Back-to-school

It is that time of year again, back to school. If you are like me, you experience this time of year with equal parts excitement and anxiety. We spend a lot of time thinking about welcoming our children and their families to our programs,  and how we welcome our staff is equally important. It can be a delicate balance between welcoming veterans and new staff. I feel it is important to welcome everyone with a sense of new possibilities for the upcoming year. At our program, we are fortunate to have a teacher week before the opening of school. This week is packed with professional development, meetings, and classroom set-up time. I believe providing time for sharing experiences, thinking, and reflecting together helps teams and the entire staff bond. Providing meals, snacks, and a few surprises helps to make teachers feel valued. 

This is how I like to structure the week: 

Day 1: Welcome Back Brunch and Ice Breaker: The goal of this is only social. I try to create a fun environment where everyone has a chance to meet and get to know each other. I also have little gifts or treats set out for each teacher. I have found that this helps to alleviate some anxiety for those who are new to the program and creates a shared fun experience to begin the year. 

The remainder of the day is for a new staff orientation or for teaching teams to meet and look at classroom needs. 

Day 2: Breakfast and Professional Development Session for 2-3 hours with an outside presenter on site. 

The afternoon is for classroom set-up and prep work. 

Day 3: Light Breakfast and staff meeting. In this meeting, we review all safety protocols, handbook policies, and general policies and procedures. The Clergy and Temple Support Staff also joined us during the meeting to introduce themselves and talk about their roles. In the past I began the week with this meeting but have found that the middle of the week works best for teachers processing information and asking questions. 

The meeting is followed by Remini Training (the communications app we use). 

We end meeting time socially, having lunch together. 

Afternoon is set aside for classroom set-up and prep work. 

Day 4:  Light Breakfast and Professional Development for 1-2 hours with an outside  presenter on site. This is followed by documentation and portfolio training. 

We end  the morning with lunch together. 

Again, the afternoon is set aside for classroom set-up and prep work. 

Day 5: Light Breakfast and CPR and first aid training 

Lunch with schedule review for the first week of school, reflection, and questions. 

We end by 1:00 for the weekend to give all time to rest up for the busy weeks ahead. 

Heidi Baker, Director of Education 

Temple Beth Avodah 

Newton, MA 

If I Knew Then What I Know Now…

For those of us who are gently stepping back in and dipping our toes into the latest version of craziness, I asked the wise folks among us who have already started down this journey to share their experience.

 So, in no apparent order, this is what I learned.

 What do we need to know?

• Don't do it alone: involve your leadership, staff, families, and colleagues in the process
• Partner with your staff, and be willing to practice, adjust, repeat! 
• Support your staff
• There’s a tremendous amount of “gray space.”
• Be impeccable with your words and communicate.
• Use your licensor and public health rep as great resources
• Children and families need us and we need them
• "I don't know" is ok
• Create a reopening video to demonstrate new procedures
• Put your safety plan on the website
• Create and post firm illness and travel policies
• Communicate honestly with your parents about how much work and thought is involved in this process.

What worked? 

• Small groups, keeping siblings together
• Touchless sign-in and out app
• Outdoor sinks
• Shorten school hours, at least temporarily
• Being outside
• Large laundry baskets to collect toys for sanitizing
• Minimize the number of toys, both inside and outside
• Let them play!
• Creative use of outdoor space

What didn’t work?

• Masks on a two-year-old
• Having the parent assist the child instead of a teacher during arrivals and departures

• Finding additional teachers and/or subs
• Finding funds for fencing and supplies

Dale Sides Cooperman, M.A., Ed. Spec
Director of Early Childhood Education
Congregation Albert Early Childhood Center
Albuquerque, NM

August 2020

Suggestions From Teachers Who Have Already Experienced Re-opening

Starting a new school year in the middle of a pandemic is something I never thought I would have to deal with in my lifetime. I have many questions and concerns about returning back to the classroom in September.  I am sure many of you have the same feelings.  Teachers are always looking for ideas and support from other teachers.  There are many early childhood centers that have re-opened this summer. Over the last week, I have been in touch with some of those teachers from the east and west coast.  I asked one question.  What are your top 5 suggestions you would give to teachers who are about to re-open?  I was overwhelmed by how similar each response was.  I compiled a list of suggestions that were frequently repeated.

 Organization and Planning

• Be outside as much as possible.
• Divide and conquer responsibilities.
• Divide your playground into sections using a picket fence, cones, or fabric.
• Invest in carts with wheels to store water bottles, first aid kids, and manipulatives.
• Invest in wagons for the littles ones.
• Individual bins for art and sensory supplies.
• 2-3 bins for dirty manipulatives.
• Less is more!  Allow children to just play!

 Self-Care

• Take care of yourself. “Like putting an oxygen mask on first during a flight.”
• Acknowledge and accept your emotions
• Take a breath and allow yourself, as well as your students, to just play.
• It’s ok to make a mistake.  We are in uncharted territory; mistakes are going to happen.
• Do not expect perfection.
• If you are stressed, your co-teachers, students, and parents will pick up on it.
• Don’t forget why you became a teacher.   

 Thank you to all the teachers who shared their ideas and suggestions! 

Stacey Gabriel
Teacher
Temple Beth Avodah
Newton, MA

August 2020

A Different Kind of Back-To-School Night

Our vision statement—Temple Sinai Preschool fosters a sense of connectedness among all members of the school and synagogue community—was the big idea used to reimagine our Back-to-School night.

We wanted families to feel connected from the moment they arrived, so we started by reimagining our space. Teachers were stationed outside our doors as greeters, at age-level registration tables and along our hallway, ready to direct them to our gathering space. We also created pre-printed name tags (with parent name, child’s name, and color-coding by age group) to help families connect with one another.

The evening started with a wine and nosh. After the parents mingled, our Senior and Assistant Rabbis greeted the crowd and shared anecdotal stories of their time in the preschool. Our Temple President then invited families to be involved and in touch, a sentiment echoed by board members and Temple staff members.

Then the real fun began! We introduced the Spaghetti Challenge, a team building opportunity that beautifully illustrated the use of unconventional materials to learn 21^st century skills.

We sent our families into their children’s classrooms to experience exactly what their children experience on a daily basis, the opportunity to learn and have fun at the same time. With a little spaghetti, tape, string, and a marshmallow, our families communicated as a team, thought critically to solve a problem, collaborated, worked creatively, and had fun, just like the students of Temple Sinai Preschool do every single day.

The night was awesome! The families made new friends and also connected with their children’s teachers, preschool administrators, Temple Sinai staff members, board members, and clergy.

We set out to make Back-to-School night more than a time to learn about what happens in the classroom; we wanted the time spent in the classrooms and the building to foster a sense of connectedness among all members of the school and synagogue community. We did it!

Important Takeaways: 

• Temple Sinai Preschool began with the acknowledgment that there was an experience that the entire school staff wanted to create.
• We made participation and input from the staff and clergy a vital part of the change process.
• Our school values were visible in the big and small details of the experience.
• We measured success based on the experience of all of the stakeholders.
• It behooves us all to take the time and work together to improve – with the grand objective of bringing more of a sense of connectedness and belonging to our families.

Sheila Purdin
Director of Early Childhood Education
Temple Sinai Preschool