Family & School
Time Capsule Project

Building connections, between students, families, family history, and the future.

Guided by Letters:

Milestones of the Time Capsule Project

Letters to Student

The Foundation: Meaningful letters that inspire connection and reflection.

Pre-K to 2nd grade Letters

The Journey Begins: Parents capture the magic of the early years with heartfelt annual letters to their child.

3rd to 11th grade Letters

Students Take Charge: Requesting letters that share hopes and family history to shape their journey.

12th grade Letters

Dream Forward: Gathering letters envisioning your life in 10 years, enriched with meaningful family history.

10-year Reunions

The Journey Continues: Reunite to share stories, reflect on 10 year letters and inspire the next generation.

Using annual family letters over 14 years, Pk-12, to constantly refocus on family roots, history, and student goals.

How Voluntering as School Time Capsule Postmaster Changes Life

Volunteers see the change!

Postmasters work less than 20 hours over the entire school year for the grade they are Postmaster for. They can volunteer to be Postmaster for more than one grade. They help these priceless letters follow the students and return home. The goal is to have one Postmaster Volunteer for each 70 students.

Project is very low cost!

It is recommended a parent fund-raising campaign be done after the first year for the 700 pound vault needed to function as the school Time Capsule holding the letters. The fundraising time is a time for more educating of families about the Project. The vault should be located in the highest visibility location possible in a school so as many students as possible see it daily, usually in the school lobby.

Obvious Growth in student academics

Schools will experience a lowering of dropout rates with rising grades and achievement. Fewer behavioral issues will be hindering such progress! Student self-confidence grows! With all students in all grades receiving annual letters from each parent, grandparent, or other close relative, student achievement soars!

correlation between letter writing & progress is clear

See the report in the "Research" section of this web site covering the School Effectiveness Indices (SEI) scores from 2006 through 2023 in 32 non-magnet DISD middle schools. The writing of letters for the School Time Capsule Project by all students is now more highly correlated with ever higher student achievement through the SEI scores in Dallas ISD!

Student, parent, & Educator Testimonials

While hundreds have valued this project since 2005, the online collection of statements is just starting.
The Family and School Time Capsule Project was born in the 2004/05 school year at Quintanilla Middle School after teachers discussed ways to improve student achievement and graduation rates. The initial focus on students writing about life goals expanded over the years to include the exploration of family roots in annual letters from each parent and grandparent about dreams and family history stories. By 2019 such priceless discussions within families, ultimately documented in letters within the family, more than doubled the 40% graduation rates that existed before 2005. As student achievement grew, the use of the School Effectiveness Indices (SEI) scores was started to better document progress from increased student and family focus on goals and family roots. But the Covid-19 Pandemic struck in 2020! All letter writing stopped! SEI scores dropped! Only Rosemont Upper School resumed letter writing in 2021. Their SEI score grew as other Project schools SEI scores dropped. By 2023 Rosemont had gained 10 SEI points to become among the two highest SEI scoring of all 33 middle schools. Quintanilla, among the highest 3 SEI scoring middle school in 2018 & 2019, never resumed letter writing after 2020. They lost SEI points until by 2024 only 2 of the 30 middle schools in DISD had lower SEI scores than Quintanilla! Family letters about goals and family roots make a real difference! In 2024 South Oak Cliff High School (SOC) became the first high school to use the all-grade, all student model of the Project. In 2024 the SEI for SOC went from a 10-year SEI average in 2023 that was third from the bottom among the 21 non-magnet high schools to being 3rd from the top of all 21 high schools with their 2024 SEI score! The goal for 2025 is to improve the SOC letter writing focus on roots and goals, and ultimately improve the SOC 2025 SEI score to be the highest of all 21 non-magnet high schools! Already, with the 2024 score of 54.0, SOC has a higher SEI score than 40% of magnet schools! I welcome any questions. Please put “Time Capsule Project” in the subject line and email questions to bbetzen@aol.com. - Bill Betzen
Client Name
Client Name
“A testimonial from a client who benefited from your product or service. Testimonials can be a highly effective way of establishing credibility and increasing your company's reputation.”
Client Name
Client Name
“A testimonial from a client who benefited from your product or service. Testimonials can be a highly effective way of establishing credibility and increasing your company's reputation.”
Client Name
Client Name

Improve schools you love anywhere

This simple project focused on family roots and student goals can dramatically improve any school in the World with the work of volunteers supported by educators. As an open-source project it is free to use. We only ask that improvements discovered be shared with our online community.

Family & School Time Capsule Project

School Time Capsule Vault
South Oak Cliff High Schjool (SOC) in 2024 was the first DISD high school to have all students in all grades write letters to each parent, grandparent, great grandparent, and close relative, asking for a letter back about their dreams for the student, and with a story from the family history.