Dear USNA Parent Club Presidents, Editors and Webmasters:

Today I am pleased to introduce a major new communications tool for all United States Naval Academy Parents worldwide. The Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation has launched an official website specifically designed to service families of midshipmen.

The content and context of the information provided on http://USNAparents.com originates directly from the Naval Academy Public Affairs Office and the Communication's Division of the Alumni Association. This provides parents with safe, reliable news from an official and known source. It is also noteworthy that http://USNAparents will be the first United States service academy sponsored website independently focused on parents.

http://USNAparents is a state-of-the art website providing news, information, communications services, and a wide host of other great features that I am certain parents will both appreciate and enjoy. A core element of the site is the on-line "USNA Plebe Parent Survival Guide " which addresses the practical and academic concerns of USNA moms and dads during the often-hectic Plebe year.

We encourage you to visit the Message Boards located at http://USNAparents.com/Boards/Boards.asp. These boards provide an easy and fun way to converse with other parents and share your experiences of Naval Academy parenting. In the "Exploring Annapolis" section there are lists of terrific hotels, restaurants and local activities to help parents organize their visits on I-Day, during Commissioning Week and for scheduled parent weekends throughout the Academic year.

This week, Mr. Don Nelson, Assistant Director of Admissions has a special message for all USNA parents appearing on the http://USNAparents.com homepage. Academy leadership will periodically be using this new communications tool to directly convey news of immediate importance to parents concerning life on the Yard, special events, academic and professional development policies and administration viewpoints.

Very soon, we will be adding a section specifically designed to display photos submitted by USNA parents of their midshipmen and Academy related events. As parent club presidents, webmasters and newsletter editors, I would encourage you to share some of your great photos with us to get the parent photo gallery going. To contribute photos for the parent website please email Mr. George Smyth, Webmaster, USNAAA/USNAF at george.smyth@usna.com for the proper procedure on how to submit.

I would also encourage you to forward your suggestions and feedback on the website to me -- what you like and do not like -- so that http://USNAparents.com may serve you even better in the future. My personal hope is that through this new and exciting communications tool, we can show how greatly we appreciate your focus, hard work and dedication as United States Naval Academy parents.

Warm regards, Jill

Jill Montone

Parent Program Coordinator

United States Naval Academy

Alumni Association

247 King George Street

Annapolis, MD 20714

410-263-4448 Ext. 241