Building an Elementary Schedule - Part 11: Distributing the Final Schedule

This 12-part series on How to Build an Elementary School Schedule offers step-by-step guidance and proven scheduling strategies for creating a better elementary school schedule.

When your elementary master schedule has been built and validated, it's time to share it with your teachers and staff. Your new schedule can be more easily adopted if shared promptly and widely.

The following suggestions may help improve communication and transparency.

1. Promote the completion of the schedule and the goals behind it

Completing the main schedule is a big accomplishment. It is the result of your efforts with the team to prioritize and coordinate the needs of all students and staff while aligning and prioritizing district and school goals. As you share the schedules, make sure everyone understands the goals and objectives. A completed schedule also allows teachers and service providers to prepare based on a predictable plan for next year. Be sure you communicate this milestone (e.g. through an email, a staff meeting, or another method) to all staff affected by the schedule.

2. Provide easy access to the finalized schedule

Whatever method you use to publish and communicate schedules, ensure that everyone has access to the most recent version. Keep records in a single location or tool whenever possible. Link or reference the system of record when communicating updates via email or other channels to prevent duplication, confusion, and references to outdated emails.

3. Make sure everyone gets their own schedule

Having individual schedules for your homeroom and specials teachers will facilitate collaboration, coordination, and accuracy across your school. In addition to saving teachers time, this eliminates the need for them to create their own schedules. If some grades departmentalize, it can also be helpful to have not just homeroom schedules, but also individual teacher schedules that reflect the classrooms they support throughout the day, and team schedules as well.

We also recommend that you publish the schedule for the next school year prior to the end of the previous school year. This helps teachers and staff prepare on their respective timelines (e.g. some will prepare at the end of one school year, some over the summer, and some just before the next school year starts). If you need to make changes based on last minute enrollment or curriculum changes, be careful and thorough about changing all dependent schedules and redistribute updated schedules as soon as reasonably possible.