5 Back-to-School Events You Might Forget to Add to Your Calendar

By Kate Stahl

It's hard to believe that we're already planning for school to start again — where did the Summer go?! — but for many families, now's the time to start stocking up on backpacks, new shoes, and school supplies. While those back-to-school basics are probably already on your radar, if you're like me, that new year's school calendar is still buried in a pile of last school year's end-of-term papers. Dig it out (or visit your school's website) to make sure the following important school events are marked on your family's calendar before that first day of school arrives.

  1. School supply pickup and drop-off. If your school works with a company like School Tool Box, which allows you to pay one bulk price for a preassembled box of school supplies, it also probably has a specific day when parents and students pick up those boxes. Ours is two weeks before school starts. Many schools also have a scheduled day or evening when students can drop off their school supplies to their classrooms before the first day, which will make their backpack a lot less bulky on day one.
  2. Meet-the-teacher day. The day before our school starts, our school has scheduled meet-the-teacher times for each grade level. Make sure you don't miss it, as getting your kids acquainted with their new teacher and classroom (and potentially dropping off school supplies while you're there) will make that first-day transition much easier for everyone.
  3. Back-to-school party. Many schools host some kind of social event for all families during the first week of school (ours is an ice cream social the evening after the second day back). They can be kind of wild, but it's a great time to meet your kids' classmates and other parents.
  4. School picture day. School picture day is usually scheduled within the first month of school, so make sure you have that perfect outfit ready to go, and start practicing your kids' nonscary fake smiles (my first grader has not yet mastered that particular skill).
  5. Labor day holiday. If your school starts before Labor Day like ours, you get the added benefit of getting back into the swing of school life, then immediately having your kids home for a break again (cue a chorus of mom groans). Figure out if you're in for a three- or four-day weekend, and plan accordingly.