First Week Back - Staff

Here they come.... and I'm not even talking about the students yet. I'm talking about your staff. You've probably already had about half of your staff show up to school to get into their classrooms but their official first day is coming. With that comes a very busy time for you as a principal. The week that staff returns I would not plan or schedule anything for myself. I would make myself available and accessible as much as possible. If you are new to the school most people will want to stop by and introduce themselves and gauge your personality. Some staff will have questions or needs. You need to make yourself available. You will definitely need to spend some time onboarding your new staff. Even though your district HR will do the general formal onboarding each school has its own orientation and welcome. My district scheduled five planning days for staff before school started. Two were for professional development, which included a Welcome Back meeting and activity and a Nuts and Bolts meeting the afternoon before school started to ensure safety and security needs were met for students. Three other days were strictly teacher workdays to prepare their classrooms. I was not allowed to hold meetings or training courses on those days. So, I would not only make myself open and accessible in the office, but I would also make my daily rounds and visit classrooms. I would take a pad of paper and pen and write down anything people needed. Then delivered on those needs if I could.  Visiting classrooms also gave me a chance to see if classrooms were ready and were warm and inviting for students.

If you do not do anything else in the first week for staff, make these 3 things a priority.

1.) Open the Year with WOW!

Have an awesome theme for the school year. For your first meeting make it a fun off campus, team building event if you can. (I can write a whole book on how to create Wow! Reach out to me for ideas at principals4leadership@gmail.com)  

2.) Be There!!!

Visit classrooms and make yourself available and accessible. Your staff will need you A LOT.

3.)  Safe Send Off!

Hold a Nuts-and-Bolts type meeting the afternoon before school starts. Ensure that all areas of morning and afternoon supervision are covered. All safety protocols are reviewed and send off your staff to an awesome school year!

The buzz and excitement of the first week back for staff is the best time of the year. Be there for your people and have fun with it!