Back-to-school from the experts: Advice from teachers & principals
We asked teachers and principals to give their best back-to-school advice for parents to make sure their child is back-to-school ready. Here is what they had to say:
"My advice is bring your children, the teachers are excited! They've gotten their classrooms set up. We're excited. We're energized and we want them to bring their kids with the same energy, cause energy and excitement is contagious."
-Donya Jones, Principal, Holt Elementary Language Arts Academy
"I think first off all just being aware of the communication from the school about school events."
-Amy Rickard, Principal, Morris Grove Elementary
"Go to school the first day with a notepad and a pencil and be ready to listen to what the teacher has to say... and take home your syllabus. Ask your child to read the syllabus and see what supplies they actually may need."
-Cassie Blackwelder, Teacher, Broughton High School
"My things would be make sure you have a great breakfast that morning, that you wake up early enough to get started. And then also starting the year with a positive attitude. No matter what happened the year before, or you may be a little nervous always start with a positive attitude knowing that you can do well, and you can have a great year."
-Verina Cotton, Teacher, City of Medicine Academy
"Just come with the mind to learn, to know that you're ready. "
-Dr. Jackie Tobias, Principal, City of Medicine Academy
"We always encourage parents to talk to their kids. So my best piece of back to school advice is my best piece of advice for parents always which is open the line of communication with your kid. Talk to them about how they're feeling. Talk to them about maybe a new school or a new year especially if their kid is coming to a different level of school like middle school or high school. And I just really encourage them to talk you about what's happening in their day. Ask them some questions that aren't just 'how was your day?'
-Monica Bintz, Principal, Culbreth Middle School
"My piece of advice is to believe what you're children tell you when they come home, but to verify it with the adults and the teachers in the building, to communicate with those teachers. Teachers feel under the gun, they work very hard, sometimes one or two emails where parents are kind of coming after them before asking 'can you just help me understand if this happened?' And that's my biggest piece of advice is to just talk to the teachers first. Go to the source and say 'tell me about what happened? This is what my child said, can we talk this out?' And that keeps the lines of communications open"
-Beverly Ruldolph, Principal, Carrboro High School
"In high school, we put a lot of the responsibility on the child. So from a student standpoint, I'd like them to be able to know their schedule. They've got to be able to navigate a very large building. Especially moving from elementary to middle school to high school."
-Dr. Greg Decker, Principal, Panther Creek High School
"I think just developing those good home habits of you know quality sleep children need a lot of sleep. Making sure they have a space for homework time and reading time."
-Amy Rickard, Principal, Morris Grove Elementary
"Best advice we would give parents would be one making sure your child is registered for school. That's very important so they can start the first day. And then making sure they have the materials and supplies they need."
-Dr. Sandy Chambers, Principal, Horton's Creel Elementary School
"I think one of the things that we would like to focus on is the socio-emotional piece. Making sure that students are excited to come back to school. Make sure you're asking your child are they ready? Are they excited?"
-Chenetra Mangum, Principal, West View Elementary School
