By: Elizabeth Jones, Social Media Support Specialist, FlexPoint Education Cloud

The new school year is here for some—and just around the corner for many. This means it’s time to get back-to-school preparations underway! If you’re wondering where to start—don’t worry, we’ve got you. Here are six crucial steps to ensure you, your teachers, and your administrators are ready for the school year ahead.

6 Steps for Back to School Preparation

Step 1: Establish and Share Online Learning Guidelines
Step 2: Discuss Effective Communication Guidelines
Step 3: Conduct a Staff Survey
Step 4: Engage in Meaningful Staff Meetings
Step 5: Discuss Training and Professional Development
Step 6: Host Regular Check-in Meetings

Back to School Preparation Step 1: Establish and Share Online Learning Guidelines

To develop a consistent learning environment, it’s important to establish guidelines covering essential topics such as academic integrity, grading policies, instructional practices, and more. Be prepared to address questions regarding grading policies, ideal response times, and the right balance between synchronous and asynchronous lessons. By setting and communicating guidelines, you can help answer your staff’s questions and start the year off strong.

FlexPointer: To ensure academic integrity online, we recommend implementing discussion-based assessments and proctored exams.

Back to School Preparation Step 2: Create Effective Teacher-Student Communication Guidelines️

Communication plays a vital role in the success of an online learning program because the connection and rapport your instruction staff creates with students and families can make all the difference. Establish clear guidelines for teachers to connect with students and families, determining preferred modes of communication such as phone calls, text messages, emails, or video chats. Also, define what response times look like to ensure your teachers are getting back to students in a reasonable time. Lastly, it’s important your teaching staff sets clear expectations with their students by setting a recommended pace and timeline to complete assignments.

FlexPointer: We recommend having students complete three to four assignments per course, per week to ensure they are retaining the material and building on their knowledge.

Back to School Preparation Step 3: Conduct a Survey

Maintaining a strong sense of community is crucial in the online learning environment. To keep connections intact, consider sending out a survey on the first day of school to gather feedback, address concerns, and identify priorities from teachers and staff. Not only will this transparent communication foster open dialogue, but it will also help you keep a pulse on key topics you’ll need to address throughout the year.

Back to School Preparation Step 4: Engage in Meaningful Staff Meetings

After collecting survey feedback, schedule time to meet with your staff to address concerns, set expectations, and encourage collaboration. This can be done via a town hall, Q&A session, or individual team meeting to foster an open line of communication.

It’s also important to create a space for your staff to request help and support, whether through chat platforms, digital forums, or recurring meetings. Make yourself available, come to these meetings with a main topic you want to discuss, and then let your staff have the floor.

Back to School Preparation Step 5: Discuss Training and Professional Development

We cannot stress this enough – empowering your teachers and staff with the training, tools, and resources they need to confidently navigate the online learning environment is essential. Be sure to allocate dedicated time for them learn new systems and develop their skills.

Use these questions to assess what training and development support your team needs:

• How much experience do your teachers and staff already have with online tools and technology?
  
• Do you have the time built out for teachers and staff to train and then apply their training?
  
• Do you already have access to professional development courses and resources? If not, are you prepared to research and partner with a provider who can help?
  
• Once your teachers and staff complete their training, do you have the capability to create an online teacher resource library they can use as a reference later?

FlexPointer: After you’ve determined what training and professional development opportunities you'll need, consider collaborating with a partner to provide staff with high-quality training and professional development.

Back to School Preparation Step 6: Host Regular Check-in Meetings

To ensure ongoing success, maintain regular check-in meetings with your team throughout the year. These meetings will provide a platform where teachers and staff can share valuable insights, knowledge, and feedback that can help improve your online learning program. Establish a communication cadence to provide updates, foster collaboration, and maintain an open dialogue. Remember, success is a collective effort.

We hope these six steps help you kick-start a successful school year! If you’re interested in additional resources to support the launch, maintenance, or advancement of your online learning program, visit our Resource Center at flexpointeducation.com/resources.