Keeping parents in the loop is essential for their cooperation and support. Whether you are looking to update them on your recent class activities, upcoming events or what their child needs to bring next week — we have some great examples for you.
Share school-wide updates
What’s Happened, What’s Upcoming at Our School
by Eric Ewald, Principal, Van Allen Elementary, Iowa City CSD
What we love about this newsletter: Everything you need to know is in one place. We love the title and the photos really make it stand out.
Tips from Eric:
- “Smore newsletters are great because they are visually appealing.
- All of the information that you would need to share is located on the newsletter or linked to the newsletter, which makes it very convenient to only have to share one thing.
- I would advise users to create a template that allows you to keep some of the content/information the same, and update the things that are timely.
- I create and share a Smore newsletter, weekly, with my staff, and another one, every other week, with my school community (parents, families, etc.).
- With any type of communication, consistency is key.
- And people always love pictures — they often times tell better stories than our words.”
Share a weekly update to keep parents in the loop
The Buzz
by Torian A. White, Ph.D., Principal at Southeast Bulloch Middle School
What we love about this newsletter: updates about upcoming events and links to additional information — a great way to keep an update short but informative.
Tips from Torian:
What are your tips for creating a Smore newsletter for updates to parents?
“I use one of the established templates. It’s quick, easy, and I share key events for the upcoming week. I really appreciate the ability to share to social media with one click and embed graphics, hyperlinks, and varied message lengths.
It’s also very easy to share the link with parents using our information system Parent Messenger. It goes straight to their inbox! I keep trying to improve with each newsletter!”
What are your tips for engaging parents with interactive content, such as Smore newsletter?
“For the busy administrator or educator, the use of established templates is essential. Smore is a great tool to include other information that we want parents to access — I find embedding hyperlinks to be the most helpful. It’s also a great way to share great news about the school.”
What tips would you give our user community for creating great newsletters for students, parents and colleagues?
“You can make it what you want it to be. If you’re limited on time, choose 1 or 2 templates that serve your purpose, and stick with it.”
Introduce new staff members
Oak Notes
by Kimberly Walters, Assistant Principal Klein Oak High School, University of Houston Doctoral Candidate
What we love about this newsletter: It provides parents with interesting and important information from across the school: new staff members, hurricane updates, school vision and upcoming events.
Tips from Kimberly:
What are your tips for creating a Smore newsletter for updates to parents?
- Start by gathering information from a variety of sources- pull information from counselors, admin, campus/district website etc.
- Start early and plan your content- from the next athletic event to IB Parent Meeting. Include something for all parents/students
- Ensure that you have parents correct email accounts on file for your distribution list
- Keep a digital folder to compile submission to stay organized
- Send a reminder of submission deadlines
What are your tips for engaging parents with interactive content, such as Smore newsletter?
- Use graphics and video to engage and increase the number of views
- Be consistent, distribute your newsletter at the same time/day- parents learn to look for it!
- Embed links to provide additional information
- Use a variety of visually engaging fonts and formats
- Distribute link to newsletter in a variety of modalities — Twitter, Facebook, email etc.
What tips would you give our user community for creating great newsletters for students, parents and colleagues?
Keep in mind that a “newsletter” doesn’t need to be a wall of text, but to use visuals, events, pics and more! Be committed to creating an engaging format to keep your viewers coming back, otherwise all of your hard work will be in vain as viewership will decrease.
Finally, I love how Smore allows me to see how many views I have for my newsletter and how long they were there. I also love how I can update the newsletter in “real time”. Updates or changes allow me to give the most current information to our community and stakeholders. I could not do this using my previous format. The ability to retweet the link with the new updates increases my views.
See Kimberly’s newsletter here
Update your class
5th Grade Weekly Peek
by Ms. Rachel Lebron, 5th Grade Teacher, Taylors Elementary School
What we love about this newsletter: bite-sized updates about everything you need to know make sure parents actually read the content.
Tips from Rachel:
What are your tips for creating a Smore newsletter for updates to parents?When I make a Smore newsletter, I try to reduce the amount of words I might normally send on a printed newsletters so that I can fit in a lot of information without overwhelming the parents of my students. I break up the parts that have a lot of text with quick blurbs that I add an image to. I change the background every week so that it is obvious that the newsletter is a different one than the last one they saw.
What are your tips for engaging parents with interactive content, such as Smore newsletter?
I sent home a survey for parents to fill out asking how they would prefer to get the our classroom’s weekly newsletter. Those who wanted it electronically get a weekly email from me, through Smore, that sends them to my newsletter online. I also have a link on my class website so that my 5th grade students can access the information as well.
What tips would you give our user community for creating great newsletter for students, parents and colleagues?
Keep it as short and sweet as possible! Since I send home newsletter on a weekly basis, I try to keep main parts (calendar of events, important news, my contact info., etc.) in the same locations on the newsletter. This helps keep consistency and makes the newsletter easier for the parents to navigate.
See Rachel’s newsletter newsletter here
Welcome parents to the new school year
2017–2018 School Year
by Jay H. Posick, Principal, Merton Intermediate School
What we love about this newsletter: telling parents everything they need to know about the new school year for each grade; what they should expect, introducing the staff and more.
Tips from Jay:
What are your tips for creating a Smore newsletter for updates to parents? “Keep the information brief and to the point, make sure to take plenty of pictures and/or ask staff to supply you with pictures. Make a copy of your most recent Smore so that you can use it as a template and change the background and font for every Smore. Add videos whenever you can as they show students and staff in action.”
What are your tips for engaging parents with interactive content, such as Smore newsletter?
“Send Smores in emails and post on social media (I use Twitter and Facebook). Include a survey on matters of interest (new procedures, conferences, etc.), include a contest once in a while for school swag. Ask families to share pictures of our students and staff and include as many pictures as you can from all aspects of the school (classrooms to recess).”
What tips would you give our user community for creating great newsletter for students, parents and colleagues? “In between paragraphs, I always have a picture or series of pictures. Change up the fonts and backgrounds with every smore to make them more distinct. Ask families and colleagues what they would like to see in future Smores.”
