Eight Leadership Tips To A Flawless Opening Day of School
Written by Dr. Micheal Milstead |@DrMilstead | @ToPrincipal
The first day of school is an exciting one for just about everyone in the learning community. Many students look forward to joining their friends and meeting new ones, while others have high expectations of starting a new school. The anticipation of seeing former teachers, participating in extracurricular activities and sports as well as an upcoming graduation are also reasons some students are motivated to return to school.
Both veteran and new teachers are often anxious and enthusiastic to discover who will be their new students. The noble responsibility of facilitating student academic growth and learning as well as sponsoring clubs and activities are factors steering their positive outlook towards the beginning of school.
Then there are parents, who are often proud of the fact that the opening of school means that their child is moving up to a higher grade and becoming another year closer to completing school. Moms and dads sending their child to school for the very first time may encounter a bitter sweet experience but are also eager for their child’s transition to a formal education.
It is a widely held belief among school administrators that a successful opening of school establishes the tone for the entire year. I believe that there is something immeasurably inherit about positive beginnings to any endeavor. On the other hand, it takes a great amount of time undo a chaotic or unstructured first day. Therefore, it is vitally important that everyone gets off to a great start, In the three schools that I have been principal, I felt that each had a well plan and rewarding first day. So I would like to share Eight Leadership Tips to a Flawless Opening Day of School:
- Be visible: Finally, opening day is here! You and your staff have been working towards it all summer. It’s a new beginning. It is the first day of school! So don’t blow it by staying put in your office. Walk, walk, walk, around the school and the entire campus throughout the day. If you can’t walk, then ride, scoot or whatever you have to do but let everyone see you often. Being visible illustrates that you care and actively engaged with student learning. It also displays that you are monitoring and aware of what is going on in the building. Be available to assist in areas that you can. This is your curtain call everyone is watching you. Safety is also a concern on this day, so observe for anything that may look out of the ordinary. Prepare you teachers and leadership team to also be on the lookout and to report any suspicious sightings. Students, parents, teachers and the community want to see their leader taking care of things in the school. You are the Principal everyone wants to know that you have it all under control and you want to show them that you do. It’s your ship Captain set sail on a positive course.
2. Communicate Often: A key role of a building principal is communicating. While walking through the hallways and around the school take time out to speak with parents, students and teachers and welcome them back. Build meaningful relationships by assisting students get to their class, talk with teachers to make sure all is going well, monitor the lunch room, open parent car doors for students, conduct classroom walkthroughs, introduce yourself to new students, catch up from the summer with those who are returning to school. Also come on the Public-Address System a few times throughout the day and let everyone up to date how the first day is transitioning. Do an all-out welcome back. Communicate to teachers via email any changes to the first day schedule.
3. Demonstrate Patience — As you are seen in the school hall ways many students, parents and teachers may stop you to ask questions that are important to them. Be patient and answer each one to the best of your knowledge. If you don’t know the answer call someone who does and get back to the person who asked it. This is your opportunity to promote your school as one that provides exceptional customer service. Don’t rush anyone or dismiss their concerns. Be professional, approachable but most of all exhibit patience to all. You may occasionally have to walk students to a class if it is their first day in the school.
4. Require routines — A vital component to the success of the first day of school is that everyone immediately adapts into school routines and procedures. From the beginning of the school day to the it’s closing you should facilitate a normal day of expectations from all members of the learning community. The day should start as you would any school day on time and students in their assigned classes. If you begin each school day with the pledge, at 8:00 a.m. then it should start on this day at the same time. If students have only 5 minutes to transition from one class to the next, this should be done on the first day. Keep classes and lunch at its same periods of time. Routines set expectations. It also illustrates that importance of time in the school day.
5. Have a contingency plan — During the summer meeting with your leadership team, it is important to construct a contingency plan for things that may not go as expected on the first day. For instance, be prepared for issues that may arrived from student registration, classroom overcrowding, students who don’t have schedules, student lunches, building power outage, or computer problems. Having a plan to address unforeseen problems demonstrates to all members of the learning community of your commitment and insightfulness of being an effective school leader.
6. Debriefing — Another important factor to a flawless first day of school is for the principal to conduct a debriefing with his leadership team of how the day went. This should be an honest conversation about what went well, what were the hiccups and what changes should be made. Teachers should be encouraged to present their concerns regarding the opening day to their department chairs. The department chairs will then present this info in the debriefing. It is important that staff sees that the principal is listening to them and encouraging their input. This format establishes a relationship of trust.
7. Make the adjustments — Once the debriefing has concluded, then it is the principal’s responsibility to ensure that any changes or adjustments to first day of school and upcoming days are done. A timeline should be established as to when the changes and/or adjustments are to be completed. Changes must be acted upon immediately! It is also important to communicate to staff that the changes have been made.
8. Write it down — My first principal Dr. Theodore P. Merrill, once told me that it is imperative that principals keep a journal and document in it daily if only for a short period of time. Any changes are adjustments made to first day of school plan or future school day plans should be placed in writing so that all staff are made aware. Placing it in writing allows you not to forget what worked and didn’t work and you will have that information for the next opening of school. It also shows that the principal was concerned to the point where he/she took time out to place the information in writing and communicate to all staff. It displays the leader’s commitment to the importance of the first day of school and future school days.
This information in its truest form simply serves as a reminder to principals, of the importance for developing an organized and well thought out plan for children’s return to school. Few if any first day of school procedures is failproof. However, the better prepare you are for the opening day, the greater the likelihood it will go well. We all want our students to have a great experience in school and nothing says, “we care about you” more than making their first day of school a great one. We do this jobs for kids, so make it a flawless first day for each of them!
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