One day, you may decide to depart from your job, regardless of your occupation. If you work as a teacher and suddenly realize that it is time for you to leave due to any reason, you will certainly need to complete the formal process of your dismissal, including passing the teacher resignation letter to school administrators or anyone else who is a concerned party.
Almost every dismissal, wherever it happens, typically entails some unpleasant conversations and paperwork. This letter is a part of it. It’s highly likely that you, as a teacher, will be asked to provide the form when leaving your teaching position. Schools can be more strict than many other entities in questions regarding paperwork and personnel hiring and dismissal because the government often controls them; thus, teacher resignation letters might be significant for every educational institution both in the United States and worldwide.
We have developed this guide so you can understand how to make your own resignation letter if you are a teacher who wants to depart, what steps you may complete when your decision is made, and why, in general, it is essential to accompany your departure with such a form. We hope that this review will ease the process of your dismissal from school or any other educational institution as a teacher.
There are plenty of reasons why a teacher may want to leave their position. This can happen because they are not content with their current work conditions, want to make massive changes in their life, decide to change their location and move to another city or even country, or just are tired of dealing with students, parents, administration, and colleagues in general in a certain school. Also, one can ask for resignation due to their retirement, which is allowed at a certain age by law. After all, maybe they have another opportunity to move on and a job offer that they consider much better than the current one.
It does not matter what reason applies to your case; the main thing to do is to weigh all the pros and cons and realize that you really want to go. When this has occurred, you can develop a plan for your dismissal, which depends on all the ongoing tasks you have and the terms when you can go. If your case does not presume that you should depart immediately, try choosing an adequate period to get out, leaving a chance to the school board and administration to find someone who will teach students instead of you and become a brilliant replacement. It would be best if you quit in summer when the majority of students have their vacation.
Shortly after the decision is made, you shall start preparing your resignation letter template. It must happen before you speak to the school principal or administration representative because having your paperwork done in advance is a smart move. Imagine that you have launched the quitting process, you are under pressure because other teachers and the school personnel ask a lot of questions, and you are compelled to create a great letter at the same time. It does not sound good, right? To prevent additional stress, you can draft the letter before you announce your departure.
If you are wondering why you should even bother yourself with creating an official letter and send it to the principal or another responsible person, we have a couple of arguments for you that may change your mind.
Believe us, filing the document is a thing that gives you an opportunity to:
If you have no massive conflicts with anybody at work and your quitting is perceived as something sad, the form will help you to thank everyone and say goodbye in paper format. You can express all your best wishes to them and leave on good terms. They will probably be happy to receive and read your document and appreciate it.
The situation may be the opposite: you have decided to leave because your relationships with coworkers or bosses are inadequate, and you just cannot stand any of them anymore. You barely speak to each other and try to avoid each other in the corridor.
Unfortunately, such situations can occur, and you may realize one day that you have to quit as soon as possible. In this case, the resignation letter is an amazing opportunity to say goodbye without having verbal contact. Of course, you will have to notify some personnel about your dismissal; however, you will be able to accompany your announcement with a letter that will rid you of saying many words and having uncomfortable conversations.
One of the main goals for writing the teacher resignation letter is to say that you will depart from the teaching position at a specific moment: tomorrow, today, or on a certain day. You have to write this day in the form’s first or second sentence. It will also let a recipient know why they have gotten the letter.
If you are currently retiring and have managed to establish good relationships with your coworkers, you may express your hopes about informal communication and being good friends in the future. If you keep forwarding your career to another level, you still can leave your contact information (phone number, email address, or social media profile) and state that you are ready to interact and cooperate. This may open new horizons for your professional development at some point.
Lastly, even if you do not want to write any letters and provide any document regarding your dismissal, most likely, you will be asked to do so. Schools and other educational institutions care a lot about their paperwork, and every notice should be in place. So, you shall be ready to create the form proving that you intend to depart and pass it to your superintendent or another responsible employee.
We often look for examples when we try to make our own legal forms and letters (including a resignation letter, of course).
As we have promised, you will get a sample below, but you may not need it because now we will provide you with a detailed plan and topics that you can cover in your form.
The day when you plan to stop working is the first thing you should reveal in your form. Normally, it shall be mentioned in the first two sentences. Additionally, in the letter, you can apologize for the problems that your action may cause.
You have to be honest here: provide the reasons why you have decided to finish the teaching path in this specific workplace. Remember to mention that your experience there was outstanding. Do not lie because, for instance, if you tell that you will retire soon and then your ex-colleagues find out that you work in another institution, it will show you as a dishonest person. There are many such examples, and we recommend you not to follow or repeat them.
You may need to leave out of the blue, and no one will be prepared for that, including you. You shall develop a plan of how you will pass your duties on and who will interact with students (or children), parents, and other teachers instead of you. If there are any other tasks in your employment that require being transferred, do not forget to pass them, too.
You can easily express your gratitude and respect for the past times with a letter of resignation. It is a nice gesture that your colleagues, including a principal and superintendent, will probably enjoy.
If you are quitting on great terms and ready to interact with your colleagues, remember to add your telephone number, or email address, or any other contact to the text’s end. If you do not have any such desire, you can omit this topic and leave no information; however, generally, it is recommended to be polite and leave at least your email. Keep in mind that besides your coworkers, school administration, principal, and superintendent, there are students and parents who may want to keep in touch for some reason.
Our last step before giving you a teacher resignation letter sample is to show the plan of each such document. Check it out below.
On the letterhead, you have to indicate your name, address, and telephone number, the recipient’s and your educational institution’s names, and the date when this letter of resignation is being created.
Start the first sentence by explaining the aim of this letter. Then, tell the recipient(s) when you plan to go and say sorry for the inconvenience — it would be best and sufficient for a good introduction. Everything else besides the resignation date will go to the following parts.
This is the biggest section: here, you can explain why your dismissal is happening, say that you are grateful for all that has happened during your teaching period, delegate responsibilities, and so on.
You may wish good luck to your coworkers and leave the information people can use to reach you out.
The plan looks short, which is why your resignation letter should not be too long as well. Believe us, people today are usually overwhelmed with various information, and receiving a resignation letter that is too huge may result in an unpleasant impression. Try to be brief and include only those things that make sense.
We have added a specific template here, the Teacher Retirement Letter to Superintendent. You can see it below.
[Your name here]
[Your address here]
[Your phone number here]
[The recipient’s name here]
[Their job position here]
[Their address here]
[The date when you write this letter here]
Dear Mr. (or Ms., or Mrs.) [The recipient here],
This letter’s aim is to announce that I am planning to depart from my teaching position on [enter the date when you plan to quit here]. I am sincerely apologizing if my departure brings any inconvenience to you.
Unfortunately, it is time for me to retire and quit teaching and any other jobs. My experience at [enter the school or institution] during the last [indicate the period] was outstanding. I wish I could repeat it all from the start to the end. But the time is ruthless, so the only thing left for me now is to thank you for all the things that have happened here and wish you good luck.
I promise that all my tasks will be delegated during the following week [or enter a specific period]. Parents and children who may need to contact me already know how to reach me. All my duties will be covered and completed in the best way.
It was tough to decide to leave my position finally. I am happy that I have had such a great time at [school]. I sincerely wish you all the best, and I hope the school will develop in a way that it has been developing for the last couple of years. Professionals that have been surrounding me are definitely a key to the institution’s success.
Please feel free to contact me as well any moment you need anything or have any questions that I can answer. I am leaving my telephone number and email below and will be waiting for you to connect.
[Enter contact details you consider appropriate]
Best regards,
[your name here]