Five Tips for Getting Parents to Open Your School Emails | Parent-Teacher Communication Tips

Are you sick of hearing, “I didn’t get that email?” I was too, in my principal years. Especially when I could tell that someone HAD received the email!

Since then, I’ve learned some simple ways of putting together a communication that my audience wants to engage with.

5 simple strategies to increase engagement

1. Consistently put “need to know” information in the newsletter — and only put it there! For example, do parents want to know the lunch calendar for the week? Don’t also post it on your website and your school’s Facebook page. Do parents want to know the lunch calendar for the week?  Reserve it for your weekly newsletter.

2. Chunk your newsletter — using titles — and do it consistently, so that readers know what to expect. Examples of ‘chunks’ might be: Message from the Principal; Lunch Calendar for Next Week; Upcoming School Events for Your Calendar; News from the PTA; Alerts from Athletics; Students at Work and Play; News from the District; Featured Student/Teacher/Parent/Staff Member of the Week. You want to focus on ‘news you can use.’

Chunk your newsletter—using titles—and do it consistently, so that readers know what to expect.”

3. Put your newsletter out at the same time every week. I recommend either Mondays or Fridays, so that you’re either providing alerts for the week ahead or wrapping up the week. Choosing a consistent time will create expectation for your readers.

Put your newsletter out at the same time every week. I recommend either Mondays or Fridays, so that you’re either providing alerts for the week ahead or wrapping up the week.”

4. Include A LOT of photographs of students—parents of students across age groups want to see what their children are doing at school. Make liberal use of our gallery option!

5. Keep it short and sweet. People are scrolling on their phones and don’t have patience for a lot of text. Keep your writing to a minimum, and let your images, docs, and forms do the work for you.

Keep it short and sweet.”

To make it easier for you, we’ve created a sample newsletter template. Simply click to duplicate, personalize, and get busy building your readership.