The calendar is the skeleton the whole field guide hangs on. I keep it in three tenses: what I do, when I review, and what I harvest. Plan it once in August, and the year runs itself — which is exactly what a school year should feel like from the data side: calm, because it was planned.
The year at a glance
Late Aug
- Reconcile roster against master list; flag every special-education student with a divider.
- Build the year's calendar of report-card windows and IEP review dates before the first bell.
- Seed the single non-negotiable: daily attendance by 8:20.
September
- Observe the opening pattern quietly. Lates in week one are transportation chaos; lates by week four are a pattern.
- Train any new assistant on the reconciliation — three-way check, every morning.
October–Nov
- First report-card data window. Run a mid-quarter check on the grade ledger for missing work patterns.
- Begin the weekly IEP accommodation review if not already running.
- Raise any September-seeded pattern (the child who's late every Tuesday) with teacher + counselor while it's still early enough to help.
December
- Partial close. Archive term-one paper, back up digital files twice.
- Note anything the system got wrong this quarter onto "next year's list" — do it now, not in the June rush.
January–Feb
- IEP review season — the part I never rush. Check every accommodation page against the plan's promise.
- Re-seed the attendance habit after winter break; it always loosens.
Mar–Apr
- State testing windows. This is where the accommodation tracker earns its keep — the separate room, the extended time, the read-aloud. Prove the promise on test day.
- Begin the closing inventory: what's been accurate, what's leaked.
May–June
- Close the books. File, archive, and run the honest reckoning from "next year's list."
- Harvest the patterns the whole year produced — they are next year's first lesson.
Why this rhythm works
Because it maps the data work onto the school's natural breath. There are exactly four high-stakes windows — opening week, report cards, IEP reviews, and state testing — and everything else is maintenance. If you nail those four, the year is won. Everything I do is built to make sure those four windows are already prepared before they arrive.
"A gardener doesn't get busy in May and hope. A gardener sowed in March, when the weather was still lying about spring. The ledger is no different."
That's the field guide, front to back. Start at the home page, or dig into the attendance ledger and the IEP tracker — the two machines that carry the school every single day.