The start of a new school year is exciting for so many reasons. Above all, your classroom is refreshed and ready to welcome a new bunch of eager learners. You have incredible lessons planned, and before you know it, things will be up and running. There will be so much to share with your class families at home! Why Classroom Newsletters? Communicating with class families is essential when it comes to building a strong home/school connection. Newsletters are a way to give parents a peek at all of the wonderful things that are going on in your classroom. Families love to know what's happening in their child's classroom, and how they can support at home. The nuts and bolts of class newsletters: Content that makes families feel connected to their child's learning and the larger school community. Not sure where to start? Find your answers here by including THESE 5 THINGS! 1. HOW OFTEN AND WHEN? Before you put together all of your amazing information, decide on how often you'll send your newsletter out (weekly? every two weeks? monthly?) and when you'll send them out. The best you can, make it consistent! I send out a weekly newsletter to my class families, via email. I send the newsletter on the Friday morning before the week ahead. For example, I'd send my newsletter for the week of September 21st - 25th on Friday, September 18th. Now, real talk friends... are there some weeks where I get the newsletter for the week ahead emailed on Saturday or Sunday? Of course, YES! Life happens. For the most part though, I really try to hold myself accountable to that Friday morning. I've found that this is a perfect balance between families having enough time to review what's coming in the week ahead, and for me to have enough foresight to relay accurate information about what I'm actually going to be teaching. Decide what works best for you and your class! 2. YOUR INFORMATION It's super helpful for your name, grade level/room number, and contact info to be smack dab at the top of your newsletter! This is especially helpful for families who have more than one child at school. You can never be too clear about who you are, what expectations you have for your class, and how families can be in touch with you. 3. CURRICULUM INFORMATION When I first started teaching, I was SO eager to let families know what their children were learning in school. I still am, but I've changed the way I present this information. Way back when, I'd write PARAGRAPHS about what was going on in the classroom. These paragraphs often included teacher jargon like balanced literacy, scope & sequence... yada yada. You get the idea. Here's the thing. Parents have super busy lives and oftentimes, they weren't interested in didn't have time for reading my long-winded, thesis-quality paragraphs. Things to remember when highlighting what your students are learning: Big ideas in each subject area Simplicity Less is more Avoid teacher lingo Reading these efficient highlights about the magical things that are going on in your classroom will keep families on track, and give some background info for the awesome work their children are bringing home. 4. REMINDERS If you're anything like me, your life is filled with strategically-placed sticky notes with "don't forget's" and "remember to's." Having a dedicated place in your class newsletter for reminders about daily classroom life, school policies, special classes... you name it, is a must. As the classroom teacher, you're covering your bases and making expectations clear. You stay on track, class families stay on track... everybody wins! 5. UPCOMING IMPORTANT DAYS Including a place in your newsletter for future events allows you to give your class families a peek at what's ahead. Parents will be thankful for this addition, so they can add these dates to their own calendars, request time off work for to chaperone that field trip, or book the babysitter for that mid-week day off school. In my newsletters, I try to highlight upcoming events or special dates from the next month or two. This way, I know that I'm giving plenty of notice without looking too far ahead. ---------- You can download these FREE Editable August and September Newsletters if you're interested. (They're part of the Free Resource Library!) You can grab the editable newsletters for the ENTIRE YEAR right here. Weekly/Monthly & Color/Black & White formats are included! Just type in your classroom happenings, and send 'em home to your families! Be sure to install the fonts KG Miss Kindergarten and KG Red Hands to edit the text. Hopefully these newsletter templates help you kick off the year on a strong note with parent communication. ---------- If you'd like to learn a little bit more about how I love to build a strong home/school connection from the get-go, head on over to this blog post to read about how I begin establish these positive connections before the school year even starts! What are your best tips for effectively communicating class news? Would you add anything to the newsletter must-haves? I'd love for you to comment and let me know what's worked best for you and your class!