High School Student of the Month Newsletter: How to Make Recognition Count

Student of the month programs exist at most high schools, but many of them underperform their potential. The recognition is real but the communication around it is often so thin that families barely notice it. Here is how to make student of the month recognition feel genuinely meaningful through better communication.

Start With Transparent Criteria

At the beginning of the school year, send a newsletter that explains how student of the month works at your school. Who is eligible? Who makes the selection? What qualities does the selection recognize?

Schools that recognize only academic performance often create a program that feels exclusive to high-GPA students. Schools that explicitly recognize character, improvement, community contribution, or resilience alongside academic excellence create a program that has meaning for a much wider range of students and families.

Publish the criteria. When families know what is being recognized, they can nominate students, encourage their own students, and understand the recognition when it arrives.

The Monthly Recognition Newsletter

Each monthly announcement should include:

• The student's name and grade
• Two to three specific sentences about what earned this student the recognition this month
• Any associated recognition event (certificate, lunch, announcement at assembly)
• How families and the school community can offer their own congratulations

The specific sentences about why the student was selected are the most important part. "Jasmine was selected for her consistent kindness toward new students and for leading her project team through a genuinely difficult week" is meaningful recognition. "Jasmine exemplifies our school values" is not.

Timing Matters

Send the Student of October newsletter in the first week of October, not the last week. Recognition loses impact when it arrives late. If your selection process takes time to complete, build the timeline so that the newsletter can go out promptly after the month begins.

Privacy and Permission

Before publishing any student's name in a school newsletter, confirm that the family has not filed a directory information opt-out. For a recognition communication specifically, consider giving the selected student's family advance notice before the newsletter goes public. Families who know the recognition is coming can plan to celebrate it. Families who find out in the newsletter with everyone else still appreciate it, but the advance notice adds a personal touch.

Making the Family Feel Part of the Recognition

Include the family in the recognition. A brief direct note to the selected student's family in advance of the public announcement, inviting them to any associated recognition event, transforms a public announcement into a personal one. The student sees their family present for the moment when the recognition happens. That matters more than the certificate.