As school leaders, we know the importance of establishing strong systems to ensure a smooth, proactive flow throughout the year, rather than constantly feeling like we're planning on the fly. This applies especially to mapping out your annual school calendar.
Think of it like planning a family holiday. You start with the big-picture items: the dates you'll be away, your accommodations, and the major events or sights you want to visit. This creates a foundational skeleton for your trip. Once you're on the road, you still have the flexibility to make spontaneous decisions and adjustments, but the core structure is already there.
The same principle applies to your school's annual calendar.
As a new leader,, I didn't fully grasp the importance of this. The result? People would ask me about an event or deadline, and I'd realize it hadn't been planned for, forcing us to scramble to fit it in. It didn't take long to learn that having a basic framework for the year makes everything more intentional and less stressful.
Start with the Big Rocks
First, begin by mapping out the things you have little or no control over. These are your "big rocks."
- Statutory holidays and school breaks
- Divisional professional development (PD) days
- Regular administrative meetings
- Major district-wide events or assessments
Sketch these in from the start of the year to the end. This foundational layer provides the structure you need to plan everything else around.
Layer in Your Collaborative Structures
Next, ensure every layer of your collaborative teams has a place and time on the calendar.
- Collaborative Planning: Map out when grade-level or department teams will meet for collaborative planning sessions. Be clear about how this time is posted and communicated.
- Collaborative Team Meetings: Schedule your Collaborative Team Meetings every 3 to 4 weeks, ensuring they're intentionally placed.
- School Support Team Meetings: Don't forget to schedule your weekly or bi-weekly School Support Team meetings as well.
It's also highly strategic to coordinate these meetings with other events, especially when it comes to data. We've seen schools map out their universal screening and assessment windows and then strategically schedule collaborative team planning and meetings immediately after. This allows teams to analyze results and intentionally plan their next steps, ensuring the data is used in a timely and effective manner.
Schools working to establish a Collaborative Response, design team meeting overviews that clearly articulates each layer of team as well as their purpose and when they are meeting. Providing this to staff at the beginning of the year provides assurance that no teacher is alone in their work with their students. It also provides clarity and purpose to each layer of team. The following visual comes from High Park School, Parkland School Division in which they have identified each layer of team, participation, when the teams are meeting and what their main area of focus is for their time together.
Here is another sample from St. Elizabeth School, who is a part of Edmonton Catholic Schools. In their team meeting overview, they have identified each of their teams and then included their meeting schedule for the school year.
The Benefits of Proactive Planning
While this might seem like a lot of work, the benefits are immense and far outweigh the effort.
- Increased Awareness: A clear calendar ensures everyone understands what's happening and when. This transparency enhances communication across the entire school.
- Predictability and Security: Staff can feel a sense of security knowing what's coming. When they need to schedule a personal appointment, they can check the calendar and try to avoid important team meetings, which can be held as "sacred" as possible.
- Strategic Alignment: A well-planned calendar allows you to align your meetings and PD days with your school development plan or school improvement plan. Instead of scrambling to find a topic for a PD day, you can use the data and key issues that have surfaced from your collaborative work to create a focused, intentional professional learning session.
We've found that when you proactively lay out this map for your school year, you can use it to its fullest potential, ensuring that your school is focused on the key priorities that will truly make a difference for your students.
Please reach out to share your insights, challenges, and triumphs along with your questions, resources or suggestions related to this topic. Connect with us at or .
