Teacher Resignation Letter (With Examples)

Leaving any job can be hard, but quitting as a teacher can feel like you’re leaving your own kids behind.

If you’ve made the difficult decision to leave your teaching position, we will go over how to write a teaching resignation letter, what to include, and provide examples and templates of the letters.

Key Takeaways:

• When writing your letter, you need to figure out who you are writing to, state the reason you are writing the letter, and decide if you are going to write the reason for your departure.

• Before sending the letter, you should talk to your supervisor about your decision and make sure to give plenty of notice when you do.

• You might also want to write a letter to your students’ parents to let them know that you’ll be leaving but check with your supervisor before you do so.

How to Write a Resignation Letter

When it comes down to actually writing your resignation letter to give to your school administrators, here are some steps you should follow:

1. Figure out who to address your letter to. This will probably be your principal or some other administrator, but you should check to make sure. Your employee handbook might include this information, or you can ask when you talk to your principal in person about resigning.

2. Open with a formal salutation. Whether you’re planning to print out a copy of your letter or send it in an email, you don’t want to start out with a “Hi” or even a “Hello.” Instead, stick to “Dear,” followed by the recipient’s full name or honorary designation and last name.

   For example, your salutation might be something like, “Dear Principal Goldblum,” “Dear Ms. Mayne,” or “Dear School Board Members.”

3. Get to the point. The first line of your letter should state its purpose. Say something like, “I’m writing to inform you that I will be leaving my position as Kindergarten teacher, effective April 23, 2020.”

   This usually shouldn’t be the first time the recipient hears that you’re leaving, so you don’t need to be as gentle or warm as you would be if you were breaking the news to them.

4. Decide whether or not to include an explanation for your departure. This is by no means required, and if you think it’s going to get too messy and complicated, leave it out entirely.

   Sometimes people like to include a reason for leaving if it’s out of their control, and they’d like to have a record that they left on good terms and would’ve stayed if they could. Others prefer just to state that they’re leaving “for personal reasons” or share nothing at all.

   If you do choose to provide an explanation, keep it brief and general. Don’t go overboard about how you can’t stand the thought of leaving and don’t start in on all of the school’s poor practices that drove you to resign. Those conversations are best had in person.

5. Express your thanks. This is where you put that note of gratitude that you heard about earlier. Tell them what you appreciated about your time working at the school and how you’re going to use the experience you gained there in the future.

   This isn’t the time to gush, but just because your message is professional doesn’t mean it can’t be heartfelt.

6. Talk about the next steps. Close your letter by explaining what you’ll do before you leave. This may be finishing up the semester or catching up on grading so that your replacement can easily pick up where you left off.

   If you can, offer to help train your replacement or ask the letter recipient to let you know how you can help with the transition. Include your contact information, if appropriate.

7. Close with an appropriate signoff. Close your message with “Sincerely” or “Thank you,” followed by your name. If you’re writing a hard copy letter, sign it by hand as well. If you’re sending an email, include your contact information as a part of your signature after your name.

If you’re writing a letter to your students’ parents, you should still include all of the above information, but you can be softer and more conversational. Because of this, your letter to them will likely be longer than the one you send to your administrators.

What to Include in a Teacher Resignation Letter

First of all, it’s important to note that the letter of resignation you send to your school officials will be different from what you send to your students’ parents (if you choose to do this).

The letter that you send to your administrators will be pretty formal and stay on your official employee record. There are some crucial details that you should include:

1. State your last day of employment. A resignation letter is a document that will go into your permanent file and serve as a record about when you left the school. It’s also to make sure that you and your superiors are on the same page about your departure.

   As a result, you need to clearly state your last date of employment in your letter of resignation. As you choose this date, make sure you check your contract to see how much notice you need to provide, and if you can, consider choosing a date that will allow the transition to go the most smoothly.

2. Include your job title. This may feel unnecessary, especially if you’ve already talked with your administrators about your leaving, but it’s essential to include this information in your letter.

   Since this document will serve as a permanent record, being as clear as possible about which position you’re leaving will help mitigate any and all confusion.

   If you’re willing and able to, you might even want to include your personal contact information to allow school administrators to get ahold of you in case they have questions during the transition.

3. Add a thank you or other positive note. A resignation letter should be brief, but it’s always a good idea to include some kind of positive note about your time at the organization.

   Even if you hated your job and have nothing good to say about the administration, you can still thank them for hiring you and giving you the opportunity to teach.

   If you enjoyed your time in your position, consider adding something more specific that you learned or appreciated from the school’s leadership.

   Just remember, this isn’t the time to rant about everything you hated about working there. You can do that in an exit interview if you so desire. A resignation letter is a time to stay positive and upbeat to avoid burning any bridges because you might need to ask for a reference down the road.

4. Offer to help with the transition. If you’re able to, offering to help train your replacement will go a long way toward leaving on a positive note.

   If you can’t feasibly do this, you can just leave it at a simple, “Please let me know what I can do to help during this transition.”

Teacher Resignation Letter Template and Example

Here is a general template you can use for a letter you’re going to give to the school. This is a bare-bones template, so be sure to add in some additional information and personalize it as appropriate.

While much stays the same between a hard copy of a letter and an email, here is an email template to show you the differences.

Now that you know the general structure of a resignation letter, here are some examples so that you can see what yours will look like when it’s fully fleshed out.

If you’re leaving in the middle of the year, it’s often a good idea to send a letter announcing your resignation to parents. Make sure you check with your administration before you do this, though, because they may want you to wait until they have a replacement ready or may not want you to do it all, especially if you’re leaving at the end of a semester.

Here is an example of what this letter may look like:

What to Include in a Teacher Resignation Letter for Parents

You may not need to write a letter to your students’ parents at all, especially if you’re leaving at the end of a school year, but if you do, you’ll want this letter to sound much more casual and conversational than the one you wrote to your school administrators. You also might want to add some additional details to help quell any confusion or frustration.

1. Speak positively about your experience teaching their kids. It’s just as important to avoid burning bridges with your students’ parents as it is with your administrators.

   Not only will leaving gracefully reflect well on you, but it will also reflect well on your school. Your superiors will appreciate this, which means those bridges will also be kept intact.

2. Point out the exciting aspects of this change for their children. If you know who will be replacing you, introduce and speak highly of them and how excited you are that your students get to experience being in this person’s class.

   If you don’t know who will be taking over for you, try to find other ways to express how excited you are for your students and the good things that will come from this transition.

3. Open your door to any questions. If you’re comfortable with it, it’s usually a good idea to provide an opportunity for parents to have their questions answered.

   Whether you do this by including your contact information and inviting them to reach out to you or by organizing parent-teacher meetings, giving them a way to express their concerns will help the transition go much more smoothly.

Teacher Resignation Letter Tips

• Have a conversation before you send the letter. We recommend chatting with your boss prior to sending in your official resignation letter. Even if your final date is non-negotiable, it’s still worth having that chat to help inform exactly how to phrase your resignation letter.

  Plus, most people like to hear this kind of news in person before seeing it in writing. If you want to go the middle route, you can also bring your resignation letter with you to the meeting where you tell your boss that you’re quitting and give it to them at the end of the conversation.

• Don’t worry about your resignation reason too much. It’s fine if you want to include a brief line about “new job,” “moving,” etc., but there’s really no need to get into the fine details in your resignation letter. Remember, this is an official document, not an informal correspondence.

  You can certainly share as much as you’re comfortable sharing when you’re talking to your colleagues in person, but keep your resignation letter strictly to the point.

• Consider your timing. Leaving in the middle of the school year can leave your employer in a tight spot where they’re unsure whether to find your permanent replacement or get a substitute or what. Try to plan your departure

  If you do need to resign in the middle of the school year, try to align your departure date with the end of a semester or some other sensible period of transition (e.g., after midterm exams, spring break).

• Give ample notice. This is especially true if you’re quitting mid-school year. The “two weeks notice” etiquette that works for most jobs doesn’t really fly for teachers. The more notice you give, the better relationship you’ll have with your former employer.

• Don’t worry about admin stuff. Be sure to have conversations about your benefits, final paycheck, 401(k) transfers, etc. with someone during the process. Just don’t include any questions or statements related to those things in your resignation letter.

• Be positive and grateful. Going out on a good note means taking stock of your positive experiences and thanking your employer for the opportunity. Even if you didn’t have a particularly good experience, try your best to focus on what you did like.

Author

Abby McCain

Abby is a writer who is passionate about the power of story. Whether it’s communicating complicated topics in a clear way or helping readers connect with another person or place from the comfort of their couch. Abby attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she earned a degree in writing with concentrations in journalism and business.