This aspect of room parenting was a complete mystery to me at first.
Who am I kidding? In reality, every aspect of room parenting was a complete mystery to me.
The first two years my daughter was in school, I had no idea who the room mom was, much less anything that was going on with the class. I didn’t even know parents were allowed to attend holiday parties.
There was a major component missing with the previous room mom: communication.
It’s widely accepted that one of the main duties of a room mom is to communicate with parents about events in the classroom. When I accidentally became the room mom, I had no idea, so I certainly can’t blame the previous room mom for not knowing either!
This all feels very meta, but that’s a big part of why Room Mom Rescue was created.
Why Communication with Parents Matters
One thing I was not expecting when I started communicating with parents was the amazing feedback. Before I wrote my first introduction letter as the room mom, I was super worried about annoying the parents.
To my surprise, the parents were appreciative of my emails. You see, many parents have super demanding jobs, so they are thankful that someone takes the time to fill them in on what’s going on at school.
I still get so many compliments on my communication from parents (even though I only send out a handful of emails during the entire year).
Now that you know why the letter is so important, let’s dive in how to send a proper room mom introduction email.
Step 1: Get the Room Mom Letter to Parents Template
First things first, get your copy of the Room Mom Introduction Letter inside the RMR Resource Library. Bookmark the page because there’s templates and printables in there for just about every room-mom-related event you can imagine! Customize the template with your name, teacher’s name, etc. Also feel free to add or delete any parts of the letter to suit your specific needs.
Step 2: Compile a List All Parent Emails
Hopefully your school administration provides a list for you like mine does. If not, check out this post for step-by-step instructions on how to get those emails from parents. You can also use the method in that post to update an existing list like I had to do for my old, outdated email list last year.
Always check with the principal or other school administrators to make sure collecting emails from parents is allowed. I’ve also seen a few school policies that require room parents to us the BCC option on their emails to parents to keep parent emails hidden. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to ask administration or a PTA/PTO member about what their recommended practices are.
Step 3: Attach Teacher Gift Q&A to Email to Parents
As soon as I get confirmation that I’ve been chosen as the room mom or head room mom, I immediately send a questionnaire to the teacher.
Questionnaires give parents insight into what the teacher likes and dislikes in case they want to send a gift for birthdays, Christmas, or Teacher Appreciation Week.
Here are a few non-editable printable teacher surveys, including an email template, available here on inside the Room Mom Resource Library!
Let’s face it, we’ve all received gifts we didn’t actually want. Teacher questionnaires take the guess work out of what to give the teacher and will actually encourage parents to show their appreciation in the process.
I like to have the teacher fill this out first because I always attach it to the introduction letter to parents. I would rather send one email that both introduces me as the room mom and lets parents know more about their child’s teacher at the same time. The less emails the better if you ask me. 🙂
Step 4: Send Out Your Letter to Parents
Once you have your template filled out, your list of emails ready to go, and your teacher questionnaire filled out by the teacher, you will want to go ahead and send your introduction email. Voila! You are done.
Writing a room mom letter to parents is as simple as that. Can we take a minute to appreciate how easy email makes our lives as room moms?!
Let me know what your plans are for your first activity as the room parent this year in the comments below or email me at info@roommomrescue.com. I love hearing from my fellow room mamas!
See you later, room mom!
Amy
Resources for Room Moms
- New to Room Parenting? Get access to the Room Mom Resource Library filled with tons of free templates & printables to help you throughout the year!
- 7 Room Mom Duties to Know (Before You Sign Up)
- Plan Your Entire Year as Room Mom with this Calendar Cheat Sheet
- Planning a class gift? Learn How to Write a Room Mom Letter to Parents Asking for Money