How far in advance should I send the open house invitation newsletter?

Send the first reminder two weeks before open house, then a second reminder three to four days before the event. Two weeks gives families enough time to arrange childcare or adjust schedules. The short reminder a few days out catches anyone who missed the first email or who needs the calendar event before the week gets busy. Sending only once, the week before, gives families less planning time than they need.

What should the pre-open house newsletter include?

Cover the date, time, location, and parking. Explain what will happen during the event: will teachers be presenting, is it a drop-in format, will student work be on display? Include any requests from teachers, such as bringing a completed reading log or a signed form. State clearly whether children should attend or whether the event is for adults only. Those four categories answer 90 percent of the questions families ask before open house.

What should the open house follow-up newsletter include?

Thank families who attended without making those who could not feel excluded. Include a brief summary of what was shared: key curriculum points, upcoming projects, any decisions made about schedules or events. Attach or link the resources that were distributed at the event. Close with a clear way for families who could not attend to get the same information, whether that is a scheduled call, a recording, or a printed packet sent home.

How do I write an open house follow-up for families who could not attend?

Address non-attending families directly in the opening paragraph. Say something like: 'If you were not able to join us Thursday, here is everything that was covered.' Then give them the same information attendees received. Do not make the follow-up newsletter a recap for people who were there. Make it a complete information package for people who were not. Families who missed the event will appreciate being treated as a full audience, not an afterthought.

How does Daystage help schools communicate around open house events?

Daystage makes it easy to schedule both newsletters in advance so neither one gets missed in the rush around the event itself. You can build the pre-event newsletter a week ahead and set it to send automatically on your chosen day. After the event, the post-event newsletter can be drafted quickly using the same template structure. Consistent branding and inline email delivery mean both newsletters look professional and reach inboxes rather than spam folders.

School Open House Newsletter Template

Open house is one of the most attended school events of the year, and most schools underuse the newsletter before and after it. A strong pre-event newsletter gets more families through the door. A strong follow-up makes sure every family has the same information whether they attended or not.

This guide gives you the structure for both: what to include, how to write it, and how to handle the families who could not make it.

Why two newsletters, not one

A single "open house is this week" reminder does not do much. It announces. It does not prepare. Families who have never attended open house do not know what to expect. Families who are on the fence about attending need a reason to come. The pre-event newsletter handles all of that.

The follow-up newsletter solves a different problem. Open house attendance at most schools runs between 40 and 70 percent. That means a third to a half of your families missed whatever was shared. If the information from open house only lives in the room, those families start the year behind. A follow-up newsletter puts every family on the same footing.

What to include in the pre-open house newsletter

Cover logistics first. Date, time, and location with specific building and room information. Parking instructions if your school has a complicated lot. Whether children are expected to attend or whether this is an adults-only event. Whether it is a drop-in format or a scheduled session with a set start time.

Then explain what will happen. Will teachers present a short overview of the year? Will student work be on display? Will families walk through the classroom? Parents who know what to expect show up more prepared and more engaged. Parents who have no idea what open house involves often skip it because the unknown feels like a time risk.

Close with any requests. If teachers want families to bring something, look at a specific display, or complete a short survey while they are there, say so in the pre-event newsletter. Requests buried in the event itself get lower compliance than requests made in advance.

The invite subject line

"Open house next Thursday" is not a subject line. It is a calendar reminder. A useful subject line gives families a reason to open the email.

Try: "Open House Oct 9: What to Expect + What to Bring." Or: "Join Us Thursday: Open House Details for [School Name] Families." The formula is event name, date, and the most useful piece of information inside. Families who see a reason to open the email are more likely to read through it and show up.

The short reminder three days before

Send a second, shorter email three to four days before the event. This is not a repeat of the first newsletter. It is a one-paragraph reminder with the essentials: date, time, location, and one line about what families will see. Keep it under 100 words. Its only job is to put the event back on the calendar for families who read the first newsletter but did not add it to their schedule.

What to include in the open house follow-up newsletter

Send the follow-up within two business days of the event. The longer you wait, the less relevant it feels.

Open by thanking families who attended, then pivot immediately to serving families who could not. Write: "If you were not able to join us, here is everything we covered." Then deliver on that promise. Include the curriculum overview from the presentation. List the key dates shared at the event. Attach or link any handouts or resources that were distributed. If any questions came up at open house that led to important answers, include those answers too.

Give non-attending families a path to get more information. Offer a phone call, a brief in-person meeting, or a note home if there is anything specific to their child. Make it easy to follow up.

What not to include in the follow-up

Do not write the follow-up as a recap for people who were there. Sentences like "As we discussed Thursday" exclude the families who most need the information. Write as though every reader is hearing this for the first time.

Do not add new information that was not shared at open house. The follow-up should contain exactly what attending families received, not additional content. If you have new announcements, save them for the next regular newsletter.

Scheduling both newsletters in advance

The best time to draft the follow-up newsletter is before open house, not after. Build the structure in advance: thank-you opening, curriculum section, dates, resources, follow-up path. After the event, fill in the specific details from what was actually covered. This approach takes ten minutes after a long event evening instead of forty-five.

Daystage lets you schedule both newsletters in advance and fill in final details before they send. The pre-event invite and short reminder can be written, scheduled, and forgotten. After open house, you update the follow-up draft and send. Neither newsletter gets delayed because the week after open house is always busy.

School Open House Newsletter Template: What to Send Before and After