Building connections as teachers and families head back to school

Back to school comes with a lot of stuff, for teachers, students and parents.

There are school supplies to buy, forms to fill out, schedules to learn, lunches to think about again, and the annual mystery of how every pair of indoor shoes from June disappeared before August. And then there’s the lunch bag that’s been sitting untouched since the last day of school. Do I really want to open that? Probably not.

Then there are the back-to-school events. Meet the teacher. Come for muffins. Drop off your school supplies. Find your classroom. Check the class lists. Meet your school council. Different schools may use different titles and terms, but the idea is pretty much the same: come in, look around, meet some people.

While it can be tempting to see these events as one more thing on an already packed calendar, they’re actually doing some pretty important work.

For a child who’s nervous about September, walking through the school before the first real day can make a huge difference. They find their classroom, meet their teacher and maybe recognize a few familiar faces. The building that once felt enormous and unknown starts to feel a little more manageable.

And that doesn’t stop being important after elementary school. These opportunities can matter just as much in Grade 12 as they do in Grade 1. The reasons change, but the need to feel comfortable and connected doesn’t. A Grade 1 student might want to know where to hang their backpack and find the bathroom. A Grade 12 student might be figuring out a new timetable, unfamiliar teachers, graduation requirements or what comes next.

Parents need some of that reassurance too.

Meeting the teacher before there’s a problem means the first conversation doesn’t have to be about a missed assignment, a behaviour concern or something that went sideways. You get to put a face to a name and get a sense of what the year might look like.

These events can be even more important for families who are new. Maybe they’ve moved across town, across Alberta or across the world. Maybe this is their first child starting school and they don’t know how any of this works yet. Walking into a school where everyone else seems to know each other can be intimidating.

A muffin and a friendly hello won’t solve everything, but they’re a start.

This is also where school councils have an important role. Back-to-school time represents a chance to build or strengthen relationships between parents and families, teachers, support staff, administrators and the school council. These roles are different, and they should be, but we all share a common goal. We all want kids to have the opportunity to learn, grow and do well.

Further, these relationships don’t begin and end at meet-the-teacher night. They’re built throughout the year, often in fairly ordinary moments. But it’s much easier to ask a question, raise a concern, offer an idea or get involved when you’ve already met the people on the other side of the conversation—for both the families and the teachers. 

For school councils, it’s also worth remembering that the engagement of parents and families doesn’t begin with asking someone to chair a committee or sell something. It’s about helping families know they belong in the school. Introduce the council. Explain what it does. Answer questions. Introduce people to each other. Sometimes engagement starts with showing up, having a coffee and learning someone’s name. Make it easy for people to come back.

The school year brings a lot—meetings, homework, permission forms, fundraising, report cards, graduation plans and so much more. But there is time for this. That first gathering just needs to make the school feel a little smaller and the people in it a little more familiar.

So, we encourage families to meet the teacher, have the muffin, find the classroom. Say hello to the parent standing awkwardly by themselves. Stop at the school council table. Introduce yourself to the teacher.

Whether the student is six or sixteen, finding simple moments of connection and reassurance might help them walk into the first day feeling a little less anxious.

You, too.

And that’s a pretty good way to start a school year.