How Writing More Emails Can Turn into Less Emails for You in August

Inbox.

Dread.

Move Mail to Back of Phone.

Don’t get started or you’ll never stop.

Never get to inbox zero.

What if I told you that there’s a way that writing a few more strategic emails this summer will actually yield fewer incoming emails this August?

It’s borrowing a trick from marketing and combining it with your own system to ✨voila! ✨ get ahead of the curve.

The idea is simple.

Families are making plans, as early as June, for the coming school year. They are planning out school shopping for supplies and clothes, signing up for after and before care, arranging carpooling and work schedules, identifying extra-curricular activities and booking any family travel or logistics. Families don’t wait until the second week of August to tend to these details.  So, the sooner you can get pertinent information to them, the better. And, more importantly, less urgent emails to you in early August.

What information can you share this summer with families that will ease the burden on them as they align schedules to the school and also create a situation where they have the greatest opportunity to access classes, care resources and sales on clothing and supplies?

1. Options for before and aftercare - Even if you do not have care outside of school hours on your campus (or if you are a high school), letting families know when the campus is open to students and the name of any local programs, they might select for afterschool will greatly support families. When you consider that school days start as early as 7:15 a.m. and range all the way to 9:30 a.m. and might end from 1:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. That’s a wide range for families to plan around. Any information you can provide will help them and ensure students have a predictable and safe daily schedule.
2. Information about Uniforms and School Supplies - If your school has a dress code (consider dropping it!) for uniforms, consider the greatest flexibility you can give to families so that they can purchase new clothing for fall in the most economical way possible. Parents are scouting sales for clothing and school supplies now. Whatever they get, work with your staff to accept it and not send them out to buy new materials. Better yet, provide a specific list with links or pictures of anything that is required (and like with the dress code, consider lightening up on the “required” parts). One year, I had a parent come to me angry and left with me taking her extremely practical suggestion. She had bought several white polo shirts at Walmart at a deep discount and balked at the cost of the school uniform polo. In the course of her venting to me, she suggested getting school patches that students could iron on to the clothes that they had. Problem solved for $3 a patch; we broadened the options available to our students.
1. School Supplies - it is not reasonable to specific which crayons, pencils or gluesticks and expect 100% of students will have that. Parents and guardians are often buying in one trip or for multiple students. Let them find the best deal and let the students proudly bring that to your campus. (I have another post on how school supply lists are set up to center the teacher and not the students, but we can check that out another day).
3. Special Schedules on the First Day and into the Fall- Everyone wants to know what happens on day 1. Do I walk students in? Do they report to the gym? The counseling office? Do they bring their supplies? Provide families with the schedule and the logistics for the day. Let them know of any special school events that will happen over the fall so parents can also get those dates on their own calendars. 
1. Want to invite families to an assembly? - put the date out early so they can get it on their calendars.
2. Students dress up for historical figures in November? - put that out there so families can start planning.
3. No costumes on Halloween, but silly socks instead?  - now’s a great time to preview that.
4. New To Your School - You will have students entering the lowest grade you offer (ex. K, 7th, 9th, etc.), but you will also have students transferring to your school across the grade levels. What do you (or can you, if you don’t already) offer to make the transition smoother for new students? Do you have students who can meet them on the first day? Do you have a summer meet and greet that you could match them with someone in their grade? Scavenger hunt for them to visit the campus with their family and get a sense of the layout? A new t-shirt for the students starting outside of your transitioning grade level? Each of these things create a sense of welcome and reduce very real anxiety for your incoming 4th graders, or 10th grade students.

Once you have this information, type it up, include links to your website and attachments and then send it off - once in mid-July and another the first week of August. 

The investment in this email with all the Frequently Asked Questions and useful and pertinent information will yield a calmer inbox for principals in August. At least from families.