The Ultimate Back-to-School Checklist For School Owners: Prepare For a Successful New School Year

The start of the school year can get overwhelming. Your plate is full, from staffing to curriculum planning to ordering classroom supplies.

How do you deal with this pressure? Here’s how.

In this blog, we’ve compiled the ultimate back-to-school checklist for school owners. 

Learn: How to simplify school administrative processes using SMS.

This comprehensive guide will help you with all the essential tasks to ensure a successful start to the new school year.

But first, let’s learn why you need a back-to-school preparation checklist.  

Why do you need a back-to-school checklist?

You want to manage your school’s upcoming academic year like a boss.

A perfectly executed back-to-school checklist:

• Helps you stay abreast of everything and avoid disasters.
• Ensures that you complete all necessary tasks before the academic year starts.
• Enables you to identify potential problems before they arise.
• Reduces stress and anxiety by providing a clear roadmap.
• Allows you to delegate tasks to others and track progress. Because let’s face it, you can’t do it all alone.
• Saves you time and energy by streamlining the planning process.

So, a back-to-school checklist is necessary to avoid a school-year disaster.

Your sanity (and your students) will thank you for it.

Now, here’s a step-by-step guide to preparing for the new school year.

A step-by-step checklist to prepare for the new school year

Preparing for the new school year is like preparing for a long road trip. You wouldn’t leave without a map, right?

You’d want to review your car’s maintenance history and pack your essentials before hitting the road.

Likewise, preparing for a new school year. A practical back-to-school checklist is vital. Make all necessary preparations before the school year starts.

Let’s get your educational journey off to a smooth start with the following steps.

1. Review school policies and procedures

Align your school’s mission and vision with its policies and procedures.

We’re talking about:

• Student behaviour
• Conduct codes
• Attendance
• Dress codes, and
• Technology

They all fall under this category. It’s crucial to run your institution like a well-oiled machine.

Reviewing school policies will help you:

• Ensure that school policies align with current laws and regulations
• Review and update disciplinary procedures
• Revise health and safety protocols

• Improve school performance and student outcomes, and
• Promote a safe and positive learning environment

Use policy management software to accomplish this. Or consult with a legal professional.

Get your policies in shape and hit the road to a successful new school year.

Also, Make sure to Keep Your School Safe with Emergency Response Plans

Next up on our back-to-school checklist is organising your staff.

2. Organise administrative and academic schedules

Manage both administrative tasks and academic activities. This includes timetables, meetings, and assigning roles.

So, for this part of your back-to-school checklist:

• Set relevant dates for staff meetings and budgeting. Include vendor management and parent-teacher conferences.
• Set timetables for extracurricular activities, assessments, and examinations. Also, include report card distribution and field trips.
• Assign responsibilities to staff members. Focus on their strengths and expertise.

This way, you’ll get ready for the school year. It’ll help you avoid last-minute scrambling and confusion.

Use project management tools to organise your staff. Tools like Basecamp and Asana are excellent.

Tick this off on your back-to-school checklist. It’ll ensure outstanding results.

3. Conduct a school facilities assessment

You can’t run a marathon with rocks in your shoes. You might still progress, but it’ll hurt.

The same applies to running a school with faulty facilities. Your back-to-school preparation is incomplete without this.

This assessment is vital. It’ll help you identify areas for improvement, repairs, or upgrades.

Assess classrooms, restrooms, libraries, playgrounds, and sports fields.

How to do it?

Three basic steps:

• Check for repairs and maintenance needs. No one wants to sit under a cracked roof on the first day of school.
• Update classroom furniture and equipment. Who wants to sit on a wobbly chair or use a broken pencil sharpener? Not your students, for sure.
• Safety comes first, always. Identify potential hazards and eliminate them.

The benefits?

• Ensures students and staff are safe and comfortable. No one likes sitting in a wobbly chair or beside peeling walls.
• Helps identify areas for improvement. Then, you can allocate resources accordingly. This enables you to manage your budget.
• Creates a more conducive learning environment.
• Enhances the school’s reputation. No one wants to send their child to a school with outdated facilities.
• Helps you avoid potential legal or regulatory issues. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of health and safety regulators.
• Boosts staff and student morale and motivation. It shows that you care about their well-being and comfort. 

You’ve ticked off the first three items. You’ve reviewed school policies, organised staff, and assessed your facilities. 

You’re making progress.

Next on your back-to-school checklist is supplies.

4. Stock up on school supplies

Don’t wait until the last minute.

Follow these 7 steps:

1. Make a list: Write down everything the school and students need for the upcoming academic year.
2. Crosscheck it: Review your list. Ensure you’re not missing any essential items.
3. Place an order: Buy your supplies from a trusted supplier. Ensure you get the most reasonable deals available.
4. Follow up: Confirm delivery dates with your supplier. Ensure everything is on track.
5. Receive the supplies: Once the supplies arrive, inspect them. Ensure they are in proper condition and have no missing or incorrect items.
6. Distribute: Organise and distribute supplies efficiently and fairly.

The benefits?

Stocking up on school supplies:

• Reduces stress and last-minute rushes for teachers, staff, and students.
• Ensures that all required materials are available and in proper condition.
• Improves the learning experience.
• Saves time and money by taking advantage of sales and discounts, and
• Demonstrates how well-prepared and organised your school is.

To prepare and distribute school supplies, use the following:

• An online ordering system (for bulk purchases).
• Inventory management software (to track supplies).
• Automated distribution systems to ensure all staff and students receive the necessary supplies

Stocking up on supplies sets you up for success. It’s a vital part of your back-to-school preparation.

The last step is critical – communication.

5. Communicate with parents and students

On your back-to-school strategy, make plans for effective communication.

Keep parents informed about school activities. It keeps everyone on the same page.

Communicate with parents and students about:

• School policies and procedures
• Events and activities
• Test schedules
• School closures
• Parent-teacher conferences, and
• Emergencies

Want to master the art of communication with parents and students? 

Then, you need bulk SMS.

Benefits of using bulk SMS to inform parents and staff of school activities and events 

Bulk SMS is the secret weapon you never knew you had. With bulk SMS on your back-to-school kit, you’ll:

• Save on budgeting: Save money on printing and postage. Say goodbye to lost or undelivered paper newsletters.
• Enjoy instant deliveries: Deliver messages instantly to parents’ and students’ phones, wherever they are. This ensures that important messages aren’t lost in overstuffed backpacks or at the bottom of a student’s locker.
• Wider reach and reliability: Because students and faculty members all have a phone, and SMS doesn’t require a particular app or the internet, you’d communicate more reliably, with a broader reach.
• Save time: Automated SMS gives you more time to focus on other tasks.

Are you ready to try bulk SMS for your school?

Learn more about all you can do with SMS in your school in our SMS and education guide.

If you’d rather use WhatsApp, we’ve also got you covered. Check out our WhatsApp messaging solution that helps you communicate to students, staff and parents on WhatsApp with ease.

Tips for effective SMS communication

Bad communication is a recipe for disaster. It can lead to chaos and confusion.

Your teachers won’t get their messages across. And students will miss critical updates.

It’s like using the telephone with an unstable connection. The final message becomes distorted and unreliable.

Good communication is crucial to success with SMS. So, to communicate effectively via SMS:

• Keep messages concise: SMS has a 160-character limit, so keep messages brief and concise. Highlight essential information: upcoming events, deadlines, and updates.
• Time your messages: Send messages at an appropriate time. Avoid late-night or early-morning messages. Consider parents’ work schedules and avoid peak hours.
• Segment your contacts: Target parent groups based on grade level or relevant factors for messaging. This ensures that you tailor messages to the recipient, and they are more likely to read them.
• Use a clear call-to-action: Clear CTAs motivate parents to act. For example, “RSVP by Friday” or “Please respond to confirm attendance”.
• Use two-way SMS: Enable two-way communication with parents so they can respond to messages and ask questions. This creates a dialogue and improves engagement.
• Get consent: Get consent from parents before sending SMS to their mobile phones. This ensures compliance with data privacy laws and builds trust with parents.
• Use a reliable SMS platform: Choose one for handling large volumes of SMS and offering instant reports and data. This helps you track engagement and improve your SMS communication over time.

Effective communication builds strong relationships with parents, staff, and students. And SMS is your secret tool.

Wrap up your back-to-school preparation today with bulk SMS.

Spice up an amazing school year with SMSCountry’s bulk SMS

To enjoy a fantastic school year, you need consistent and effective communication with parents and students.

That’s where SMSCountry comes in. It’s the fastest and most reliable service provider to send bulk SMS messages to parents, teachers, and students.

Don’t let poor communication spoil your new school year..

Sign up on SMSCountry today and start the process. You can also request a demo to see how we can help you get started with SMS this year.