School Board Appeal Letter
In March 2021, I assisted a mother with editing and embellishing a letter meant to appeal the school board’s decision to send her daughter to a different elementary school based on district zoning.
Much like the mother in the letter below, I am extremely passionate about education and children having the resources they need to succeed. When I heard that the school board was considering sending Amy (name changed for privacy) to another school and the effects this might have on her, I jumped in without hesitation to offer my help.
Amy’s mother, Eileen (name also changed for privacy), worked tirelessly on her drafted letter and for my part, I helped her to proof, edit, and embellish the letter for maximum impact. The full letter is posted below and I am extremely happy to say that the school board accepted the appeal for Amy and she will be continuing her education in the programs best suited for her!
If I can help you or someone you know with any kind of proofing or editing, please click the “Contact” button above or send me an email directly at JWolfordBarnes@gmail.com with details on how I might be able to help.
Names & locations have been changed for privacy.
To whom it may concern:
I am writing to you today to appeal the decision to send my daughter Amy Gerard to the home school of Shady Pines.
Before sending Amy to her current school, Peakview Preschool, my family and I conducted extensive, months-long research and consulted with her doctors about which programs would be the best for her and her needs. We found Peakview Preschool to be a school that not only would foster growth for my daughter, but a school where she would be supported and inspired to learn.
For two years now, Amy has been attending Aspen Grove Preschool and she has been actively engaged in an IEP with Susan Block. The school, her classes, her friends, and her teachers, have all made such a lasting impact on Amy that we are even considering her for a behavioral IEP with Sharon Fleming. I cannot even put into words the amount of change that we have all seen in her from her limited, virtual meetings with Susan. She has gone from being reserved and scared to being excited to learn. She has been given the resources and the tools she needs to be successful and that has worked wonders on her confidence as a student and as a child.
Previously, when Amy wasn’t getting the support she needed, she would shut down and become a shell of the exuberant child that she is, so much so that she would even stop speaking. Because of this, her father and I decided that two years of preschool at Peakview would give her the foundation she needed to grow.
School is important to me and always has been, and it is even more important for my daughter. She needs to stay at Peakview to continue on the upward path that she has forged for herself with her friends, classmates, and teachers. Without this continued support and familiarity, she is at risk for _______. After speaking with her doctors and her teachers, we are confident that she will not thrive elsewhere as she has thrived at Peakview. Sending her to another school, just when she’s getting settled and starting to show such drastic improvements, will be extremely detrimental to the progress and growth she has made over the past two years.
More than the educational aspect, Amy loves Peakview. She is excited to get up to go to school each day and it has become a stable routine in her life. She has been through a lot in her life already. Not only is Amy working through the realization that her parents no longer live together, but she is also working through a fear of fire due to a house fire that landed us out of a stable home for 8 months. At one point, Amy was dealing with the stress of living in four different locations. Despite these troubles, Amy has continued to flourish at Peakview as they have been helping her to work through these anxieties. To add the undue stress of having to start over with new people and new faces would be traumatizing.
Her family is completely dedicated to her education and we have done everything in our power to make sure her mind is nurtured each and every day. Through everything, we have made Amy’s education a priority. This is why we bought a house in Cherry Creek; for the schools that are recognized for their outstanding programs, teacher that care, and administrators that try their best every day to put their students first. We could have easily moved closer to family, but we stayed at Peakview for Amy’s education and the programs that are best suited to help her.
Anyone who has met Amy knows just how much potential she has. This may just be one letter out of numerous that you receive from other parents, but I can assure you that I am not going to give up on this. I am passionate about my daughter and I am passionate about setting her up for success for the rest of her life and that begins with a solid foundation at a fantastic school like Peakview. Amy deserves the stability of her teachers, a familiar school, her friends, and all the change and growth she has worked so hard for over the past two years.
You may have rules to follow, appeals to approve and deny, but I am asking you to please make a difference in the life of one little girl who really needs this school. Please let Amy continue to go to Peakview.
Thank you for your consideration.
Eileen Brown
