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Communications Guidelines

Catherine Cook Room Parent Communications Guidelines

Communication of Parent Association and classroom-specific information is one of the primary roles of the Room Parent. Please adhere to the following guidelines to ensure all parents receive timely and relevant information, receive streamlined Catherine Cook communications, and do not receive unnecessary duplication of messaging from other sources (i.e. The Cougar Times weekly newsletter or teacher updates):

  • Parent Association communications should be shared with your class/grade as instructed by the PA. This information is disseminated generally after a PA meeting or prior to an upcoming event. If the timing is appropriate, this information can be consolidated with classroom-specific communications.
  • Room Parents are also authorized to send news and updates on behalf of a class or grade. Other parents may of course email their fellow parents, but only Room Parents may give official updates. Communication of classroom-specific information should take place on an “as needed” basis and in cooperation with the teacher. In the case of Middle School, grade-specific information should take place in cooperation with Corrine Stutts and Stephanie Pryce. For example, if your teacher issues weekly updates, there is likely no need to reiterate the same information to the class in a Room Parent communication.
  • Communication of school-wide information is shared through the newsletter by the Office of Advancement. In an effort to keep messaging clean and streamlined, Room Parent communications should not include school-wide information, unless otherwise instructed by the Parent Association.
  • Parents may send emails to the following groups without checking with the Office of Advancement:
    • Small groups of fellow parents
    • Parents in your child’s class/grade
    • Teachers/administrators on individual class’s behalf (i.e. inviting Ms. Kampwirth to see something happening in Ms. Goldberg’s class)
  • If sending emails to any of the following groups, please coordinate with the Office of Advancement, which will provide direction and/or distribution:
    • All Catherine Cook constituents
    • Any large subgroup of Catherine Cook constituents (all faculty/staff, all parents, all teachers, etc.)
    • An entire division (Early Childhood, Lower School, or Middle School)
  • Please copy Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Tony Johnson (tjohnson@ccookschool.org) on all event-based class/grade communications for potential inclusion in the newsletter and other Catherine Cook communications.
  • In order to make the various communications from Catherine Cook more consistent and recognizable, please include the following in the subject line of your communications to your class/grade:

Catherine Cook Class News | Teacher Name – Subject

For example: Catherine Cook Class News | Kruse – Supplies Needed for Art Project

  • All website content is managed by the Office of Advancement, so any requests for content additions to the website (news items, calendar additions, web page updates, etc.) must go through the Director of Advancement, Stacy Shafer Peterson (sspeterson@ccookschool.org).
  • Events that are open to the community and/or public should be marketed! If you have an event that is open to the whole school or more, contact Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Tony Johnson (tjohnson@ccookschool.org) to set forth a plan for marketing it, which can include (but is not limited to) announcements in the newsletter, news items on the website, eblasts, posters, and more.
  • Please email the parents in your class/grade to introduce yourselves as co-Room Parent(s) by the end of the first week of school.