Before I was an Education Advocate, I was an Elementary Principal. And I loved the job. In addition to all the adminstrivia and related supervision work, I was paid to go to recess everyday, celebrate birthdays on a daily basis, and generally, never really grow up. I was encouraged to be “kid like” in addition to liking kids. A dream job for someone who is naturally a kid-at-heart. So the whole notion of Back to School has a lot of fond memories for me.
Since I entered the teaching profession immediately after graduating college, and have been in the school system ever since, I have been impacted by the Back to School experience for fifty years straight if you count my first year in Kindergarten. So I have a fairly well grounded perspective on the whole BTS phenomena. In fact, I still have dreams of standing naked in front of the classroom or failing miserably on tests; subconscious signs of school beginning which often comes around Labor Day Weekend.
From an insiders perspective, Back to School has another set of meanings to teachers and principals. Without a doubt, most school employees genuinely see the new school year as a fresh start and a new beginning and often bring a rose-colored glass perspective / pollyanna frame of mind when it comes to the students for everyone begins with a clean slate. Nevertheless, don’t let this persuade you to withhold information or wait till things get worse before you begin the communication process between home and school. From my experience, very few kids truly make radical changes over the summer and often demonstrate similar patterns of behavior once the honeymoon period wanes (this may look like after a few days for some and others, it may be months). This is most evident with kids who experience Executive Functioning challenges for their intensity to please and do well supersedes the significant gaps they may have in organization and planning skills. So I highly recommend working with one another, teachers and parents from the get-go to assure a support system is in play prior to the predictable pratfall that often hits around mid October in the form of missing assignments and falling behind. Sure we all want to see our kids succeed and do well. But it’s imperative to establish open communication between school and home highlighting specific strategies and interventions prior to any drop off may occur. This also goes for any student who may have an IEP or a 504 accommodation plan in their tool kit. Even though school folks may demonstrate good intentions in the beginning of school, and appear enthusiastic about the new year, it’s critical to assure that everyone is on board and on the same page; don’t assume that everyone has read the IEP or 504 Plan which took months to develop the previous year.
Finally, take it easy in light of expecting the classroom to be running at full speed within the first few days of school. Most classes are not well established the first few days of school for principals are juggling class size patterns every day till the district gives them the go-ahead to move forward as if the concrete is finally solid, and this can be as late as October 1. I know this can be frustrating for parents especially if your child has been selected to move to a new classroom due to student enrollment changes. Nevertheless, it is how the game is played out. Most principals really don’t have a clear sense of the classroom configuration till the second week of school for there are numbers of families who are still in the process of moving or may be taking a late summer vacation; the best prices on summer travel are after Labor Day.
All in all, Back to School is a special time of the year. In fact, from an educators perspective, it’s our New Years Eve: A time for new relationships, refreshed spirits, and opportunity to start all over again; I remember often saying to myself, “Maybe I’ll get it right this time”. Most importantly, it’s time for parents and teachers to informally meet as partners rather than wait till official Parent Conferences are held in late Fall. Mutual understanding, communication, and collaboration are essential for our kids to succeed. Happy New Year!