Write A Food Allergy Letter To Teacher That Gets Results.
Writing a food allergy letter to teacher or school isn't just about getting a free template and cutting and pasting it into an email. It's about actually getting results that will help your child be safe and included at school.
But writing this letter definitely requires more thought than cutting and pasting a template from the internet. That’s why I created this post to help! Read on to learn how to get the results you need to keep your food allergy child safe and included at school.
First here are a couple of important things to know.
I’m Corinna!
At the time of writing, I’m a 16-year food allergy mom and a 6-year food allergy coach. I base all of my resources on evidence-based research and then add my 16 years of practical knowledge to create trusted resources that work for you and other food allergy families.
At the time of writing, we’ve experienced 13 years of school so far (from preschool to grade 10). In the early years, it was all about learning how to educate teachers about my daughter’s allergies so that they truly understood how important their role in keeping her safe & included was.
This isn’t easy, but I’ve come up with essential steps that I follow and teach to other families because they work! I’ve also been able to get our private school to start providing yearly food allergy training to teachers and staff when there was absolutely NONE before.
A picture of my food allergy daughter and I on the day she graduated from grade 9.
I’ve already helped thousands of food allergy families navigate the tricky world of school with food allergies with my resources and the School Food Allergy Plan Template (which can be used alone or as a starting point for a 504 plan for allergies), and my Food Allergy School Success Pack, which is only available when you purchase the School Food Allergy Plan Template.
I tell you all of this so you know that this post isn’t just a bunch of random tips. You can trust what you read here. I also want you to know that real change IS possible, and although it took me many years to fumble through and figure it out; with guidance, food allergy safety at school doesn’t have to take as long for you!
*For this article, you can assume that this letter works for ANY anaphylactic food allergy. There doesn’t need to be a different peanut allergy letter to the teacher or a milk allergy letter either. Everything is the same, you just need to clearly specify your child’s allergies in the letter.
P.S. Check out my full series of workshops specifically for food allergy families. You’ll find expert resources based on 16 years of research and practical knowledge from everything from navigating school, to travel and dining out with food allergies.
Now, let’s get to that important food allergy letter to your teacher or school!
Tips To Write The Best Food Allergy Letter To Teacher or School
Here’s a surprise…
The FIRST food allergy letter you write to your teacher or school, is REALLY important! Unfortunately, parents don’t realize how important it is.
Why A Food Allergy Letter To Teacher or School Is Important
This FIRST letter that you send to your school and teacher is your BEST chance of:
getting the teacher’s attention so food allergies don’t fall through the cracks in their classroom.
helping them understand how important THEY are in keeping your child safe so they take the care that is truly required.
giving external validation for good food allergy procedures & policies so that they understand and believe you’re not just an overprotective helicopter parent.
helping your food allergy child learn to make good food allergy decisions in a safe environment.
When to Send the Food Allergy Letter or Email
The BEST time to send this letter is in the spring BEFORE school lets out for the summer. This is because it can be hard to get a hold of anybody over the summer, and the ideal situation is to get everything for food allergies figured out BEFORE your child ever reaches the classroom in the fall.
That said, some schools won’t allow you to meet with your teacher until fall because they may not even know which teacher your child will have until then.
So the first step is to send the letter to your Principal in the spring if possible, and then, once you are able, you can then send the letter to your teacher as soon as you can; ideally before school starts in the fall.
If you’re not able to send the letter to your teacher until fall, I like to do it around 2 weeks before school starts, so the teacher isn’t too stressed and overwhelmed.
Again, sometimes this isn’t possible.
Rest assured, if you have to wait until a couple of days before school starts, the letter I recommend is quick and easy for teachers so it will still be very effective!
What to Put In Your Food Allergy Letter To School
Now that we know how important this food allergy letter is, you’re probably wondering what to actually WRITE!
Here are some essential tips for what to put in your food allergy letter:
Think like they would think.
When your child was first diagnosed, you probably had no idea about what having food allergies really meant. Schools and teachers are the same. They just don’t get it until they have to deal with it themselves. So it’s really important to write the letter from the mindset of someone who doesn’t really understand what needs to be done.
Likely the teachers and school will have some reservations like:
“Will it be hard to manage food allergies?”, “How long will it take for me to train?”
They may even have false knowledge about food allergies because of a personal experience so they may be thinking, “Well, my friend has food allergies and she can have a little without a problem, so I’m sure this child can too”.
The thing is that we just don’t know WHAT they’re thinking, but their thoughts will create their actions (or inactions). That’s why it’s important to anticipate the possible objections and help overcome them right away in your letter.
When you overcome those thoughts/objections right away, it OPENS their minds to understanding. It actually helps them to be prepared to learn more about food allergies and gives them an attitude of helping instead of resistance.
Consider the tone and be kind.
The tone of your letter is super important because how you present yourself and your needs will make an important first impression.
If you come across as demanding and burdensome, it can turn the teacher off right away (in fact it will turn anybody off!). That’s why it’s important to portray a positive, helpful, and kind tone. Let them know you’re excited that your child is in their class. Show them that you want to work as a team and give them respect for their profession, time, and energy.
No food allergy binders, please.
As mentioned above, respecting your teacher’s time and energy is really important. We need to prove that we respect them by keeping the letter short and sweet.
This letter is NOT the place to give them every single food allergy resource that you want them to study or use. Instead, give them 1 or 2 of the MOST impactful resources that they can easily and quickly learn from.
As I mentioned earlier, making a letter that is short and sweet is even more important if it’s fall and the new year is just beginning. The last thing you want is to cause your teacher to be overwhelmed so that they close their mind instead of becoming open to learning more about food allergies.
Can you see how important this is?
Equally as important, I want to encourage you NOT to create a huge allergy binder for your teacher. Teachers are BUSY and a big binder can feel so overwhelming. It will get skimmed at best and shelved at worst. Instead, use your food allergy letter to prepare them for learning more and then provide them with ONLY what they need.
The idea is to create a collaborative relationship, so they can feel confident asking you questions whenever they’re not sure about something.
Facts are required.
Unfortunately, you don’t usually have a choice of teacher. That means that you have no control over what they think or know about food allergies. Because of this, it’s important to use trusted FACTS and evidence-based references in your letter.
By providing facts and trusted references, you will give them external validation for everything you need them to do to keep your child safe. So if your teacher is already food allergy aware, trusted facts will enforce that. If your teacher is not food allergy aware at all, trusted facts will open their mind and show them that you’re not overreacting or simply being a helicopter parent.
Remember - These facts can’t be general facts about food allergies. They need to be specific to the teacher and their important role in keeping your child safe. If the facts don’t support your points, don’t put them in the email, because they will confuse the teacher instead of help.
Don’t do it alone!
As you can see, there is a lot at stake when it comes to this very first food allergy letter to your teacher or school.
If you prefer just to have an easy template to follow, without taking the time to do all the research yourself, I can help!
You can get my EXACT food allergy letter to the teacher as a part of the School Success Pack. The School Success Pack is not sold separately on my website, BUT it’s available as an upgrade when you purchase the School Allergy Plan Template. Not only will you get my popular and helpful template to create the best allergy plan at school, but you’ll also get the food allergy teacher letter template and training session too!
The School Allergy Plan Template & School Success Pack have been created from my extensive research (over 100 hours) plus our 13 years of practical school experience. I’ve also passed it by many other food allergy mamas for feedback and improvements before offering it to you. You don’t have to endure 13 years of school to feel confident!
Be sure to check it out here before you go.
**When you click the link or pink button above, you’ll go to the information page for the School Allergy Plan Template and School Success Pack. I completely trust and recommend these products!
Conclusion
A food allergy letter to your teacher and school will set the stage for the WHOLE school year, and then every year your child is in school. That’s a LONG time, which is why it’s more important than many people think! Be sure to use these tips and bookmark this page to refer back to later.
For more information, you may also like this post about 9 Essential Food Allergy School Supplies or this one called A Parent’s Guide To Food Allergy Training at School.
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Yes, this is a picture of my daughter graduating from preschool!
