My Tip of the Week: The Recipe for a Simple Back-to-School Welcome Party
My fourth and youngest child enters kindergarten next month. While she knows a lot of the teachers and kids at her new school (thanks to her brothers), she'll also get a warm welcome at our school's sixth annual welcome party for incoming kindergartners.
My f
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fourth and youngest child enters kindergarten next month. While she knows a lot of the teachers and kids at her new school (thanks to her brothers), she'll also get a warm welcome at our school's sixth annual welcome party for incoming kindergartners.
The students love it; parents love it; and it's been really good for our parent group, too. Even better, it's really simple to execute.
The recipe is basically: 1) a two-hour window at our local playground's covered picnic area; 2) an invitation to each new student and family; 3) about five big buckets of ice cream; 4) some napkins, name tags, and water; and 5) a bunch of crossed fingers for sun.
The kids show up and play with their soon-to-be new buddies on the playground. Everyone gets a name tag. All the parents cautiously and politely mingle. We usually have 10 to 15 veteran families there to welcome and answer questions from nervous newbies. The welcome speech is maybe three to four minutes tops. The focus is on ice cream and fun and community.
The end result: We have a nice crop of new students and families whose first interaction with our school is very positive and warm. It's also been a great way to informally introduce our parent involvement opportunities to these new parents. Very cool.
I hope you can create a tradition of your own at your school. We have a ton of good content on welcoming new families:
The students love it; parents love it; and it's been really good for our parent group, too. Even better, it's really simple to execute.
The recipe is basically: 1) a two-hour window at our local playground's covered picnic area; 2) an invitation to each new student and family; 3) about five big buckets of ice cream; 4) some napkins, name tags, and water; and 5) a bunch of crossed fingers for sun.
The kids show up and play with their soon-to-be new buddies on the playground. Everyone gets a name tag. All the parents cautiously and politely mingle. We usually have 10 to 15 veteran families there to welcome and answer questions from nervous newbies. The welcome speech is maybe three to four minutes tops. The focus is on ice cream and fun and community.
The end result: We have a nice crop of new students and families whose first interaction with our school is very positive and warm. It's also been a great way to informally introduce our parent involvement opportunities to these new parents. Very cool.
I hope you can create a tradition of your own at your school. We have a ton of good content on welcoming new families:
- Open Doors, Lots of Them
- Make New Families Feel Welcome
- Community Night Helps Families Find Resources
