I was a school principal for 11 years. Now I work in edtech. Here are 3 things I’ve learned about school comms that I wish I knew then.

In 2015, I became head of school and proceeded to made bad decisions about school comms.

I believed weekly updates from teachers were a burden, so I abolished them in favor of a weekly newsletter highlighting school “wins.” The school was in trouble — low enrollment & a budget in the red — so I wanted the newsletter to bolster our reputation.

I was dead wrong.

1. What I know now is there is a direct correlation between teacher-parent communications and student success.

As the resident educator at a digital newsletter startup aimed at schools, I’ve read a number of research studies showing the more parents hear from teachers, the more successful their children are in school. Why? There are two central reasons.

For one, weekly school comms build trust.

2. The more parents trust the teacher, the more they support their child to manage their schoolwork.

If teachers aren’t communicating home about what’s going on in the classroom, how are parents supposed to know? If major assignments are relegated to handouts or are written on a whiteboard, parents never see them. Without a clear picture of what’s happening in class, what students are responsible for, and how parents can help, the adults at home are in the dark.

That’s no way to build a relationship with parents, let alone trust.

3. Especially with Covid restrictions, weekly comms allow families to participate.

Digital updates are translatable. 1 in 5 students don’t speak English as their home language. So, right there, that’s 20% of parents who are suddenly invited in. Besides teacher emails, the #1 place families get school news is Facebook. When teachers can post updates, they reach more parents.

What I didn’t understand then is school comms aren’t about the school, they’re about the students — and isn’t that what everything in school should be about?

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