The start of the school year is more than new pencils, fresh notebooks, and rearranged bulletin boards…it’s the foundation for everything that will follow. The first few weeks of school set the tone for your classroom community, your students’ confidence, and, ultimately, their growth. While academic goals often dominate the conversation, any teacher who has weathered a school year knows this: growth for every student, academic, social, and emotional, must be the main goal.

So how do we set the stage to make sure that growth happens? Three key practices rise to the top: building relationships, establishing expectations, and understanding where students are academically from day one.

1. Building Relationships: Knowing Your Students Beyond Their Names

It’s easy to think that “getting to know your students” is a nice extra, something that happens if you have time. But the truth is, relationships are not optional…they are the backbone of effective teaching. When students know you care about them as individuals, they are more motivated to learn, more willing to take risks, and more resilient when challenges arise.

Spending time early in the year asking questions, learning about their interests, and noticing the small details about their lives builds trust. That trust allows you to push them further, academically and socially, because they believe you are invested in their success. Students who feel seen are students who are ready to grow.

2. Establishing Expectations: Two Weeks of Non-Negotiables

Many teachers want to jump straight into the content. The pressure is real…curriculum maps and pacing guides rarely give space for the slow, steady work of building a structured classroom environment. But here’s the reality: if you don’t take time to set expectations in the first two weeks, you will spend the rest of the year fighting battles that could have been prevented.

Clear, consistent expectations create a classroom where students know how to behave, how to interact, and how to learn. It’s not about being rigid; it’s about providing a predictable, safe space where students can focus their energy on learning instead of wondering what the rules are. Think of it this way: structure is freedom. When the classroom environment is consistent, students can stretch themselves academically without fear of chaos or confusion.

3. Understanding Academic Levels: Starting From Where They Are

Imagine setting off on a road trip without knowing your starting point. That’s what it’s like to teach without assessing your students’ current academic levels. Diagnostic assessments, conversations with students, and a careful look at previous data all help you understand where each child is beginning.

This isn’t about labeling students as “low” or “high.” It’s about identifying starting points so you can build personalized pathways for growth. When you know where students are, you can provide the right supports and challenges, ensuring that every child moves forward. After all, the end goal is not that everyone reaches the same spot, but that everyone grows.

The Payoff: Growth for Every Student

When relationships, expectations, and academic understanding come together, the results are powerful. You build a classroom where students feel safe, capable, and motivated. You create an environment where academic learning is prioritized and social-emotional development is nurtured. Most importantly, you honor the truth that every student, regardless of background, ability, or circumstance, has the capacity to grow.

Growth looks different for each child. For one, it might mean moving from struggling to read simple texts to reading confidently by year’s end. For another, it might mean developing leadership skills or learning how to collaborate with peers. Your job as a teacher is not to force uniformity but to celebrate progress in all its forms.

Final Thought

The first few weeks of school matter more than many realize. By investing time in building relationships, setting clear expectations, and understanding academic levels, you’re not losing time, you’re gaining momentum for the rest of the year. You’re laying the foundation for growth, and that is the ultimate measure of success in teaching.

Because at the end of the day, teaching is not about getting through the curriculum. It’s about ensuring that every single student leaves your classroom stronger, academically, socially, and emotionally, than when they walked in. And that starts now.

Cheri