8 Tips For Effectively Communicating With Parents

For elementary school teachers, effective communication with parents plays a critical role in student success. Each year brings a different classroom dynamic as well as parent community dynamic. So, it is important for teachers to decide the best way communicate with their students’ parents. Using today’s technological advances (e.g. email, texting, blogs, teacher webpages, and Twitter) enables us to easily and instantly distribute messages. However, not all parents possess the technology to receive information electronically. Consequently, the old fashioned weekly classroom newsletter continues to be quite effective. During my years as an elementary school teacher, at the end of each week I would send home a hard copy of the classroom newsletter with students (in the front of their binders). I also sent a digital version of the newsletter via email to their parents (just in case a newsletter did not make it into a binder or it was somehow lost in transit). It is almost certain that parents will receive the newsletter if it is in their child’s binder/homework folder (I suggest the front be the designated area). So, it is important to inform parents on Back to School Night or Open House where to look for the document that will contain important information regarding classroom activities and other pertinent information.

Here are 8 tips on how to design your classroom newsletter so that it catches parents’ eyes and doesn’t appear to be one sheet of paper amongst others.

1. Friday is the best day to send it. If it is a short week due to a holiday weekend, parent conferences, Staff Development/Teacher Workday, or extended vacation (e.g. Winter Break), send it on the last day of that week.
   
   
2. It should be aesthetically pleasing...something that screams “Read me now!”
   
   
3. Decide on a template/layout and stick with it. It will reduce the chances of information not being seen because it is not located in a place they are used to seeing it.
   
   
4. Avoid being too verbose. Keep it brief (one page) and well written with only the most pertinent information. You can also use bullet points in lieu of lengthy paragraphs.
   
   
5. Use a font that is not too gaudy. Arial, Times New Roman, and Calibri are good choices.
   
   
6. Only include information related for the week. Designate a small area for important dates for the upcoming weeks. No more than two weeks ahead.
   
   
7. Use a few graphics, but don’t overdo it. Also be sure to use pictures from field trips, class projects, and special events.
   
   
8. Tell parents what to do with the information they are receiving. For example, if you are working on multiplication in mathematics, add information about how parents can play games (dice, card) to help their child become proficient with their basic multiplication facts. Another example, if you are working on a class project that requires special materials, they can help their child acquire those materials.
   
   

Can you describe the contents of your newsletter? Do you send a hard copy and digital version via email? Do you utilize social media (class Facebook page, Twitter account, blog, or Google+ account?) in place of a traditional class newsletter to communicate with your students’ parents?

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