Happy August, School Based OTs!

And just like that, it's August 1st. It's the time of year that we begin preparing for return to school yet still scramble to keep summer plans and activities the main focus. Here in the northeast United States, most of us go back to school around Labor Day weekend in early September.

But for those in other parts of our country, kids may be starting school in the next couple of weeks - whether they are elementary, high school, or college kids.

If you are a school-based OT, you may be thinking about organizing your materials, planning out initial communications with teachers and parents, and setting up your workspace (if you have one) and schedule. The first month of the school year can be daunting for any therapist!

Therapists need to get the lists of all students who are on individualized education plans (IEPs) and review their legal service mandates for school-based OT services. There also may be students who receive OT through 504 services. Additionally, many OTs are called upon immediately by teachers who may identify concerns quickly with students who are new to their classes. Throw in IEP cycles for legally mandated triennial evaluations for current IEP students and you've got yourself plenty to do before you've even started treating the kids.

Many times, the first few days of school are just for staff, no students yet.

Here are my Top Ten strategies for prioritizing tasks for the first 1-2 days back to work for school based OTs:

1. Get your school assignments, check into your buildings, meet the office staff, and find your workspace (if you have been given one).

2. Organize your workspace - set up your desk/table for comfortable seating and work function - including your computer space, phone access, and a filing system for fluid tasks.

3. Clean the space, as needed. Not all school buildings are cleaned every day during the off summer months! Consider brooms, mops, window cleaner, paper towels, disinfecting wipes, etc. Many items may be accessible for free through your district's custodial staff.

4. Organize your therapeutic tools/games/toys that you use with your student population.

5. Make sure you eat lunch and take a breather!

6. Set up a filing system for new referrals, current evaluations in process, and completed evaluations (but still awaiting the meeting).

7. Set up a visual calendar on a wall or on your desk where you can pencil in appointments and important meeting times for the entire school year.

8. Set up your digital calendar in your phone or other device and consider syncing it with your work email so that when meetings are scheduled, they integrate directly into your schedule.

9. Color code this work calendar to be separate from any other activities in your personal life (ie., it's much easier to 'see' work meetings in one color, and your family activities such as your child's soccer practices, in another color).

10. Float around your environment, examine the different areas of the building, meet your teachers, talk to administrators, meet your child study team professionals and secretaries- take the time to connect with them now, before the students arrive because once that happens, everyone must hit the ground running!