Summary: Occasionally my wife will remind me when it’s been awhile since I’ve cleaned out my closet.<br><br> So I’ll take time to sort out what I don’t need anymore. I can easily fill a couple of trash bags with items to donate to the local Goodwill store. <br> Summer break is a great time to “clean the closets” of our schools. I’m not talking about literal closets (which can also be helpful), but I’m talking about issues, priorities, goals, and conversations that have been neglected as you have been finishing a school year.<br> We just finished another school year at my high school. We wrapped up curriculum standards, graduated seniors and hired new teachers for next year. Many people ask me what I do with my summer break. The short answer is: I prepare for next school year. I often tell others that leading a school is like landing a cruise ship. When you finish one tour, you spend the break restocking for the next launch.<br> I’m also on a twelve-month contract so when students and teachers check out, my office staff, counselors, and admin team stay on for another ten days to close out school, submit reports, and prepare report cards. After those ten days, we adjust our office hours to one staff person in the office half days Monday-Thursdays and offices closed on Fridays. I will be at school off and on throughout the summer to finish up items on our list of to-do’s, but I will also take some time to travel with my family for vacation. <br> End of School Year To Do’s<br> One of the ways we manage the many tasks for closing out the year and starting the next is by creating a shared Google Doc that I compile with my office staff team.<br> If you want to create one for your team, here are three quick tips:<br> 1. Brainstorm a list of all the to-do’s after teacher checkout, including filing final reports, closing out the books, setting next year’s budget priorities, or mailing report cards.<br> 2. Put your list in a shared Google Doc and share it with your office team. We have a list of approximately forty items that need management as we close out the year.<br> 3. As you complete tasks or reports, mark them off the list. For example, I had ten teacher openings for the new school year. All of them have been filled. So I can happily mark that off my list.<br> Here’s a sample if you want to see a sample of the list we use:<br> 2017 Summer To-Do’s<br> <br> <br> <br> Discipline Stats for Special Ed<br> 26-May<br> <br> <br> Title IV Annual Incidents/SDE report<br> 26-May<br> <br> <br> Hiring Positions<br> Immediate<br> <br> <br> Master Schedule<br> Immediate<br> <br> <br> Attendance/Discipline/4th Quarter/Full Year<br> 26-May<br> <br> <br> Advanced Coursework Report SDE<br> 26-May<br> <br> <br> Credit Checks<br> 26-May<br> <br> <br> Summer vacation schedules<br> 26-May<br> <br> <br> SMART Report SDE–check exit codes<br> 2-Jun<br> <br> <br> Debt List Letters w/ Report Cards<br> 2-Jun<br> <br> <br> Report Card Parent Letters<br> 2-Jun<br> <br> <br> Report Cards<br> 2-Jun<br> <br> <br> Senior Packets<br> 2-Jun<br> <br> <br> Summer office Hours Posted<br> 6-Jun<br> <br> <br> District Student Needs Assessment SDE)<br> 2-Jun<br> <br> <br> Student Handbook final draft for printing<br> 12-Jun<br> <br> <br> TLE Qualitative Report SDE<br> 12-Jun<br> <br> <br> High School General Budge & Supplemental Textbooks<br> 12-Jun<br> <br> <br> Dropout Report 3rd Quarter<br> 1-Jul<br> <br> <br> Summer P.O. Orders after July 1 P.O. approvals<br> July 1-15<br> <br> <br> Emergency Drill Booklets<br> 29-Jul<br> <br> <br> Extra Duty Assignments<br> 29-Jul<br> <br> <br> Teacher Handbook w/updates<br> 29-Jul<br> <br> <br> Duty Rosters<br> 3-Aug<br> <br> <br>
