School Delegations For Parents

Now that your kids are back in school, there are some new work streams your assistant can help with.

Here are two starter delegations to help you stay organized:

Calendar

Have your assistant add all important dates and events from your school calendar(s), along with other kid-related activities, onto your family calendar.

This way you won't be caught off guard when things come up, and this delegation can turn a static list of dates into action. Instead of a 1-2 page school calendar, you can now:

• Plan for predictable dates, events, and purchases driven by:
  • School activities
  • Birthday parties
  • Big tests
  • Sports
  • Clubs and extracurriculars
• Make plans (childcare, family vacations, etc.) for when schools are closed during:
  • Holidays
  • Teacher trainings
  • Parent conferences
  • Early dismissal days
• Decide what level of participation you want and what purchases need to be made:
  • Assemblies
  • Conferences
  • Performances
  • Fundraisers
  • School/community building events

Once everything is in one place you can be confident you won’t miss anything important and stay on top of what’s coming up.

Comms

Setting up your calendar initially is one thing, but schools send 3-6 messages per week, on average (with even more during busy periods). Have your assistant summarize school-related comms for you and create a weekly “digest.”

Example structure:

• Key dates/events of the week:
  • i.e. upcoming field trips or special assemblies
• Action items / requires your consideration:
  • Mandatory participation (Parent-teacher conferences, surveys, consent forms)
  • Decision points (Opportunities for extracurricular activities or school programs)
  • Volunteering (Participate in school events or committees)
• Admin updates:
  • i.e. Policy changes, safety alerts, and reminders about deadlines. Make sure your assistant knows to alert you right away if one of these is urgent.
• Classroom or teacher updates:
  • i.e. Insights from teachers about classroom activities or student progress
    Without a system to collect and triage these tasks, adapting your schedule to school events will take up mental energy that’s better spent with your kid(s).

Notes

Now that the kids are back in school, hopefully the burst of activity and to-dos have subsided. How do you work with your EA to offload the ongoing mental load and stay on track of things?

Some ideas:

• Calendar —> Have your EA make a consolidated school calendar that integrates dates and events across all sources (school, extracurriculars, sports, etc); have these then inputted into your gCal or family cal, but surface to you:
  • All days that school is closed (holiday, teacher training, conferences, etc.) or when there is early dismissal —> helps you plan for finding childcare (early dismissal) or plan for vacations (holiday school closures)
  • Important events to attend (assemblies, conferences, performances, etc.) —> EA to schedule based on your input
  • Social events (fundraisers, school/community building, etc.) —> helps you decide if you want to participate, schedule
• Ongoing communications from school, teachers, PTAs, coaches, etc. On average, schools send 3-5 weeks a week; this increases during busy periods. Have your EA read and summarize for you each week. Sample structure:
  • Important dates / happenings this week
  • Requires action from you, ordered by what is likely most relevant
    • Your attendance or action is required (parent conferences, intake surveys, etc.)
    • Decisions need to be made (Sign up for extracurriculars, etc.)
    • Do you want to volunteer or participate
  • Admin updates - policy changes, safety alerts, impending deadlines
  • Classroom or teacher updates

No time for the details? Just have them surface to you things that require your action or attention:
Important events and dates to know

• Actions or decisions that require your input
• A list of things the EA is doing for you:
  • Buying the costume for the class play
  • Signing off on approval forms on your behalf
  • Signing your child up for after-school gymnastics
  • etc