As a teacher, you spend countless hours preparing your students to succeed in school and the world beyond. Your passion for education means you’re invested in your classroom and the quality of the lesson plans you create.
The pandemic has created an even bigger teacher shortage that has not abated, the Washington Post reported. If you’ve held off returning to the classroom but are now ready, you may find you have a choice about where and what you teach. Across the country and around the world, principals are looking for candidates with the teaching experience to motivate students and manage rowdy classrooms. So how do you connect with them? During the hiring process, your resume can only explain so much. That’s why a well-crafted, attention-grabbing cover letter is an essential tool for landing you your next teaching position.
A cover letter that demonstrates the right qualities will have a principal singing your praises. Bonus tip: patience, enthusiasm, flexibility and the ability to take feedback are some of the most sought-after traits for new teachers. Imagine you have a job interview for a position at a new school. You have a great resume, but you show up 15 minutes late, don’t make eye contact and forget to ask the principal any questions. Are you still going to get the job? Maybe, but it seems less certain, doesn’t it? That’s because you dashed your chances by ignoring the proper conventions of the hiring process.
You can do the same with your initial application by failing to submit a cover letter or creating one that is not professional and doesn’t follow standard formatting rules. That’s why putting care and attention into creating a great cover letter is a smart idea – it directly increases your odds of landing the job.
This guide, along with our professional teacher cover letter sample, will:
- Outline, in detail, the essential elements of a good cover letter (header, greeting, intro, body and conclusion)
- Equip you with proven psychological tips and tricks to use in your own letter
- Alert you to what mistakes to avoid when writing your teacher cover letter
- Demonstrate the purpose of a strong cover letter format.
Psst, here’s some extra credit: If you haven’t finished creating an A+ resume, we’ve got plenty of resources for that. Start with our teacher resume samples, resume templates and general resume writing guide.
Best format for a teacher cover letter example
It often helps to present your arguments and tell your story when there is a logical cover letter format. A hiring manager or principal will be expecting these elements:
- The cover letter header
- The greeting / salutation
- The cover letter intro
- The middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
- The ending paragraph of your cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)
Dear Principal Wilson,
Newton’s first law of motion states that an object will stay at rest until a force acts upon it.
Two decades of seeing 500+ science students graduate from Ivy League universities tells me that my “force” is indeed helping to develop the scientific minds of tomorrow. I hope to bring this experience to the advertised science position at Jefferson High School.
As the subject lead for a district of 18 schools, I facilitated the creation of learning materials and oversaw an improvement of graduation rates by 10% across the district over a four-year period. In my school, the graduation rate averaged 99%. I believe in the power of learning through experiment rather than theory – showing beats telling every time. Innovative approaches often bring new discoveries.
I have been active in creating online lessons for my students and believe that blended learning is the future of education. We might not be with our students as they are doing their homework, but we can send them a recorded online video to explain things. Being able to rewind a video is an amazing way to check understanding.
Jefferson HS values are close to my heart, and it was actually one of your current faculty who suggested that I apply for the role. I look forward to the opportunity of learning more about your staff and students and hope that I might be able to contribute to their success. In the school experiment, every curious young mind matters.
Yours sincerely,
Grace McKenna
Within that format, a teacher cover letter should give an overview of your teaching pedagogy, experience, and philosophy. It’s the unit plan for your career, just as your teacher resume functions more as a lesson plan.
The comprehensive cover letter guide offers more general advice about how to go about compiling cover letters, but below you will find specific advice on how to maximize the effectiveness of each specific letter paragraph and section. Our cover letter samples give you a great idea of how all these pieces fit together.
Similar cover letter examples from the same field:
Cover letter header
A teacher cover letter header might seem like a formality you can do without, but in reality the header serves a big purpose, both in function and aesthetics. Quite simply, the header introduces the applicant’s name and contact information in a bold way.
The header also allows the hiring manager to refer to that information at any point. The letter may also circulate within the HR department, so it’s important that everyone who comes across it knows who it belongs to and how they can get in touch.
In the past, the physical mailing address of the applicant was commonplace on a cover letter. Nowadays, you can include your name, phone number and email address, along with a date and the hiring manager’s name (if known), as well as the company name and address. If you really want to strip back the header, you may opt to include just your name and contact info.
The goal of this section: Identify the document, keep your name and contact info at the hiring manager’s fingertips, create visually appealing formatting.
Take a look at our cover letter examples to find the perfect header for your purposes.
Cover letter greeting / salutation
Your greeting will likely contain less than five words, but they’ve got to be the right ones. A teacher cover letter greeting that is too formal or too casual will leave a hiring manager or principal shaking their head as they start to read your letter.
The first thing to consider when choosing a greeting is your profession. School systems are fairly formal institutions when compared to, let’s say, a startup tech company or a local coffee shop. In this case, “Dear” followed by a name and a comma is the safest option and likely your best bet. It’s important to use Mr., Mrs. or Ms. followed by a last name. In the education field, watch out for a principal who might be Dr. – the school’s website or LinkedIn may help answer that question.
The goal of this section: Use the professionally appropriate greeting to set the right tone. Develop rapport with the principal by using his or her name, if you have it.
Dear Principal Wilson,
People love hearing their own name. It’s true of any relationship, personal or business. That’s why conventional cover letter wisdom says to find the name of the hiring manager and address your letter directly to them. It’s solid advice and shows that you care enough to do your homework about the company. But what does that look like for teaching positions? In some states and counties, hiring is done by a team of HR professionals who then forward the best resumes to principals for review. In smaller districts, the principals themselves may evaluate candidates directly. A polite phone call may help to answer this question.
If it becomes clear your letter will be read by a team of hiring managers, you might opt for a more general greeting, along the lines of “Dear Calvert County Public Schools Hiring Team,” or shorter – “Dear CCPS Hiring Team,”. If you know your letter will land on the principal’s desk eventually, you can include his or her name, too: “Dear Dr. Wilkens and CCPS Hiring Team." In general, it's best to avoid the cold and impersonal sounding "To Whom It May Concern." A collective noun usually works much better in these situations.
Cover letter introduction
Your teacher cover letter introduction is the hook and the best place to lure a principal into reading on. Sentences like “I am writing to express interest in your vacancy for a physics teaching position at Centennial High School” can come across as rigid and outdated.
Adding some excitement through a personal anecdote about a teaching success can inject some personality and highlight your skillset right from the top. Just make sure to keep the story time short to hold the reader’s attention into the body.
The goal of this cover letter sample section: create a snappy and grabbing introduction to your personality and experience in a sentence or two.
Newton’s first law of motion states that an object will stay at rest until a force acts upon it.
Two decades of seeing 500+ science students graduate from Ivy League universities tells me that my “force” is indeed helping to develop the scientific minds of tomorrow. I hope to bring this experience to the advertised science position at Jefferson High School.
Cover letter middle paragraphs
If you’ve got the introduction of your teacher cover letter just the way you like it, the body should flow from there. The anecdotal opening sets you up for a slam dunk by allowing you to expand on your skills and achievements in a natural way.
Before too long, you should mention the role you’re applying to and why you’re the perfect match, including previous achievements that give clear evidence of your skills. The STAR/CAR method (Situation, Task, Action, positive Result) can help you organize your writing to capture the impact you had on student performance. Your soft skills, passion and personality can continue to shine in this section and you may choose to demonstrate hard skills that set you above your peers by explaining innovative classroom approaches you’ve taken.
The goal of this cover letter example section: Explain why you’re the right candidate for the position through past challenges, achievements and personal strategies.
As the subject lead for a district of 18 schools, I facilitated the creation of learning materials and oversaw an improvement of graduation rates by 10% across the district over a four-year period. In my school, the graduation rate averaged 99%. I believe in the power of learning through experiment rather than theory – showing beats telling every time. Innovative approaches often bring new discoveries.
I have been active in creating online lessons for my students and believe that blended learning is the future of education. We might not be with our students as they are doing their homework, but we can send them a recorded online video to explain things. Being able to rewind a video is an amazing way to check understanding.
How to finish a teacher cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)
Figuring out how to end your teacher cover letter can be one of the most frustrating parts of the writing experience. You’ve hit the point home in every way you know how to and now you just want to yell “So call me!”
Luckily, there’s actually a professional way to do this. The call to action is an invitation for the hiring manager to get in touch. You can strike the balance between friendly and firm with a cover letter example sentence like “I look forward to hearing more about Centennial’s staff and students. You can reach me at (your email) or (your phone) with any questions.” A sign off like Sincerely, Best, or Best Regards are the most professionally appropriate for closing your letter.
The goal of this cover letter sample section: Invite the employer to contact you in a friendly and non-demanding way, sign off politely and leave the reader on a positive, professional note.
Jefferson HS values are close to my heart, and it was actually one of your current faculty who suggested that I apply for the role. I look forward to the opportunity of learning more about your staff and students and hope that I might be able to contribute to their success. In the school experiment, every curious young mind matters.
Yours sincerely,
Grace McKenna
Writing psychology: cover letter sample tools and strategies
So far, we’ve talked a lot about using personal anecdotes and examples of problems you’ve handled effectively. Instead of telling a principal that you’re innovative and organized, these stories allow you to show the true impact of your years of experience. But as a teacher, each day is a little different from the previous one. In a single year of teaching, you can easily rack up dozens of moments where you handled challenging situations. So which ones do you pick for your cover letter? One way to approach this question is by taking a look at the behavioral psychology principle of belief matching: People are more likely to respond positively to your message if they first believe you understand their problem.
How to incorporate the empathetic approach
The belief matching technique is most effective when used towards the top of your writing, according to professional marketing expert Joanna Wiebe. Wiebe often uses this technique to drive online sales, but in this case, you are the product. It’s a good idea to start with your strongest anecdote or example from your work experience – the one that you think your prospective principal is mostly likely to relate to. Again, it’s important to keep the story short, straightforward and relevant to ensure success.
Every school is a unique learning environment. If your cover letter can target even just one or two of the primary needs your potential principal faces, you can more effectively help them see the solution – YOU, and your impressive track record of teaching success. You should tailor your letter to the needs of each school using the job description as your starting point. These anecdotes are not just about the past. You should aim to write them in a way that allows a principal to imagine the future – their future, and one where their job is easier because of your contributions to the school.
Teacher cover letter example with no experience
You will not be starting your teaching career without any experience. You have already completed student teaching, so you have managed a classroom before. No, it’s not the same, but it does give you a basis for writing a cover letter.
Use the same format as any teacher cover letter and examine our cover letter sample carefully to give you ideas. Then, focus on your specialty, what you learned during your observations and student-teaching experience and follow our guidelines above.
You may not land in your target district in your first position, but given the teacher shortage, you will be in demand.
Teacher cover letter format and common mistakes
Here are some cover letter tips on how to avoid common writing mistakes:
- A boring letter. As a school teacher, your job is to inject energy and life into a classroom. A bland, generic letter sends a principal the exact opposite message. An application letter that’s full of movement and enthusiasm will give you a much better chance of landing the job.
- Confidential information. It’s essential that you leave out private information about your students or families. Even if the hiring manager doesn’t know of the situation, they’ll likely wonder if you can be trusted with the personal data of your new students.
- Too much personal information. During the job search, your personality counts, however, you want to make sure that you don’t venture off into the domain of Too Much Information. Family life, hobbies and weekend activities are usually best left off a cover letter unless you can directly relate them to teaching or the position.
- Issues with tone, spelling or grammar. Straightforward, punchy sentences will go further than pedagogic jargon. Likewise, spelling and grammar errors leave the hiring manager with a bad taste, especially when hiring a teacher.
How to format to impress
Your formatting is arguably just as important as the content of your application letter. Anyone who reads your letter will first take in the look and feel, font and color scheme before proceeding to the written information. That’s why it’s important to stick with trusted resume standards – san serif font styles like Helvetica or Georgia and a size between 10 and 12 points. You may also consider matching your header formatting to your resume. This is a great way to present a consistent, professional image across all your application materials. It can be a bit tricky to pull off without a graphic design degree, but luckily our collection of templates makes it easy to download a stylish document in a few clicks.
For more formatting tips, check out this handy guide and cover letter examples.
Key takeaways
- Your resume is stronger when paired with a cover letter. The two documents work together to provide an employer with a well-rounded picture of you as a candidate.
- A hiring manager expects to see certain elements on your cover letter. Knowing and following these rules will keep the employer interested and impressed.
- Explaining situations you’ve faced and handled is a great way to prove your skills, especially in an ever-changing profession like teaching.
- Using anecdotes and situations that are familiar to your potential new principal is one way to convince him or her that you’re a great fit for the school.
- Formatting is a key element of a strong cover letter. A template can save you time and allow you to easily match the formatting of your application letter and resume.
Save time and effort by creating the perfect cover letter with resume.io. No guesswork, just get out there and start teaching!
