The Summer Checklist for School and District Leaders: 5 Ways to Strengthen Student Support This Fall

After the last bell of the year has rung, educators have certainly earned the quieter weeks ahead. But summer is also the time when the next school year slowly starts to take shape, and many school and district administrators remain hard at work.

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As the National Summer Learning Association puts it in eSchool News, "summer isn't just a season, it's a strategy." These weeks offer an ideal time to reflect and develop next steps to improve various areas of student well-being, including MTSS, engagement, attendance, culture, climate, connectedness, relationships, student voice, and sense of belonging. The plans administrators set now are the ones teachers and students will feel from the very first day back.

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Here are five tips to prepare for a stronger fall, specifically for the student support work that keeps kids seen, safe, and connected.

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Read the Story Behind the Data: Start with what last year is telling you

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Before mapping the year ahead, look closely at what you already have. 

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▫️ Attendance records

▫️ Behavior referrals

▫️ Climate survey results

▫️ MTSS notes 

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Each holds a pattern worth noticing. 

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▫️ Which students missed the most school, and when? 

▫️ Where did referrals cluster? 

▫️ What did your climate data say about belonging and connectedness? 

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Reviewing this together with your team turns a stack of reports into a clear picture of where students need more support, and where your current systems are letting some slip through the cracks.

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Pick a Few Goals, Not Forty: Turn insight into a shared focus

It is tempting to try to fix everything at once. Resist it. As Edutopia contributor William Sprankles advises, the strongest leaders sharpen their focus on a few priorities rather than adding endlessly to the to-do list. Choose the two or three areas your data points to most clearly, whether that is chronic absenteeism, ninth-grade connectedness, or Tier 1 well-being. A short list of goals is one your whole staff can actually rally around and still remember in November.

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Build the Structures Before the Bell Rings: Have systems ready on day one

Strong culture is not set in September by accident. Sprankles describes it as playing the long game, and suggests mapping out the first 25 days of school so expectations and routines are in place from the start. Decide now how students will be welcomed each morning, how staff will flag a kid who is struggling, and how often every student gets a genuine check-in. 

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Whether or not you use a platform like Sown To Grow, having a consistent weekly touchpoint, where each student knows a caring adult is paying attention, is what keeps small struggles from quietly becoming big ones.

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Use PD Days to Bring Teachers On Board: Roll out systems before students arrive

A new system only works if the adults using it feel confident and invested. Your pre-service PD days are the moment to introduce any new structure, walk teachers through it, and answer their questions before the rush begins. When teachers help shape and practice a system in August, they own it by September, and students walk into classrooms where expectations are already aligned and consistent. 

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That preparation also signals something teachers feel deeply: that they’re part of a profession and a school that sets them up to succeed, not one that hands them one more thing to figure out alone. Teachers who feel supported are the ones who stay, and who remain invested in their students.

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Lead with Relationships and Student Voice: Make school a place kids want to be

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Every structure above exists to serve one thing: connection. Strong relationships are proven to matter more than any worksheet or exam, and when children feel known and valued, they take risks, participate, and show up. 

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The same can even be said for staff members, leadership teams, and community partners, so using the summer to deepen these relationships can go a long way. While the pace is slower, there’s a real opportunity to ask open-ended questions about what worked last year and what did not. Students can then be involved in this conversation early in the fall so they help shape the year rather than simply go along with it, and they’re more likely to feel they belong.

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Summer's real gift is time to be intentional. A few clear goals, the right systems built early, teachers who feel ready, and students who feel known—all of these add up to a fall where fewer kids slip through the cracks and more of them walk in feeling that school is a place they genuinely want to be.

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^{🌱 Curious how Sown To Grow helps schools turn weekly check-ins into stronger, more proactive student support? Let's connect.}

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