SCHOOL ENTRY PLAN

Cassandra Nelson
Oakland University
This plan was made with the assumption that I am a principal of a school in Detroit
Public Schools Community District. Dates are aligned with the district calendar and some things
are expectations that I know are district mandates.
July 1st – 5th (Days 1 – 5)
Introductions
 Central Office, Assistant Principal, Staff, and PTO members.
 Phone calls will need to be made since it is still the summer time and I would like to
make individual impressions. I would also like to hear from the individuals about the
current state, culture, and needs of the building.

Read
 School Mission Statement, School Improvement Plan, Budget, Curriculums, Evaluation
System, Teacher Handbook, Student Code of Conduct.

Data
 Proficiency rates, Attendance rates for staff and students, Office Discipline Referral
(ODR) rates.

July 8th – 19th (Days 6 – 20)

Hiring Staff
 With assistant principal and hopefully one willing teacher in the summer months. I
would like to put together a small interview team.
 Review applications and select the top 5 candidates regarding the needs of our building
learned from the phone calls last week.
 Review any district protocols for the hiring process and interview questioning.

July 22nd – August 9th (Days 21 – 35)

Building Preparation
 Clear hallways and corners of anything labeled as “trash”.
 Janitorial staff will clean and wax classroom and hallway floors soon after the trash is
removed.
 Ensure cleanliness throughout the building: in lockers, storage closets, under stairs, and
hallways.
 Decorate front office and front entrance to welcome staff, students, and parents.

August 12th – 26th (Days 36 – 46)

Staff Preparation
 Work with Assistant Principal or clerical staff to understand where the current teachers’
rooms are and where the new teachers’ rooms will be.
SCHOOL ENTRY PLAN
Cassandra Nelson
Oakland University
 Invite staff to come in the building two weeks early to prepare classrooms.
 Ask Assistant Principals about committees: what are they? Who works for them? How
do we sign people up for the first day?
 Ask Assistant Principal about hallway bulletin boards: Do staff members have their own?
How often do they change them? Do we need a sign up so they can be decorated for the
first day of school?

Preparing for Staff Only Days

In DPSCD the staff are only required to be present for 3 days the week before students arrive.
This is the time to implement introductions, and any important professional development
before the start of the school year. This is a short amount of time so a clear and concise agenda
for each of the three days must be created.

August 27th – 29th (Days 47 – 49)

Staff Meeting Day 1

 Ice breaker: Summer share activity.
 Introductions. Allow all staff to go first and I will go last.
o Discuss my background, and how I ended up at their school. Be as open and
welcoming as possible. Let them know that my door is always open.
 Paperwork (Clerical)
 Team collaboration activity: teachers will share successes and challenges from the
previous school year. Then, whole group will create a list of goals for this school year.
Lunch
 Committee sign up sheet. Ask teachers to sign up for at least two committees.
 Bulletin board sign up sheet. Each month teachers will decorate a hallway bulletin
board.
 Ask teachers to email anything that they need for their classroom so that discressionary
funds can be put to use early.
 Ask teachers to email field trips and what field trips they would like to go on this year so
that I am aware of when they are and if a bus needs to be ordered.
 Allow teachers to work in classrooms for the last few hours of the day. Open door for
any teachers who would like to come and speak with me individually.

Staff Meeting Day 2

 Team Building Activity
 Teacher Code of Conduct
 Proficiency Data
 School Improvement Plan
 Professional Development required or needed for goals of School Improvement Plan.
Lunch
SCHOOL ENTRY PLAN
Cassandra Nelson
Oakland University
 Allow teachers to work in classrooms for the other half of the day. Open door for any
teachers who would like to come and speak with me individually.

Staff Meeting Day 3

 Team Building Activity
 Professional Development required or needed for goals of School Improvement Plan.
 Give teachers parent forms to receive phone numbers, addresses, and other important
information.
 Allow teachers to work in classrooms for the rest of the day. Open door for any
teachers who would like to come and speak with me individually.
 Circulate to chat with teachers and ensure that all classrooms are set by the end of the
day. Make sure that fire hazards are not present in the building.
 Discuss with support staff operations of the building: morning, lunch, recess, dismissal,
and bus duties.

September 3rd (Day 50)

First Day of School!

 Arrive early.
 Say hello to everyone in the building.
 Ensure operations are running smoothly.
 Watch from the balcony to see what works and what needs to be improved.

September 4th – 20th (Days 51 – 63

Operations and Management

 Ensure that all operations and management aspects are balanced distributed evenly
among support staff so that the building may run smoothly for maximum instructional
time.

September 23rd – October 4th (Days 64 – 73)

Leadership
 Diagnostic data must be complete at this point. Class data walls should be posted in
classrooms.
 Staff must complete Professional Learning Plans.
 Meet with staff to give review and give feedback.
Committees
 Meet with committees to receive dates for events and review the committee’s goals
and plans for the school year.

October 7th – 29th (Days 74 – 90)

Observations and Feedback
SCHOOL ENTRY PLAN
Cassandra Nelson
Oakland University
 First round of principal walkthroughs and feedback.
 Looking for observable content from the teacher evaluation tool.
 Meet with teachers to give meaningful feedback and work on improvements.