If you’re like most school leaders I know, you have a running list of things you want to tighten up before the next school year begins in earnest.
Let me help you cross one important item off that list.
Come late summer or early fall, the parents and guardians of your students will begin hearing from you and your team. The question is: What first impression do you want to make? How do you want to reengage returning families with a sense of fresh possibility? How do you want to welcome new families into your community?
In this biweekly column, principals and other authorities on school leadership—including researchers, education professors, district administrators, and assistant principals—offer timely and timeless advice for their peers.
We all know that expectations are everything. And when it comes to relational expectations—how the adults in a student’s life will work together to support them—clear communication at the start of the year is one of the most powerful moves you can make.
So here’s a tool: a letter you can customize that sets the tone for partnership, trust, and shared purpose in your community.
Dear Parents and Guardians,
As we anticipate the upcoming school year, I want to take a moment to share something from the heart: We’re in this together.
Whether you are new to our school community or a returning member, please know that we are committed to creating an environment where every young person feels seen, supported, and safe, and has what they need to promote their greatest academic growth and personal development. This doesn’t happen by accident—it happens through partnership, communication, and trust.
Let me explain what that looks like.
1. Relationships at school matter, and we are working to get them right.
At the core of everything we do is the belief that young people learn best from those they trust. You may have read about a favorite teacher, coach, or mentor in your child’s journal or heard their name at the dinner table. These relationships are not incidental—they are intentional, cultivated, and essential.
We train our teachers, coaches, advisers, and staff members to prioritize relationships because we know this: The academic, emotional, and social growth we all want for your child is rooted in relationships with safe, trustworthy adults.
We aren’t perfect and we won’t always get it right. But we are committed to learning and growing, just like the students we serve.
2. We train our staff on building trust and maintaining boundaries.
Every adult in our school is expected to be a trustworthy adult—someone your child can turn to when they need support, encouragement, challenge, or comfort. We provide our staff members with clear training and tools that focus on creating strong connections and maintaining healthy boundaries.
This means we prioritize:
- Building trust through consistency, transparency, and compassion.
- Communicating and maintaining healthy boundaries to ensure all interactions are safe, appropriate, and in service of the student’s development.
We also support staff in understanding how to communicate with families, how to manage concerns professionally, and how to recognize when additional support is needed. This is not a one-time training—this is a sustained commitment.
3. Here is what you can expect from us.
As advocates for your child, here’s what you can expect from our school community:
- We will treat your child with dignity and respect.
- We will communicate clearly, consistently, and within healthy boundaries.
- We will follow school policies.
- We will assume good intentions, seek to understand, and respond with care.
- We will make space for your child to grow, take healthy risks, and develop resilience.
- We will value you as a vital partner in this journey.
Our promise is not perfection but professionalism and presence.
4. Here is what we hope we can expect from you.
We see you as the expert on your child. And we ask you to see us as the experts on students and student development. When we meet in the middle—with mutual respect and clear expectations—we can provide the strongest possible support for your child.
Here’s what we ask of you:
- Support your child in getting plenty of sleep and getting to school on time.
- Reach out to the school office for resources, if needed.
- Read messages or information sent home and respond in a timely manner, if a response is needed.
- Speak positively about school and the adults at school—your children adopt your attitude toward school, so let’s make it a good one that helps them grow.
- Allow space for your child to become resilient and experience natural consequences.
- Resist communicating with your child during school hours, unless there is an emergency.
- Attend events, games, contests, and concerts your child participates in, if possible.
- Encourage your child to seek out and connect with trusted adults at school.
In closing, I hope you receive this letter as a reminder that behind every confident, capable child is a network of adults—parents, teachers, coaches, mentors—working together.
We are honored to be on your child’s bench!
Sincerely,
School Leader
I encourage you to use this letter as inspiration or adapt it to fit your voice and your school’s culture. What matters most is that families hear from you early, clearly, and with care.
We all want the same thing: an environment where young people have everything they need to thrive! When parents and educators start on the same page—with honesty, clarity, and mutual respect—students benefit most.
