Preparation Begins LongBefore First Day of School

Just like our students and their families, our district’s teachers and leaders are busy getting set for the upcoming school year. Over the summer, we hold staff training and each campus team plans carefully how to make its school even better than the year before.

To me, preparation is so central to our schools, staff and students being the best they can be. As the famous tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”

Let’s help our students start off the school year with utmost confidence by being fully ready. And that may mean changing household sleep schedules long before the first day.

Here are some recommendations:
- Ease children back into a school year routine gradually.
- During the last two weeks of summer, re-introduce a school year bedtime.
- Begin waking late sleepers earlier and earlier, closer to the time they’ll
  need to rise when school begins.

Being fully prepared also means being organized, and a centralized site for all family calendars and schedules is a popular tool. Create a centralized calendar that allows students and parents alike to add school lunch menus, class assignment due dates, extra-curricular activity schedules and more. 

What helps your family get set for school? Please share your tips for back-to-school preparedness.