From Checklists to “Big Rocks” on Your Summer Calendar

By Joe Schroeder, AWSA Associate Executive Director

As experienced leaders well know, the pace of the school year ramps up until the very end.  And summer then suddenly “appears” from somewhere beyond the year-end haze as we try to recover from the wild and wooly ride of May and early June.  To assist in managing this hectic ride and put your mind perhaps a bit more at ease about important preparations for the summer and school year ahead, this article shares two items for your consideration:  (1) a monthly summer checklist you can use to assure that all key organizational work is being accomplished and (2) opportunities to leverage checklisted tasks into “big rock” priorities so that you can expand your leadership impact in 2017-18 like never before.

Summer / Annual Checklists

We have been regularly sharing and updating a monthly checklist of potential leadership responsibilities / tasks with participants in our New Building Administrators Academy for years now -- and with very positive feedback.  Here is the portion of the checklist aimed at the three months of summer.  What might you add, delete and/or modify from this example list to make it most relevant and helpful in your local setting? 

June

❏      Reiterate expectations and purpose of report cards

❏      Communicate expectations for exam week (secondary)

❏      Recognize (celebrate) volunteers and substitute teachers

❏      Write a newsletter article about the benefits of reading in summer!

❏      Develop and communicate “end-of-year checklist” for staff - what needs to be collected, turned into the office, locked up, reported, etc.

❏      Final teacher evaluations due

❏      Summer school begins

❏      Conduct year-end inventory of textbooks, supplies, and equipment

❏      Complete book orders and supply requisitions for coming year

❏      Close out and audit financial records

❏      Review state assessment, overall school performance results and stakeholder satisfaction data with building Leadership Team so as to inform the school improvement plan for the forthcoming school year

❏      Review summer maintenance, repair, remodeling, and grounds keeping schedules

❏      Summer curriculum writing begins

❏      Review/revise/finalize student and parent handbooks

❏      Change the outgoing school voicemail to reflect summer hours and your visibility

 

July

❏      Review schedule to ensure collaboration time for staff

❏      Create a schedule of walkthroughs and identify any changes to or finalize walkthrough instrument

❏      Identify staff scheduled for formal evaluation

❏      Finalize before/after school service provider agreements

❏      Develop an observation schedule and plan for the year

❏      Review teacher evaluation procedures and deadlines

❏      Communicate class/course schedules to staff as early as possible

❏      Update building forms

❏      Consider upgrades/perks for the teachers lounge

❏      Do a community “walk about” and introduce yourself to local business owners and neighborhood associations in the immediate vicinity of the school

❏      School year preparations:

❏      Draft welcome back letter

❏      Communicate with building leadership team

❏      Review school improvement plan

❏      Finalize calendars for posting

❏      Finalize staffing needs

 

August

❏      Take a deep breath and organize your office

❏      Send WELCOME BACK letter to staff and families

❏      Finalize and communicate any bussing updates

❏      Check in with school nurse/health aide on immunization records and student health plans

❏      Meet with PTO/PTA officers to plan the year

❏      Schedule the year’s social activities for students

❏      Calendar a few extra-curricular functions you can/will attend in the next two months

❏      Check/test bell signal system

❏      Establish fire drill schedule (min. 1 per month)

❏      Put in writing:

❏      Changes to cafeteria, playground, parking lot procedures

❏      Changes to bell schedule

❏      Changes to school rules/procedures

❏      Review first day procedures with all staff (transportation, pick up/drop off, assembly, etc)

❏      Create a school commitment form, meet with any new staff individually, communicate and have them sign

❏      Connect with district office for your role in new staff orientation

❏      Conduct a walkthrough with custodial/facilities staff to ensure that the classrooms, common spaces and exterior are ready for staff and students.  Thank them for their summer work!

❏      Draft a “new student” welcome activity for the first week of school

❏      Assign mentors/coaches for new staff or those on support plans

❏      Seek information on dates for:

❏      health screenings (vision, hearing, etc)

❏      science fair, book fair

❏      fine arts performances

❏      school/community competitions (spelling bee, math olympiad, etc)

❏      Finalize school goals/school improvement plan with building Leadership Team

❏      Provide badges,keys, etc. to new staff

❏      Identify language translation staff and volunteers

❏      Communicate expectations for staff use of social media and classroom websites

❏      Plan and strategize with your administrative assistant:

❏      How will incoming mail, phone calls, drop-in visits be handled?

❏      Newsletter timelines

❏      Confidentiality

❏      Managing your calendar

❏      Announcements, pledge of allegiance

 

If a quick review of this checklist for the summer seems helpful, please know that you can access a similar checklist approach for the entire year, month-by-month, through this annual checklist.

When we share the annual checklist with people in the field, we naturally often elicit conversation about what else could be added.  In a recent discussion, one of our AWSA colleagues in Watertown, Luke Spielman, suggested that leaders might also want to add the following items to the annual checklist:

Thanks, Luke!

From Checklist Tasks to Big Rock Priorities

Many/most of the items on the monthly checklists are important in that they keep the operation running smoothly and “pay the bills” so to speak.  However, your greatest impact on students -- your ultimate legacy -- is likely to happen in proportion to how well you positively influence your teachers and cultivate an overall organizational culture conducive to staff and student support and growth. This requires that you carve out and devote significant time each week to what we call “big rock” priorities.  Identifying the key learning needs for both you and your staff for 2017-18, then securing high quality means to meet those needs could be considered one of your key “big rocks” in the weeks and months ahead.  To this end, AWSA’s 2017-18 Professional Learning Catalog could be a helpful resource -- particularly the If/Then table on page 5 -- in efforts to move from success to significance in your leadership. 

Summer is also the very best time to learn new ways to raise efficiency, effectiveness, and life balance in partnership with your administrative assistant around your “big rock” priorities -- because as Einstein so wisely stated:  “It is insanity to do the same things over and over again -- and expect different results.”  To this end, for over a decade now, our Managing to Lead workshop has helped over 1,500 education leaders in Wisconsin learn some new ways of thinking and practicing their school leadership work -- in partnership -- so that they can make significant progress on their legacy work.  So should participating in either the July 27 (Stevens Point) or the Aug. 7 (Shorewood/Milwaukee Metro) Managing to Lead Workshop be a priority on your summer calendar?

In summary, I hope this article helps you in managing -- with a bit more peacefulness -- the weeks and months ahead.  But more than anything, I encourage you to make the 4 Rs a major priority for your summer -- relax, reconnect, reflect, and recharge!  Blessings and peace, everyone, as you celebrate the accomplishments of 2016-17 and prepare with confidence the opportunities of 2017-18 that are just around the corner.

Read more at:

Elementary Edition - Secondary Edition - District Level Edition