What do you do for back to school night or open house at your school? Do you give a presentation, visit classrooms, setup a table or booth? This is a great opportunity to provide parents with information, be a familiar face, and advocate for your role.
Presentation & Table
For Back to School Night, I present my counseling program to parents through a Powerpoint. After the presentation, I set up a Counselor Corner in a prominent area with a round table and my Counselor Corner sign. Then I just park myself there with various handouts and info packets about our counseling program. This gives parents/guardians an opportunity to come by, chat with me, and pick up our counseling program literature through the night.
Photobooth Connection
I create a photobooth in our main hallway for our back to school night. It allows me to easily connect with families in a fun and engaging way. I use colorful butcher paper from our art teacher to create a backdrop on the wall.
Next, I put a table by the backdrop and fill it with props for the photobooth. I also keep a supply of my Meet the Counselor brochures on the table in case families would like additional information about our counseling program.
I stand by the photobooth and chat with families while they take photos. I try to snap photos with my cell phone and use these on our social media and Class Dojo accounts.
I upload all of the photos I take that evening and have them printed at an inexpensive print shop like Meijer or Wal-Mart. I keep the backdrop up and stick all of the printed photos onto the backdrop. After a few weeks, I take down the photos and pass them back to each family. The photobooth is an easy way to positively engage with families!
What do you do for back to school night? Comment below.
Check out these other back to school posts for more ideas!
Kate is an elementary school counselor from NW Ohio with over a decade of experience in education. She’s passionate about equipping kids with social-emotional tools and loves helping fellow counselors streamline their work with tech tips and classroom management hacks.
With over 20 years of teaching and counseling experience, I am a school counseling administrator in Central Texas. When I’m not counseling, writing, or presenting, I enjoy ranch life with my husband and our menagerie of pets—all of whom practice healthy coping skills, of course!
