Teachers send brightly colored postcards to each student and the post office returns the undeliverable ones with forwarding addresses. Two weeks before classes begin in Boonville, MO, principal Dolores Stegner posts a notice on the school door. At Laurendine's school in Alabama, placement is announced when parents register students the week before opening. On the first day, all parents are invited to spend an hour in class. Divided alphabetically into thirds, parents and children attend the morning session together.
Few days go by in the principal's office without complaints.
Delaying works for Van Zant. When parents call, I ask them to just give it six weeks. And they never change. Laurendine stays flexible. When parents go over your head and appeal to the superintendent, Mann recommends that you document it.