Teacher Letter of Resignation Example

Writing a resignation can be hard. Writing a resignation for a teacher can be even harder. Teachers are often required to write letters to their student body, parents, and faculty.

Each of these letters require a special way to write the letter and address the audience you’re speaking to. If this is your first time resigning as a teacher, reading this guide in its entirety will help you prepare for writing your letter and provide you examples for getting your own started.

Before we begin, let’s cover what your resignation should and shouldn’t say.

What Should Be In Your Resignation Letter

Whenever writing a resignation letter, here are some of the elements that should be within your resignation.

Your contact information

As with any business letter, a formal business heading should be at the top of the page. This should contain your full name, your mailing address, your phone number, and your email. Keep in mind, if you don’t feel comfortable including your mailing address in your letter to parents, use the schools address instead.

An upbeat message

All resignations should have a positive retrospective on the time you spent with the school. Don’t use this as an opportunity, so share your frustrations. Use this as a way to thank everyone for the opportunity to work with both the faculty and the children.

A reason for leaving

You don’t need to be fully honest with your reason. But including a soft message as to why you’re moving on can always be nice. For example, mentioning that you are relocating or that you’ll be moving on due to an advancement opportunity. If you don’t have a good reason or if your reason truly is frustration, leave this part out of your message.

A formal goodbye

Always show sincerity and appreciation. This means saying goodbye to the faculty, students, and staff. Again, writing this with sincerity will have the best impact on you in the future.

Mistakes You Can Avoid

It deserves to be repeated; don’t air out your dirty laundry. This is the process of communicating your frustration with your position. Or frustration with parents and children.

Your letter of resignation shouldn’t be a platform to communicate your disappointment. By doing this, it could be detrimental to your career.

Remember, letters like this are strict pieces of your work history. Meaning, if you write your letter of resignation with frustration or with a lack of sincerity, it could follow you and be a reference for many years to come.

Be sure you use this as an opportunity to show your cordial professionalism.

Who Your Resignation Letter Should Go To

As a teacher, you should write two resignation letters. One should be to the children and parents, especially if you resign during the school year. And the second should be to the principal and other faculty members.

Your letter for parents should be written with a firm understanding that parents won’t have as much insight into your in-classroom experience. Meaning, keep your letter focused on positivity and showing your appreciation for working with their children.

The letter for faculty can be designed more specifically around the retrospective you’re having regarding the education system you’re working within. But once again, the more upbeat and positive focus your letter has, the brighter it will shine on you as an employee.

How to Send Your Letter of Resignation to Parents

School faculty and administrators may be able to help you in preparing printed letters that can be sent to every mailing address on file from the children that you work with.

Sending a printed letter to parents is the recommended form of delivery. It is more professional and ensures that the parents may see this letter versus email addresses, which can often change or be incorrect when filing with the school administrator.

When submitting your letter to your principal, faculty, or educational board, the best method is to send by email.

Example Resignation Letter to Parents

Below is a sample resignation letter that you might send in printed format to all parents of the children you were an educator for.

Resignation Letter to Faculty

Below is a sample letter of resignation that should be sent to faculty and your principal. Before you send a letter of this nature, you should be sure to sit down with your principal or school administrator to ensure that they know your desire to resign and leave the education system.

Writing and sending a resignation letter without verbal notice will catch all of your faculty members off-guard. And this can be a terrible way to resign.