more businesses and corporations are seeking to work with schools as a
community service activity. Finding corporate partners helps a school
fund a number of initiatives.
Mr. Thelen mailed the first newsletter in late August just before school
began. Others followed in late November, March, and June. As with the
weekly bulletin, certain bits of information needed to be repeated at the
same time each year, so each newsletter was composed once and then
updated and revised each year. He invited the Parent Association to
contribute articles and consulted with its officers as to what information
parents would want to have each year. Different issues included informa-
tion on school services, regulations governing working papers, the school
calendar, graduation requirements, and so on. An example of an article to
appear in such a newsletter is included in appendix C.
After several incidents with students, Mr. Thelen added an article to
the first newsletter on the importance of parents providing their children
with a “student emergency pack.” This included a two-ride MetroCard
(should they lose their transportation pass), five dollars, and a listing of
emergency phone numbers, including their parents’ or guardians’ work
numbers (he had found that most students did not even know where their
parents work). Other experiences with students led to added contents for
this pack in future revisions.
In late November, just before the winter recess (Christmas vacation), he
included an article on the state regulation on acceptable reasons for stu-
dents to be excused from school—leaving early on vacation was not one
of them. The third newsletter explained the district regulation concerning
which students were permitted to march at the graduation ceremony. The
final issue was the “highlights” of the school year (more on this later). A
school leader who writes such newsletters will incorporate information
appropriate to his district and state.
While different staff and Parent Association members could contribute
articles, Principal Thelen wrote the final version. He also had trusted staff
members translate the main articles into Spanish and Chinese to make
newsletters accessible to most parents.
Chapter 6 covers the principle of school leadership called “Let Your
People Fly.” School leaders should not micromanage the writing and dis-
tribution of memos and letters from chairpersons and other school offices.
Monitor the Communication 137