GUIDELINES FOR WRITING ADVISOR CONTACT LETTERS: This letter provides each advisee’s parents with a greeting and general introduction from the advisor, and gives them specific contact information (e-mail address, phone number, etc.).  The goal of this letter is to make an initial connection with parents early in the year and to direct parents to the various resources available to them.  This letter does not include any significant information on a student’s academic progress. Advisors should consider including the following information: -       in addition to your work as an advisor, introduce yourself and your various responsibilities at Dana Hall; -       provide specific contact information at the school (e-mail, phone, etc.) inviting parents to be in touch with you throughout the year; -       stress that you will serve as the primary liaison between the School and family; highlight that you value communication with them, and welcome any questions or concerns about their daughter throughout the year; -       remind parents that the School’s website (www.danahall.org) is a valuable resource that provides specific up-to-date information that will be useful to Dana Hall families; -       mention that you will meet with their daughter each Tuesday and Thursday morning in Advisor Meetings, but that you will be available to her for guidance and support beyond these times; -       let them know that they will receive formal feedback on their daughter’s academic work at the end of each trimester in December, March, and June; Progress Reports will be written in the middle of each marking period for some, but not all, of our students; a Mid-Year Advisor Letter from you will be mailed home in February;   -       mention that Parents’ Weekend will occur from October 24-26, and that you will be available for an individual conference with them on Friday or Saturday to provide feedback on their daughter’s work in her classes up to that point in the year; let them know that you will provide this feedback with an e-mail or phone call if they are unable to attend the event; -       highlight the various academic resources available to all of our students: Conference/Study Period, Writing Lab, Math Lab, Language Lab, K2K (Kid-to-Kid Tutoring), Library, etc. As a general rule, this letter should… -       be addressed to the parent; please recall that all student and parent biographical information is available through FAWeb; -       be no longer than one typed page; -       all letters should be printed on Dana Hall letterhead which will be available in the Faculty Room; -       letters should be dated "September 2008"– there should not be a comma between the month and year; -       if an advisee has two parents at two separate addresses (see FAWeb), please print and sign two advisor letters. For an example, see SAMPLE Advisor Contact Letter.