Positive Family Connections

Dear Staff,

Last year, many of you shared wonderful feedback about the Positive Postcard Initiative and the positive responses you received from students and families. We are excited to continue this initiative for the 2026–2027 school year and build upon that success as we continue strengthening our school community and climate.

Every Teacher Will Participate

We know that many of you already make meaningful connections with students and families through your own forms of positive outreach—whether that’s a phone call, email, ParentSquare message, note home, or a quick conversation with a family. We want to honor and incorporate those efforts as part of this initiative. 

Our goal remains the same: to make sure every student is individually, positively recognized by the end of the school year. To help us reach that goal, we are asking each teacher to still complete 3–4 positive outreaches each month, with at least two of those being handwritten Positive Postcards. We need every teacher to participate in order to reach all of our students PreK-12th grade. 

The tracking spreadsheet will look a little different this year, but please take a moment to record ALL positive outreach—not just postcards. This will allow us to celebrate the great work you are already doing while also helping us identify any students who may still need that positive connection.

This initiative is a collective effort, and every teacher’s participation matters. A simple note, call, or message can make a meaningful impact on a student and their family. Together, we can make sure every Ram knows they are seen, valued, and appreciated.

 

A New Way to Make It Easier

I also heard the feedback many of you shared with me last year about the difficulty of having to wait to log into a device and access OnCourse to look up student information. We have a solution to help remove that barrier.

**MS/HS Principal’s secretary will have a folder containing mailing labels as well as a list of student addresses. They are split by grade level and will be in alphabetical order by last name. 

**ES Principal’s secretary will have a folder of lists by grade level and homeroom. Each homeroom teacher will receive their mailing labels and a stack of postcards.

These folders as well as a basket of cards will be brought to faculty meetings and just like last year, there is an area where cards are housed in each Main Office. When you are ready to write a postcard, you can simply take the appropriate mailing label from the folder rather than needing to log into OnCourse to find the student’s address.

Just like last year, I will update the student rosters several times throughout the school year. However, if a new student joins us and you would like to send them a ‘positive’ before I have had an opportunity to add them to the updated roster, please feel free to add them to your list. We want to make sure that new students are included and have the same opportunity to receive a positive message home.

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Postcard Information: 

The Positive Postcards are designed to:

• Foster stronger relationships with families and our school community

• Increase positive communication between staff, students, and families

• Brighten a student’s day and create proactive lines of communication

• Highlight successes, celebrate small wins, and build rapport for growth and collaboration

What can your positive praise be about?

• Students doing the right thing—even if it isn’t always consistent

• Kindness or empathy toward another person

• Academic achievement, effort, or growth

• Participation and engagement in class

• Leadership qualities

• Creativity, innovation, or unique ideas

• Positive attitude, resilience, or motivation

A Few Reminders

• For multilingual students, please use Google Translate to write your note in the student’s home language so families can fully share in the celebration.

• Please handwrite your notes rather than typing or printing them. This adds a personal touch and helps prevent issues with the postage machine.

• After completing a postcard, don’t forget to log it in the designated student spreadsheet (RES, RMS, or RHS) so we can track our progress and ensure every student is recognized.

• Completed postcards should be returned to the outgoing mailbox in each Main Office for collection and postage.

Your words have the power to make a student’s day—and sometimes, a much bigger impact than we realize. A positive postcard is a small gesture that tells a student, “I see you. I appreciate you. What you are doing matters.”

Please remember to fill out the spreadsheet next to the students names you reached out to so we can make sure we connect with every family (Add your name, the date, and the type of positive outreach you made- PS, note home, postcard, etc)      RES  RMS   RHS

Thank you for making this initiative a priority and, most importantly, for continuing to find ways to recognize, encourage, and celebrate our students.

With appreciation,

C.J.