Keep Parents in
Mind! Offer information to keep them informed
Don't
post student names if you are duplicating your
newsletter online
Consider doing 2 versions of your newsletter (paper
vs. online)
Write Clear Headlines
Suggested
content/ideas for newsletters
Academic (achievement)-oriented
information
Information about clubs, extra-curricular
activities, and dates of upcoming events
Presenting each semester as a
new
beginning-tips on how to get a fresh start
Academic intervention information
Financial Aid information
Community sponsored events
School history (interesting facts)
School staff information
The AACPS TV cable schedule (an updated version
is always available
here)
School Newsletters are
a key communications method at Anne Arundel
County Public Schools and have been identified in
recent surveys as the number one method by which parents receive
information about their child's school.
Most schools at
AACPS generate newsletters and do an excellent job of conveying information about what's
happening at their school. The following helpful
hints list has been compiled by studying newsletters around our
system, requests from website users, and the Parent Communications
Subcommittee.
Please peruse this information
if you have responsibility for composing your school's
newsletter.
Remember Parents
when you are composing your newsletter. Offer information
parents would be interested in, since this is
often the key method for them to get information
about
upcoming school events and activities.
When composing a newsletter, keep in mind the
purpose and audience of your newsletter. Parents, students and faculty (and
the public, if the newsletter is posted online) will be reading it. Make
sure the topics and content of your newsletter fulfill it's intended
purpose (to communicate wanted and. needed information) to your
audience.
Include a
calendar of
upcoming events. This
is often the most important item readers are looking for.
Think about what you
would tell your audience if you spoke with them face-to-face.
Tell the story visually
and/or make the content easy to skim. Make your newsletter
easy to read! Assist visually-oriented people and help
improve the overall communication of your newsletter with the creative
use of graphics.
What does the
audience need and want to know about what the school is doing? (Remember
Parents!)
What material will
make the newsletter both informative and interesting?
What will make the reader most informed about the school, it's activities and
recent accomplishments?
A newsletter is a
great place to recognize others for a job well done (keep in
mind not to put student's names in the web-version of your
newsletter). Give kudos where they are deserved!
Strive to keep your
information "tight" by representing information with
bulleted lists, charts and graphs where appropriate.
Write relevant, but (fairly) brief
articles.
Remember,
give clear,
straightforward information. Use the active voice, avoid run-on sentences.
Use vivid, active verbs and omit needless words.
Write attention-getting headlines. The
Associated Press lists
nine great headline qualities. Your headlines should be:
Informative Direct
Brief Active
Clear
Objective Accurate
Colorful Simple
From the Parent
Involvement and Communication Charter at AACPS
