Year in Review School Newsletter: How to Write It Well

A year in review newsletter can be the most meaningful piece of communication a school sends all year. It can also be the most forgettable, if it becomes a list of programs and meetings.

Here is the difference between a year in review that gets read and one that gets filed.

Lead With the Year's Best Fact

What is the single most impressive thing your school accomplished this year? A test score improvement. A fundraising record. A first-ever program. A student who won something. A staff achievement. Find the one fact that makes the school proud and lead with it.

"This year, our third and fourth-grade reading scores improved by 9 percentage points, the largest single-year gain in this school's history."

That opening earns the reader's attention. "It has been an incredible year of growth and learning" does not.

Choose Three to Five Accomplishments and Go Deep on Each

The year in review newsletter that covers everything covers nothing. Pick the three to five things that actually define the year and say something real about each one.

For each accomplishment, include: what it was, a number or outcome, and who made it happen. Not "our STEM program was a great success" but "62 students participated in after-school STEM this year, which is triple last year's enrollment. Ms. Chen and Mr. Torres built the program from two sessions to twelve."

When you name who made things happen, the newsletter becomes about people, not programs. Families connect to people.

Acknowledge Something That Was Hard

Every school year has something that tested the community. A budget cut. A difficult stretch of behavior. A tragic event. A staffing challenge. A pandemic ripple effect that lasted longer than expected.

Naming it and how the community responded does two things: it tells families their school is honest, and it gives the community credit for persevering.

"This fall, we navigated a staffing shortage that meant three classrooms had substitute teachers for longer than any of us wanted. Our families were patient. Our remaining staff covered more than they should have had to. We made it through. I want you to know we noticed."

Thank With Specificity

A general thank-you at the end of a year in review newsletter is expected and therefore ignored. A specific thank-you is read.

"Thank you to the 67 volunteers who gave a total of 1,100 hours this year. To the PTA, who funded the new sensory room. To the night custodial staff, who turned around our building in under eight hours for every major event."

Naming the groups and the numbers makes the thank-you feel earned.

Preview What Is Coming Next Year

Give families one thing to look forward to in September. A new program. A renovation that is finishing over the summer. A new staff member the school is excited about.

"Next year we are launching a dual-language kindergarten class for the first time. We are also reopening the school garden, which closed during renovations. We are excited about both."

A newsletter that ends with "have a great summer" and nothing else leaves families with no thread connecting this year to the next. Give them something to come back for.