Note: In V9.264 (September 2025), the Re-enrolment Letters 2 script has been renamed Re-enrolment Letters, and some of the screens have been updated. In this article the "2" is still used, but if you have the newer update and don't have a script by that name, the Re-enrolment Letters script is the one it refers to.
Overview
This script mail merges information about students' activities into a letter with your custom body text and prints or emails the letters. It was built to send out enrolment information in the lead up to a new year with requests for responses, but it can be put to other uses as well.
This script sends one letter per student.
You have the option to include varying levels of detail about each student's current:
Tuition enrolments
Ensemble enrolments
Instrument hire
The process includes a number of steps:
Select the students you wish to send the letters to.
Select the enrolment details you wish to include.
Select or create a letter template, and edit if needed.
Preview the letters and print or send.
How to Send Re-enrolment Letters
Go to Common Tasks > End of year procedures > Re-enrolment letters 2.
Alternatively, in the Students file, perform a Find to bring up the set of students you want to send letters to, and then select Scripts > Re-enrolment Letters 2.
When you select the button, the computer will automatically work through a number of steps:
If you ran the script from Common Tasks, the first step is to specify search criteria to find a group of records. The pre-set search is to find all Active students, but you can change this. Select Continue.
You will then come to a screen where you can select what information to merge into your letter.
You can opt to include or exclude various details from the students' tuition and ensemble enrolments and their instrument hire records.
The script will then import the information from the enrolment and instrument hire files and then show a screen where you can select a Re-Enrolment Letter.
Click on the white space under the "Letter Title" label to see a drop-down of options already created. You can choose one of the templates and edit it to suit your needs, or you can create a brand new template.
Note: A suggestion is to re-use the same template for the same process year after year, and just update the dates in the letter. That way you only need different templates for different purposes, not multiple similar letters from previous years.
Select Continue and standard letters will be generated for each of these records, using the parents' name and address details. (If additional contacts have been entered for the student in the 'Mail Alert/Additional Contact' portal, letters will be generated to these people, too.
To view each letter, scroll through the pages by selecting the book icon in the toolbar at the top left of your screen.
Select Continue at the top right of your screen and you will be given the opportunity to edit the letter.
You can alter the text in the main body of the letter (and it will be saved for next time).
Note: If you're emailing the letters, don't spend time on formatting such as text size, bold, etc. because FileMaker doesn't transfer that formatting to emails. If you're printing then the formatting will work.
You can alter the title of the letter by selecting the Edit Letter Title button. The date, closing, and signature can all be edited, too.
Select Continue to preview the letters again.
Select Continue at the top right and you will again be given another chance to edit. You can keep editing and previewing until you're happy!
When you're satisified with the formatting, select 'No' to editing and you will then be asked if you wish to PRINT or EMAIL the letters.
NOTE: If you choose to EMAIL, separate emails will be generated for every letter. These will open in your email program, one after another, but won't send automatically. You will get to preview each one and then select Send. (It might be a good idea to do a few test runs with smaller groups of records, otherwise your email program might go into meltdown!) Make your selection or select Cancel.
The letters will print or emails will be generated (allowing you to preview before actually sending) and you will return to your starting screen. A NOTE will be added to each Student record listing the date, letter title and name of the person to whom the letter was sent. This note will be tagged as a 'Private' note.