Help with wording re letter of recommendation request for HS

[Anonymous]

Hello,

We are new to the private school application arena. Child currently attends 8th grade at a public MS. We will be requesting letters of recommendations from his math and English teachers. Should he do it? Or if ok for parents to do this on behalf of child, would love some wording sample. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

He should ask but you send the link through the application portal. He can ask in person (preferred) or through email, which you can be cc'd on.

[Anonymous]

He should ask both in person and via email (can cc you). In the email he should give the teacher bullet points about himself, so the teacher knows more about him (grades, interests, pastimes, accomplishments) than what they see during class.

He should give the teacher what they need to fill it out (portal link, pre-addressed envelope, etc) give a deadline, and he should give the teacher an "out" if they cannot or do not want to write the letter (have a backup teacher in mind). End with a thank you.

[Anonymous]

The initial ask should come from him and it needs to be an actual, polite request – not "hey do this thing." (This was drilled into my head by my 8th grade teacher in the late '90s and it clearly stuck with me.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He should ask both in person and via email (can cc you). In the email he should give the teacher bullet points about himself, so the teacher knows more about him (grades, interests, pastimes, accomplishments) than what they see during class.

He should give the teacher what they need to fill it out (portal link, pre-addressed envelope, etc) give a deadline, and he should give the teacher an "out" if they cannot or do not want to write the letter (have a backup teacher in mind). End with a thank you.

+1. As a public middle school teacher who came from private teaching, I actually prefer this ask from the parents so they can guide me if they are applying with an angle/what parts of kids profile they want me to highlight, but the information that helps most is the same as above!

[Anonymous]

How soon do most people do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How soon do most people do this?

Now. Many teachers may not write the letters until the winter break, but make the requests by late Oct/early Nov.

[Anonymous]

Parent should ask.

[Anonymous]

No asking needed to be done for DC. All the high schools we were looking at required the current math teacher and current English teacher. There was no choice involved. DC’s k-8 coordinated the whole process by collecting info from each family about what schools were being applied to and the method needed (usually an email, URL to upload, or a portal) and passed that on to the two teachers.

DC has a learning difference, so we (parents) touched base with both teachers to confirm that we were disclosing and would appreciate them addressing DC’s strengths and successes in light of the LD. Both appreciated us letting them know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No asking needed to be done for DC. All the high schools we were looking at required the current math teacher and current English teacher. There was no choice involved. DC’s k-8 coordinated the whole process by collecting info from each family about what schools were being applied to and the method needed (usually an email, URL to upload, or a portal) and passed that on to the two teachers.

DC has a learning difference, so we (parents) touched base with both teachers to confirm that we were disclosing and would appreciate them addressing DC’s strengths and successes in light of the LD. Both appreciated us letting them know.

This is not relevant to a person applying from public.