Preparing for a New School Year:

We began with our leadership team and a tradition I brought back from Japan: the Daruma. Each leader sets a goal and colors in one eye. The second eye is colored in when the goal is achieved, and eventually the Daruma returns to Japan, completing its journey.

I introduced it because I wanted our preparation to start with intention. Before thinking about what we want to accomplish as a school, we need to think about what we want to accomplish as leaders — what we want to learn, improve, and take responsibility for in the year ahead.
The exercise is simple, and the principle behind it works for any leadership team: before setting goals for the organization, ask each person what they need to develop in themselves. What do you want to get better at this year? What is one thing that, if you improved it, would make you a stronger leader for your team?

The Daruma then stays in view all year, with one eye still waiting.

From there we turned to professional development. I have become increasingly convinced that PD works best when it responds to what is actually happening in the classroom.

It is easy to build a calendar of workshops and consider professional development covered. A more useful question is: what is our team experiencing right now, and what kind of learning would actually help them?
This year, as part of our IB authorization journey, we brought an international component into our team development. Each teacher shared where they are from and one cultural peculiarity that shapes the way they work with children — what we called our "cultural superpowers."

Mine comes from Ukraine, where the standard of service people expect is very high: in hotels, restaurants, salons, and very much in private schools. Parents notice the quality of the materials, whether a child’s clothes were put back on neatly, whether the air is humidified. Growing up inside those expectations teaches you to go the extra mile by default. Hearing what other teachers named made it clear how much of our practice comes from where we were raised, not only from our training.

We also worked with Christine Lowry, a Montessori teacher, consultant, and trainer focused on inclusion and responsive learning environments. Two things changed in our classrooms as a result: we introduced new materials for sensory integration, and we reorganized the environments to allow more free movement.

A useful test for any PD plan is simple: what will be different in the classroom because of this learning? If there is no clear answer, professional development probably needs another step — observation, discussion, coaching, practice, or time to reflect.

Having schools in different countries gives us an opportunity to bring different experiences and perspectives together.

Recently, Phoebe Waggoner, our Lead Toddler and Baby & Me teacher from New York, spent time with our Toronto Toddler team. She worked alongside the teachers to rethink the classroom environment and daily routines, trained the Baby & Me teacher, and shared her practice through sessions and observation. Together they looked at transitions, sleep, meals, songs, hygiene routines, and how the environment supports each part of a young child’s day.

This approach can work in any school. Invite a teacher from another school to observe a classroom, or ask someone from another age group to share how they approach a routine. Sometimes the most useful professional development is simply seeing familiar things through someone else’s eyes.

Our school directors came together for a two-day coaching training with Magdalena Ponurska, a leadership coach with a background in psychology, education, and Montessori school leadership.
The reason was specific. We used to coach our directors ourselves. It worked, but it stopped there — it never traveled further into the school. Now that directors are trained to coach their own teachers, coaching becomes something that continues without us.

They worked through different coaching styles, from directive to non-directive to situational, and through practical frameworks like the GROW model — goal, reality, options, will.

Just as much attention went to what happens before a session: the questions a director asks in order to understand the person in front of them beyond the classroom. Their background, their beliefs and values, what is happening in their life right now, what they are working toward. Asked with empathy and without judgement.

Then they practiced with each other with real situations — including a conversation with a teacher who is chronically late. The kind of conversation that is easy to handle badly and hard to handle well.

For me, coaching is about creating a culture where people can reflect, think for themselves, and develop their own capacity. So a useful question for any leader is: when someone comes to you with a problem, are you giving them the answer — or helping them find their own?

All of this preparation comes back to the child.

Child visits are not only an opportunity for children to become familiar with their new classroom and teachers before the school year begins. They also give our educators and school leaders time to get to know each child and family before the first day.

During these visits we talk with parents and complete a detailed profile for each child: the family’s goals and expectations, their traditions and routines, and the practical details of how they care for their child at home, from meals and sleep to everything else that matters to them.

So when a new child is joining your school, ask yourself: what do we already know about them, and about their family? What routines are important at home? What are their parents hoping for this year?
The more we understand before the first day, the better prepared we are to respond to the child who actually walks through the door, rather than an imagined version of them.

Looking back, I see this year’s preparation as one process rather than five separate initiatives: developing our leaders and teachers, learning from each other across countries, making coaching a system, and taking the time to understand the children and families joining us.

What matters is being intentional about what your school needs right now. Before the new year begins, step back from the checklist and ask: what does our school need more of this year? More reflection, collaboration, leadership development, connection, or understanding of the families we serve?

The answer will be different for every school — and it is a more meaningful starting point than repeating last year’s preparation.

If you want to turn reflection into action and start the new school year with a clear plan for your own leadership and professional growth, our Hopscotch Hub Bundles bring together practical learning designed to support you along the way.