The Teacher's Welcome Set

Letters for the other chair at the table, sent at the start of the year, before anything is needed. A teacher meets a hundred families a year, and nearly all of them arrive only when something is wrong; these letters arrive first, and arrive glad. There is one for each season of school: elementary (from the family), middle school (the family, with the student learning to speak for themselves), special education (for the case manager, with a chair kept for the paraeducator), and high school (in the student's own voice, because at that age the letter itself is the introduction). Each is a one-page fill-in letter plus a short overview the teacher can keep, and each travels with a folded copy for the paraeducator, aide, or behavioral tech who shares the student's day: the chair closest to the child and farthest from the mailbox. Fill in the blanks, cut what isn't true of you, and send it the first week. Handwritten beats typed. Typed beats unsent. The letters live in the Staff Room at families.goodprotocols.org/staff-room, printed two copies at a time: one for the desk, one folded for the chair beside your child.