The goal is not to lower expectations. It is to sequence the work so people have the capacity to do it well.

As I enter my 26th year in education, I have been thinking about my first few summers as a teacher.

At the end of each school year, I would pack several milk crates—if you know, you know—with curriculum materials, lesson-planning guides, and professional books. I carried them home with the wildly unrealistic belief that I would spend the summer preparing every lesson for the year ahead.

Can you guess what came back to school with me in August?

The same milk crates. Mostly untouched.

More than two decades later, that familiar sense of urgency still bubbles up as the first day of school approaches. The calendar starts filling. The lists get longer. New ideas appear. Suddenly, it feels as though everything must be designed, decided, organized, and completed before students and staff walk through the doors.

I am not sure why we feel as though we must begin the school year already mid-sprint, but it happens every year.

Feeling urgency, however, does not mean everything is urgent.

A strong beginning is not built by completing everything before people arrive. It is built by knowing what must be ready, what can wait, and what should be shaped together.

Here are three ways leaders can begin the year at a steadier, more sustainable pace.

1. Separate “Ready for People” From “Finished”

As a year-round principal, I spend much of the summer supervising programming while also preparing for the upcoming school year. That reality gives me an important reminder: While I may have been operating in next-year mode for several weeks, many teachers are just returning from a well-earned break.

People need time to transition their minds and bodies from summer rhythms back into school rhythms. When leaders fill every opening-day moment with information, initiatives, and expectations, we may unintentionally ask people to accelerate before they have even had a chance to arrive.

Before the year begins, I identify what truly needs to be ready for students and staff to enter successfully.

I ask:

• What must people know on the first day?
• What must be physically or operationally ready?
• What can be developed with staff rather than for staff?
• What am I completing primarily to relieve my own anxiety?

Each summer, I begin a back-to-school notebook with a brain dump of everything I believe needs to happen. Then I divide the list into three sections:

Day One Necessary

First Month Important

Later—When Evidence Supports It

This simple practice clears some of the mental clutter. It also forces me to decide not only what needs to be done, but when it needs to be done.

This is not permission to lower expectations. It is a way to sequence them.

A school does not need to be completely finished to be ready for the start of the year. It does, however, need a clear plan and a process for continuing the work after people arrive.

2. Establish Rhythms Before Launching Initiatives

I used to reinvent the wheel every year.

A new notebook meant a new set of goals, a new planning system, and a new way to measure progress. Looking back, I sometimes wonder what teachers thought as the year approached:

What are we getting into with Dr. Cabeen this time?

New ideas can create energy, but constant reinvention creates instability. When everything changes at once, people spend more time learning the system than improving the work.

Through a great deal of practice—and some necessary unlearning—I have shifted toward establishing consistent rhythms before introducing new initiatives.

Our teams now begin developing the school improvement plan before the previous year ends. We use current data, staff feedback, and what we have learned from students to make thoughtful adjustments. Rather than starting from scratch in September, we pick up where we left off in May and refine what is already working.

The beginning of the year becomes less about unveiling something new and more about reconnecting people to a shared direction.

Sustainable leadership is not simply doing less. It is sequencing the work so people have the capacity to do it well.

Before launching another initiative, leaders can ask:

• What existing rhythm could support this work?
• What should continue rather than be replaced?
• What do staff members need time to understand before they are expected to implement?
• How will we know whether this change is actually helping?

Momentum does not come from introducing the greatest number of ideas. It comes from helping people understand what matters most and giving them enough time to act on it.

3. Let Listening Be Part of the Launch

One of my favorite ways to begin the year at a steady pace is to meet with school leadership teams early and often.

As leaders, we can feel pressure to arrive with answers, plans, presentations, and polished initiatives. Preparation matters. But some of the best beginning-of-year decisions should not be finalized until staff members and students are part of the conversation. Leaders may already be operating at full steam, but we do not want staff walking out of back-to-school week running on fumes.

For me, listening before launching means bringing our leadership team together before back-to-school week to review plans, presentations, and materials. I ask them to identify what feels clear, what feels unnecessary, and what may be missing. It also means talking with students attending summer school. Their experiences give us immediate insight into what worked during the previous year and what we may need to improve.

These conversations do more than strengthen a plan. They remind people that they are not merely receiving the school year.

They are helping shape it.

Not every question needs to be answered before the first staff meeting. Not every process needs to be perfected before students arrive. Some clarity can emerge only after we begin listening to the people who will experience the work.

Start Steady Enough to Finish Strong

Slowing the start of the school year is not only about personal wellness or avoiding burnout. It is about creating a pace that allows leadership, learning, and relationships to remain sustainable throughout the entire year—not just during the opening weeks.

A frantic launch may create the appearance of momentum, but it can also leave people exhausted before the most important work has even begun.

So, whether you are carrying milk crates back into your classroom or opening a brand-new notebook in your office, remember this:

You do not have to start the year at a sprint to demonstrate that you are prepared.

Get ready for people.

Establish the rhythms that will hold the work.

Listen before every decision is finalized.

Then allow the year to develop at a pace that is steady enough to create lasting impact.

As the first day approaches, consider one final question:

What am I willing to leave unfinished because I trust that a strong year does not have to be fully built before it begins?

Here if you need anything,

Jessica