Writing letters to the school

One of the things you need to realize about dealing with the schools and your child's education is that they are creating a paper trail. There is a folder at the school with all pertinent info about your child. You need to do the same. If there becomes a time where you have to consider a due process hearing or other legal actions, you will need documentation of the school's actions, and yours. One of the easiest things you can do is to keep a notebook, paper or electronic, of your interactions with the school. If the school calls, keep a log of "he said" , "she said" about the conversation. Write the time/date and all relevant details. If you have a mtg with someone at school, formally or informally, take notes or use a voice recorder.

The other thing you can do to create a paper trail is to write letters. Any time you send an email, keep a copy in your sent folder. Any time the school sends you an email, keep it in a dedicated folder. Write letters as follow ups to conversations and meetings. You may need the documentation some day.

Here is an excerpt from the Art of Writing Letters by Pam Wright:
When parents fire off a letter to the school, they are usually in the middle of a crisis that involves their child. At that moment, they want to DO SOMETHING. They may be trying to right a wrong or protect their child from harm. Sometimes, parents write angry letters after a series of bad experiences or incidents that have occurred over a period months or years.

Before you send a strongly worded letter to the school, it is important for you to keep several things in mind. First, after you send a letter to the school, it is out of your hands forever. You can never change it!

Second, your letter will be read by strangers. Schools are bureaucracies. In many cases, important decisions will be made by administrators who are a level or two above your contact person. These administrators don’t know you or your child. They don’t know the "history" behind your letter.

Third, no one will wade through a long letter to a nugget of gold. This means that you have to capture the reader’s interest and attention within the first few sentences. If you don’t capture the reader’s interest quickly, the reader will skim a page or two and put your letter away.

Fourth, your letter is a personal statement about you and your situation. What are you saying about yourself if you give in to the urge to DO SOMETHING and write an angry, threatening, or demanding letter? The decision-making strangers who make decisions in the school bureaucracy don’t know or care that this was the last straw or that the letter is the culmination of many negative experiences. A letter gives you an opportunity to make an impression and tell your side of the story. You need to think about the impression you want to make on the stranger. Do you want the stranger to see you as an angry, negative complainer? Or, do you want the stranger to see you as a rational, thoughtful parent who is expressing valid concerns?

Read the entire article, 12 Rules for Writing Effective Letters. If you follow these rules, you make it more likely that you will get the relief you want.

If you have a copy of the book, From Emotions to Advocacy (check your local library if you don't have it-they can also get it through interlibrary loan) continue your learning process. In Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy (FETA) read Chapter 22 "Creating Paper Trails," Chapter 23 "How to Write Good Evidence Letters," and Chapter 24 "Writing the 'Letter to the Stranger,'" and the Sample Letters at the end of Chapters 23 and 24. With a little practice, you will become the expert on writing effective and powerful letters.