Free template
Welcome letter template for new families
The letter that goes out after a family says yes. Warm, specific, and short enough to read on a phone while holding a toddler.
- Opens with the child's name and their first day, not with your policies
- A what-to-bring list a parent can pack from the night before
- What the first week will feel like, including that goodbyes are often hard
- One named person to contact, with the best way to reach them
PDF, one page, letter size. Copy the wording into an email or print it for the folder.
Get the template
Tell us where to send it and the file is yours. We send the template and the occasional new one, nothing else.
Four things a new family needs to hear
The concrete details
First day, arrival window, their room, and their teacher by name. Everything else in the letter is secondary to this.
What to bring
A short packing list with quantities, and a note about labeling everything, because it will be unlabeled otherwise.
What the first week looks like
Honest about the adjustment, including that a hard drop-off is normal and what you will do about it.
Who to contact
One name, one number, one preferred method, and when they can expect a reply.
How you will share the day
Whether they get a paper sheet, a message, or app updates, and roughly when to expect it.
A warm close
One sentence that sounds like a person, not a policy. This is the line families quote back to you.
Send it the day they enroll
The gap between saying yes and the first day is where new families get anxious. A letter in that window does more for retention than anything you can do in week two.
Personalize the first line. Their child's name and their actual first day. A generic Dear Family reads like a form and gets skimmed.
Keep the list to one screen. If the packing list runs long, put the essentials in the letter and the rest in the handbook.
Follow up the night before. A two-line message the evening before the first day is the highest-value message you will ever send a family.
Welcome letters, answered
Email or paper?
Email so it is searchable on a phone, plus a printed copy in the enrollment folder for families who prefer paper.
Should the letter include our policies?
No. Point to the handbook. A welcome letter that opens with late fees sets exactly the wrong tone.
What do we say about separation anxiety?
Name it plainly, say what you do about it, and tell them you will message once their child settles. The promise to follow up matters more than the reassurance.
Can we reuse it for returning families?
Yes, trimmed. Returning families need the date, the room, and anything that changed, not the whole orientation.
The first week, shared as it happens
Send that first settled-in photo twenty minutes after drop-off. New families remember which program did that and which one made them wait until pickup.