar is opened

Google Calendar

• typically refreshes every several hours
• sometimes faster depending on device activity

Outlook

• typically refreshes every several hours
• sometimes faster depending on device activity

Because these refresh intervals are controlled by Apple, Google, and Microsoft updates may not appear instantly.

However, you can expect changes to show up the same day.

 

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Why Subscribing Is Helpful

Subscribing to your school calendar means you don’t have to remember to update anything.

For example, if your PTG adds a new fundraiser or changes the time of a meeting, the event will update automatically on your phone.

Many families subscribe so they can see:

• school holidays
• PTG events
• after-school programs
• fundraisers
• special activities

all in the same place as their family schedule.

 

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Frequently Asked Questions

Will this clutter my calendar?

No. The school calendar appears as a separate calendar layer inside your calendar app. You can toggle it on or off anytime.

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Can I unsubscribe later?

Yes. If you no longer want the events, you can remove the subscription from your calendar settings.

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Do I need a Big Nest account to subscribe?

No. Anyone can subscribe to a public school calendar.