Back-to-School Communication: The Right Time, the Right Way, and with the Right Tone

Whether your child is going to a new school or one they have been at for years, partnering with your child’s school is the most proactive step you can take to best champion your child’s education this year. This is true for preschool through high school students. One of the keys to this partnership is to start a working relationship with your child’s teacher by communicating before there is a need to communicate. Here are my top three tips for doing this in the best way possible–At the Right Time, in the Right Way, and with the Right Tone.

The Right Time

If your school has a Back-to-School event, make every effort to attend, as this is a great chance to meet your child’s teacher face-to-face. While there, keep your introduction short and sweet and only mention the most important things. For me, this is usually that my children have two households, so both parents must receive all communication (because, face it, kids forget to tell us stuff). This is also a good time to mention if you speak another language at home and need communication provided in that language.

When talking to your child’s teacher in a Back-to-School or Meet-and-Greet session, it’s essential not to monopolize their time. Teachers often meet 30+ families at these events, so it is not the time to walk the teacher through your child’s strengths and weaknesses or complain about last year’s teacher– which you shouldn’t do anyway.

Whether you made it to meet your child’s teacher face-to-face or not, follow up with a short and sweet introductory email with any information you think is essential for your child’s teacher

to begin the year knowing.

The Right Way

Email is usually best unless your child’s teacher specifically asks for another method of communication or if it’s an emergency or a timely need. Often teachers aren’t able to check emails until the end of the day, so if you need your child’s teacher to know something “right now,” a phone call is better.

When emailing, make sure you identify yourself (especially at the beginning of the year) by putting your child’s name in the subject line or starting the email out with “Hi, I’m so-and-so’s mom.” While last names sometimes help match a parent to a child, it's becoming more common for children to have different last names than parents, so help the teacher avoid sifting through the school records and simply say who you are. Also, make sure to include your email and phone number at the end of the email so the teacher can contact you back without having to look up your information- saving the teacher time and getting a response as quickly as possible.

The Right Tone

This is probably the most important tip and also the toughest to do right, especially over email. Since you are sending an introductory email before you need to communicate about anything heavy, use this as an opportunity to set a collaborative relationship between you and the teacher. You can do this by making comments such as: “I look forward to working with you this year to help (my child) have a successful year” or “Thank you so much for all you do, we look forward to partnering with you” or “Please reach out if there is anything you think I need to know about (my child’s) behavior or academics and let me know any way I can help.” By opening the door for future communication, you are initiating your teacher-parent partnership, one of the best ways to champion your child this year. Remember to keep your tone light, positive, and collaborative. (Also, always check for spelling errors).

Remember to start this year’s school partnership with communication at the right time, the right way, and with the right tone!