Activity: Examine the procedures for the opening day of school.

Description: The first day of school at East Brainerd Elementary School. The school is
divided into two campuses with grades K! at one campus and grades "# located at
another campus. The arrival and dismissal times are staggered $y # minutes so that
parents and $uses can have time to transport %ids $etween the two campuses. &arents
were allowed to escort students to their classrooms since many of them had school
supplies with them thus causing a lot of traffic within the halls. Teachers were on duty
outside of their classroom doors to greet parents and students. 'elated arts teachers
assisted new parents and students who needed help with directions within the school and
they also helped register students who missed registration day. A special schedule was
put into place since routines were $eing esta$lished and many students were still $eing
registered.
(hat went well)
Several things went well with the first day of school. * was located at the *ntermediate
Building so * will focus on what occurred at that $uilding. *t was great that parents were
welcomed into the $uilding. Although we are an intermediate school+ these are still
young children and their parents are still very concerned a$out their children,s teachers+
their school+ etc. Since our campus only houses "
th
and #
th
grades this was the first time
some of our parents-students had ever stepped foot onto that particular campus. By
allowing them to wal% their child into their classroom+ help them unpac% their supplies+
see where they would $e sitting+ eating lunch+ going to related arts+ etc. we welcomed our
sta%eholders into our community. This was very important since many of these
sta%eholders felt comforta$le enough to %eep coming $ac% following this initial visit.
Another thing that went well is that we went ahead and implanted our new drop off
procedure from day one. (e %new that we would $e facing a change in our landscape
since our new $uilding would $e $uilt on our existing property so to prevent confusion
we went ahead and implemented the drop off line from the very first day so that that
routine could $e put into place immediately.
(ithin the $uilding the faculty and staff really wor%ed hard to wor% as a team. The first
day of school can often $e stressful and it is always tiresome. *t doesn,t seem to matter
how long you have $een in the teaching profession you always seem to get $utterflies in
your stomach+ $ut * will say the teachers at the intermediate $uilding pulled together and
they wor%ed as a team to ma%e sure that everyone was prepared for the first day of
school. (e had a $ig change in our grade level placements last year and many of the "
th

and #
th
grade teachers had never $een in the *ntermediate $uilding $efore. To top it off+ *
had never $een placed at the *ntermediate $uilding and we had a new secretary .and we
all %now that the secretary is the glue of the school /. *t was the first day of school that
really set the tone of the school year $ecause the newcomers all loo%ed to the veterans for
help which was great $ecause some of those veterans really needed to %now that their
opinions were valued and that they were valued as leaders. Some of those individuals
were starting to feel li%e they were not valued mem$ers of the faculty in years past+ $ut
from day one the tone changed. This has proven to $e critical $ecause there have $een
many times that * have needed to go to these individuals to as% for help or to as% them to
change certain things and the tone has remained positive $ecause they have felt valued
from the get go.
(hat did not)
There were several things that did not go well. Some of the things that did not go well are
truly $eyond our control and they will hopefully $e resolved with our new school .traffic
patterns+ two $uildings+ etc./. Since they are truly $eyond our control * will not ta%e the
time to focus on them here $ecause * really thin% that these issues will $e resolved in a
year when we get in a new $uilding0 although+ * do %now that we will have to have a plan
of attac% once we get into that $uilding.
Since we do have an extreme pro$lem with overcrowding * do thin% that our primary
$uilding should have had a different start time for %indergarten on the first day. This
would have allowed those parents to come in+ meet with administration and teachers+ and
not feel so pressured $y the hustle and $ustle of the rat race that was ta%ing place within
the $uilding. Another issue that we face $y $eing in two $uildings is that we do not have
enough personnel to cover $oth $uildings. Since the schedule was changed we were
merely providing $rea%s to the teachers rather than a full related arts $loc%. The primary
$uilding has more classrooms than the intermediate $uilding so the ma1ority of the related
arts teachers stayed at that $uilding to provide support to that $uilding. (hile we were
a$le to get everyone covered at the *ntermediate $uilding we were definitely spread thin
and running around in fren2y.
3iven the chance to do it again+ how would you do it $etter)
*f given the chance to do things differently * would definitely reach out to our community
sta%eholders for their support. (hile we were struggling to get classrooms covered so
that teachers could find five minutes to ta%e a $athroom $rea% * $et our church partners
would have loved to come in to volunteer. They could have helped our secretary register
new %ids or guide new parents to classrooms. The other thing that * would have done
differently is that * would have had a first day coffee in the li$rary for the parents. * thin%
that this is important $ecause it would allow for a smooth separation $etween parents and
students. This idea came to me $ecause * parent was very upset following my
announcements on the first day of school. * waited an extra 4# minutes $efore starting
announcements $ecause * %new parents were trying to get supplies unpac%ed and their
%ids settled. * figured 4# minutes would $e plenty of time to get %ids settled and * also
wanted the teachers to get going with their days .a fine line $etween %eeping parents and
teachers happy/. (ell+ you should never assume anything $ecause one parent was very
upset that * as%ed parents to wrap it up and let the teachers get started with their day5 So+
* thin% that an administrative coffee would get the parents out of the classroom .ma%es
the teachers happy/ and would allow the parents to get to %now the school and
administrators a little $it $etter .ma%es them happy/. This may 1ust $e a win-win-win
situation since it $rings in our sta%eholders5