Back to School Preparation Guide

School leaders in today’s educational environment recognize that the school year does not begin on the first day of classes. It starts with careful planning months in advance. Now more than ever, with school disruptions, it is critical to put in place educational tools and supports for students as soon as possible.

Here are some suggestions for back-to-school preparations

Enrollment & Academic Data

To effectively support students starting on day one, it is important for administrators to anticipate the total enrollment at school and by grade level. Having a complete picture of each student’s most recent academic data is also crucial.

Student data helps to determine not just how individual students are progressing but also how subgroups (e.g., Bilingual/ESL, Special Education, Gifted and Talented) of students are doing.

This information impacts budget allocations, staffing decisions, and scheduling.

Budgeting & Purchasing

Budget responsibilities of a school administrator include purchasing instructional resources and securing the right number of materials for students and teaching personnel. When administrators have a solid understanding of key student data, they can make informed decisions about the best, high-quality core and supplemental educational products. Additionally, administrators can determine whether differentiated materials, such as standards-based resources for on-, above-, and below-grade level is needed for students.

Administrators may begin buying educational equipment, resources, services, and supplies on July 1 or September 1, depending on when the new fiscal year begins.

Inventory & Storage

Instructional material storage areas can quickly get out of control if they are not prioritized. The end of the school year is the perfect time for administrators to take inventory and reorganize storage areas so new materials can be received efficiently during the summer.

Some tips for organizing storage areas include:

• Arranging materials based on grade levels and subject areas.
• Placing materials that will be distributed at the start of the school year in an easy-to-access location.
• Clearly labeling storage areas for quick access.

Collaboration with key instructional staff during the summer months offers opportunities for collaboration to review student data, budget priorities, and curriculum materials distribution.

Additional topics for discussion include:

• Finalizing student lists
• Confirming staff schedules
• Reviewing Campus Improvement Plan
• Discussing new programs

Strategic Calendar

The school calendar for 2022–2023 is another important topic for collaboration that deserves an in-depth look. A strategic calendar is essential to getting things done in the new school year.

It is important to review and adjust the calendar on a regular basis to plan school events and activities, such as teacher planning times, parent-teacher conferences, and Back-to-School nights.

Having an updated, visible, and organized calendar makes the school run more smoothly.

Communication Strategy

Communication is essential for an administrator to connect students, teachers, families, and other stakeholders to the school’s mission. It is important to determine how, when, and to whom information will be shared.

Below are a few Back-to-School communication items that can help start the year off right:

• Staff Welcome Letter
• Parent Welcome Letter
• School Announcements
• First Campus-Wide Assembly

Before a new school year is the best time to get realigned, inspired, and excited about what is possible and attainable.

Many students struggle because they lack the foundational skills needed for grade-level standards. Foundational skills underpin the rigorous standards that are the norm in today’s classrooms. Researchers suggest teaching prerequisite skills at time of need. There is a window of opportunity for teaching and learning; the task is to know when it appears and exploit it.1 Much like building background information sets students up for learning success, teaching foundational skills as they are needed increases students’ ability to connect to increasingly difficult skills.

Accelerating Learning

The more you know about your students, the better able you will be able to accelerate their learning. But having students with learning loss or unfinished learning puts added pressure on teaching grade-level curriculum. Experts are calling for a shift in thinking from wholesale placing students in remedial programs to teaching pre-requisite skills at time of need. Building both background knowledge and foundational skills makes learning new and more difficult skills easier.

Building foundational skills at time of need is most effective when it incorporates recommendations made by cognitive researchers. Mayer and Moreno (2003) suggest the following:

“Eliminate distractions to keep students focused.”

“Simplify the content by segmenting it into steps.”

“Simplify the task by lowering the readability and problem complexity.”

These recommendations have shown to be effective for all students, especially for those who struggle with learning. Keeping these recommendations in mind will help to accelerate learning for all students.

References

1. Killi, Steinar and Morrison, Andrew. Universal Journal of Educational Research 3(10): 742-750, 2015 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2015.031013 Just-in-time Teaching, Just-in-need Learning: Designing towards Optimized Pedagogical Outcome. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1077677.pdf
2. Mayer & Moreno (2003). Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 43–52. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253772914_Nine_Ways_to_Reduce_