What time is it? Back to school time! If your child is excited or nervous, it’s okay, because at Dr. Joseph F. Pollack Academic Center for Excellence (PACE Academy), a tuition-free Southfield, Michigan elementary school, we’re here for all the feelings! At our small public K-8, we are here to support your family– here are five ways to prepare for heading back to the classroom.
Prep Your Routine
At PACE Academy, we love finding ways to help our students succeed– inside and outside the classroom. Having a routine at school means students know what to expect and you can do the same at home.
-Come up with a list of things to do before and after school. Add them to a plastic sleeve, attach to the refrigerator and use a dry erase marker to check them off.
-Have kids help fold laundry while listening to a podcast once a week and then have them put it away so they know where everything is.
- Pack a lunch now or wait until the morning? Setting up a routine time is half the battle!
Registration
Missed orientation? Not enrolled yet? Have a sibling entering school for the first time? Let us know and we’ll make sure everything is in order right from the start. Save the stress of the first day for things like outfits instead of paperwork!
Sleep
What’s trickier than adjusting to the classroom routine? That’s right, the bedtime routine! Add excited emotions to the mix and it can make for less sleep right when kids need it most. Start thinking ahead about what you want the sleep routine to look like- do you read a story or get some audio books from the library queued up? Maybe dinner (and dessert!) time needs to be earlier? Learn more tips and the importance of a quality sleep routine here.
Shoes
You’re trying to get out the door with lunches and backpacks and dogs whining and your patience fraying and you look down and see your child oh..so…slowly…putting their shoes on (once they find them) and then asking you to help tie those pesky laces. Make it easy on yourself: practice now or invest in slip on sneakers or laces that don’t need tying.
Share All the Fun
With all the uncertainty of a new school year make sure you remind your child that PACE Academy is FUN! Our engaged K-8 offers many enrichment opportunities like a Strings Program, STEM classes, Twirling Steppers, and school-wide assemblies with special guests like the Detroit Pistons’ mascot. Our teachers have the flexibility to take classes on fun field trips of their own making and 8th graders go skiing AND travel to Washington DC!
Something extra special that we do with our kindergartners on their first day is lead them to the gym to have their picture taken. They have something easy to do right at the start and something extremely adorable and memorable as well. Welcome Warriors!!
We’re enrolling right now- school starts Tuesday, September 5, 2023. Join our tuition-free PACE Academy Warrior family.
About PACE Academy
Dr. Joseph F. Pollack Academic Center for Excellence (PACE Academy) is a tuition-free public charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Southfield, Michigan. At PACE Academy, we empower our scholars to realize their fullest potential through meaningful educational opportunities. We partner with our families and community in preparing our scholars to become dynamic leaders in the 21st century by celebrating the importance of collaboration and accountability in all we do. Join our growing school, enroll today!