Elementary: the letter
Fill in the blanks, cut what isn’t true of you, and send it the first week. Print two copies: one for the desk, one folded for the chair beside your child.
Dear ,
Before the year gets loud, we wanted to say: we’re glad it’s you.
You’re about to spend more waking hours with than almost anyone besides us, and we don’t take that lightly, or take it for granted. We know what a classroom of children asks of one adult, and we want you to know from the first week that this family is on your side of the effort.
A little of what we know that the roster doesn’t: lights up about . The thing that’s hard right now is , and we’re working on it at home; you won’t be alone with it. When has a rough day, what helps most is .
Here’s what you can count on from us. We’ll read what you send home. We’ll get to conferences prepared, having already talked with about how the year is going. If something’s wrong, you’ll hear it from us kindly and early, not in a pile-up in the spring. And when something goes right, when you find the key that unlocks a hard week, we will tell you so, in writing, because we suspect those notes are rarer than they should be.
If it’s ever useful to reach us before a small thing becomes a big one, we answer: . Two sentences from you is plenty; we know your evenings are spoken for.
If a paraeducator or aide shares the room with you, please pass this hello along; a copy is folded in for them, because this letter is for every adult who holds a piece of ’s day. And one more thing: there is no rule that welcome letters travel only one direction. If you ever send one back (what you’re aiming at this year, what helps on a rough day), it will be read aloud at our table.
Have a good year. We mean the whole thing: the parts with our kid in them and the parts without.
With real gratitude,
For your file: the one-glance overview
Our student: strengths · working on · settles best when · at home we practice reading together and talking about the school day out loud, kindly; your name comes up in that room, and it comes up well. This family: reachable at · assume good faith from us always · we’d rather hear a small concern in October than a large one in February, and the same door is open to you in reverse. And: please hand the folded copy to the para or aide who knows our child; this letter is addressed to them too.
The test, from the bench: a good jobsite runs on the trades trusting each other’s work. These letters are how a family shows up on day one with its end of the trust already built. Print two copies of each: one for the desk, one folded for the chair beside your child. Send them expecting nothing back. What comes back anyway, around November, is the year you were hoping for.