The summer gives you an opportunity to relax and rejuvenate and most importantly get ready for the new school year. However, the excitement quickly wears away. In Dekalb County, leaders attend a three-day conference designed for leaders. The conference is jam-packed with pertinent information about curriculum, discipline, and other updates. While the knowledge gained at the conference is useful, the timing, however, is not. The conference doesn’t allow you to digest the information and artfully present it to the staff for the following week. One suggestion for leadership is that it should be held in June prior to the vacation time for the assistant principal. The earlier date will allow the information to be processed by the school teams and allow for the teams to develop implementation and monitoring plans.
Pre-planning is an extremely busy time of year. Teachers return to school anticipating the new school year. Teachers have hopes to decorate their classroom with the latest frills to ensure that students have a welcoming environment when school starts. The reality for teachers during pre-planning week is that the week is full of meetings, professional development, and even a district convocation. While many of the things that take teachers away from their classrooms are very important, the work that needs to be done is equally important. School leaders should critically analyze the pre-planning agenda and reschedule meetings and professional development to different times in the school year.
An organized start to the school year for leaders and teachers would yield positive gains for students. District leaders must reassess the school calendar to ensure leadership conference and preplanning are maximized. The added stress that is placed on school building leaders, as well as teachers due to the overwhelming amount of information and the limited time, cause what I have labeled as the ‘the new school year blues.’ Students and parents deserve a school that is ready to receive them, instead, they are often greeted with incomplete teacher classrooms and an unfinished schoolhouse. There is a saying "the way you start is the way you finish." If you start the school year in a chaotic manner, you will end the school year the same way. School and district leaders need to reassess and reevaluate the weeks leading up to the start of the school year to ensure the time is maximized and students are ready to learn on day one.
