How to bring Rethink Yearbooks to your child’s school
The person who picks your school’s yearbook company is usually the PTA or PTO yearbook coordinator, sometimes with the PTA board, and many schools choose next year’s vendor in spring. The easiest way to suggest Rethink is a short, friendly note to that person with a few links, sent before they renew; we can also reach out to your school’s yearbook team for you.
Who actually chooses the yearbook company?
At most elementary schools it is a parent volunteer, not the principal.
- The yearbook coordinator or committee. Usually a PTA or PTO volunteer, sometimes a small committee. They run the book and normally pick the vendor.
- The PTA or PTO board. When the choice involves a signed agreement, a budget line or a fundraising target, the coordinator often takes a recommendation to the board.
- A staff member. At some schools the yearbook is run by a teacher, an office manager or an instructional assistant rather than the PTA.
If you are not sure who it is, look at who sent last year’s yearbook order flyer, or ask the front office “who runs the yearbook?”. That one question saves you writing to the wrong person.
When is the decision made?
Three calendars run at once, and they are months apart.
- Choosing a vendor: roughly March to June. Many schools pick or renew next year’s yearbook company in spring. Large vendors typically sign schools about a year ahead of the book.
- Families buying: roughly August to January. Yearbook sales usually open at back-to-school and close in winter, well before the book exists. By then the vendor is chosen.
- The people change: April to July. PTA elections are usually in spring, and new officers often start on 1 July. The outgoing coordinator may renew with the current vendor before handing over, so the person who inherits the job did not choose the vendor.
So the best time to suggest a change is late winter to spring, before a renewal. If it is autumn now, it is not necessarily too late: Rethink works on a one-school-year agreement with no deposit and no multi-year term, and schools can start partway through the year. The school may still be committed to its current vendor for this year, which is worth asking about rather than assuming. Switching yearbook companies, including mid-year →
How do I raise it without putting pressure on anyone?
Yearbook coordinators are volunteers who are usually doing more hours than anyone thanks them for. A suggestion lands best when it makes their job lighter rather than implying this year’s book was not good enough.
- Start with a question, not a pitch. “How do you choose the yearbook company, and when?” gets you the timing and the decision-maker, and opens the door.
- Lead with what helps them. Rethink offers a free First Draft of the book, design in Canva, and no order minimum. Those matter more to a coordinator than anything about photos of your own child.
- Keep it to one short message with links they can read when they have time. Do not ask for a meeting.
- Go to the coordinator first. Going around them to the principal or the board is the fastest way to a “no”.
- Offer a small, specific job, if you can spare the time: grade photo captain, or proofreading names in April. That is worth more to a coordinator than any vendor.
- Accept “not this year”. Ask if you can bring it up again before next spring.
What should I send them?
Copy this, change the bits in brackets, and send it from your own email. It is written to be forwarded to a board.
Hi [name],
Thank you for running the yearbook. I came across a company called Rethink Yearbooks and thought it might be worth a look when you next choose a vendor, whenever that is.
What stood out:
- Families choose between the school’s traditional book, at the price the school sets, and a personalized copy for +$10. The personalized copy adds pages with 35–60 candid photos from the child’s own class and grade, built automatically, plus the child’s name and photo on the cover.
- They build a free first draft of the book from the school’s photos, and the team edits it in Canva.
- A one-school-year agreement with no deposit, no setup fee, no multi-year term and no order minimum. Families order and pay online, and books are printed in the USA about three weeks after the book is approved.
Links, if useful:
- Overview for elementary schools: https://www.rethinkyearbooks.com/elementary
- Prices: https://www.rethinkyearbooks.com/pricing and https://www.rethinkyearbooks.com/yearbook-cost
- Switching vendors: https://www.rethinkyearbooks.com/switch-yearbook-company
- A 30-minute walkthrough: https://www.rethinkyearbooks.com/meetingwithrethinkyearbooks
No pressure at all. If it’s useful I’m happy to help with [photos for my child’s grade / anything else].
[Your name, your child’s grade]
Can Rethink contact the school for me?
Yes. Email admin@rethinkyearbooks.com with your school’s name, and the coordinator’s name if you know it, and we will reach out to your school’s yearbook team. It helps to tell the coordinator you have passed their name on, so our email is not a surprise.
Bringing Rethink to your school, answered.
Does our school have to change its picture-day photographer?
No. Rethink reads student portraits in the standard format school photographers provide, so a school can keep its photographer and change only the yearbook. Four of our schools kept Lifetouch for picture day and chose Rethink for the yearbook.
Will every family have to pay more?
No. The school sets the price of the traditional book, and personalization is an optional +$10 that each family decides on. Softcover books start from $20 per copy depending on page count, with no setup fee or deposit.
Is it too late if the school year has already started?
Usually not. Rethink works on a one-school-year agreement with no deposit and no multi-year term, and can build a first draft from photos the school has already collected. What matters is whether the school has already committed to another vendor for this year.
What if the coordinator isn’t interested?
That is their call, and a good one to respect. The note above is written so that it can sit in an inbox until spring, when the vendor choice comes round again.
See it for your school.
If you are the coordinator, start with a quote and a sample, or book a 30-minute walkthrough.