Three summer communication moves that support strong attendance in August

TL; DR:

Three newsletters sent between June and August can do real work for attendance before school even starts. Keep families connected, clear up logistics, and build the kind of trust that gets kids in the door on day one. Smore has templates for all of it. ☀️

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Summer break is three months long. That’s a lot of silence. Unless you fill it 😜.

“Stay connected” sounds right, but it’s a little vague when you’re actually on summer break. So here’s something more specific: three newsletters, three different jobs, three moments between June and August that actually show up in your August attendance.

And you don’t have to write them from scratch.

Send a “classroom look back” note in June 💌

The last week of school is chaotic: permission slips, report cards, goodbye hugs. And a lot of families who won’t hear from their child’s school again until August. For families who are already a little disconnected, that silence reads as confirmation that school isn’t really expecting them.

A short, warm June newsletter changes that. Skip the logistics blast. Send something personal. A recap of what made this year great, a sentence or two about what’s coming in the fall, maybe a summer reading list or a family activity idea.

The contact matters more than the content. You’re saying: we see your family, and we’ll see you again in August.

Smore’s Classroom Look Back template makes this easy to build in under 20 minutes. Just drop in your own note and a few highlights from the year. ✅

Send something useful in July 📅

July is when families start thinking about school again but don’t have anywhere to put that energy yet. A mid-July newsletter packed with genuinely helpful information gives families something to act on: confirmed supply lists, transportation updates, schedule or staffing changes.

This is also the newsletter where you can do a little quiet work on attendance. A paragraph about what the first few weeks look like, why they matter, and how the school will support families who hit obstacles lands completely differently in July than in a September letter after a third absence.

In July, it reads like preparation. In September, it reads like a warning.

Keep it warm and practical. Families who feel prepared on day one are families who show up on day one.

Smore’s July newsletter templates include back-to-school prep layouts ready to customize. 

Send a Meet the Teacher newsletter in August 🎒

Two weeks before school starts, send the one newsletter families read out loud to their kids. The Meet the Teacher newsletter does something a supply list and a schedule can’t: it makes school feel like a place where a specific person is expecting a specific child.

Keep it personal. Share a little about who you are: where you’re from, what you love about teaching, maybe a photo of your pet (if you have one). Include what the classroom will feel like, what families can expect from you, and one or two things you’re genuinely excited to do together this year. The goal is a family finishing the newsletter and saying “okay, I think this is going to be a good year.”

A warm, specific introduction from their child’s teacher goes a long way toward relieving back to school stress. And families who feel welcomed before day one are families who show up on day one.

Smore’s Meet the Teacher template is built for exactly this, with prompts that help you introduce yourself in a way that’s fun and genuine, sections for classroom expectations and a peek at the year ahead, and a built-in “Get to Know You” form so the relationship starts as a two-way conversation. Ready in under 20 minutes. 🌟

Summer communication can be simple. Three newsletters, intentionally timed, keep families connected and set up your August attendance before school even starts. With a Smore template already built for each moment, you can knock out all three in an afternoon. Browse Smore’s summer and back-to-school templates