Elementary classroom setup checklist

1 How to use this checklist

Setting up a classroom has hundreds of small jobs, and it is easy to spend three days on a bulletin board and forget to find out how students get to the bus. This checklist puts the jobs in the order that matters: the things that make the first day run come before the things that make the room look finished.

Work through the sections roughly in order. Furniture comes first because everything else depends on where it goes. Systems come next because students will use them in the first hour. Paperwork and technology need answers from other people, so ask early and keep going while you wait. Walls come last; leave plenty of space for student work.

If you are new to the school, take the list to your mentor or a grade-level colleague and ask what is missing. Every school has a few things that only people who work there know.

2 Furniture and floor plan

• Sketch the room on paper first: doors, windows, sink, outlets, the board and anything fixed.
• Place student desks or tables so every student can see the board without turning around.
• Choose a seating layout: rows, pods of four, a U shape or tables. Print a matching seating chart.
• Leave a clear path from the door to every part of the room, wide enough for two people to pass.
• Keep the exit route and the door completely clear, and check it against your school's emergency plan.
• Place the small-group table where you can see the whole room while you sit at it.
• Set up a meeting area or carpet if your grade uses one.
• Put the classroom library in a quieter corner, away from the door and the sink.
• Decide where your desk goes, and keep it small and out of the main traffic path.
• Check that furniture is stable, shelves are anchored if your school requires it, and cords are out of walkways.
• Sit in a few student seats and check the view of the board and the projector screen.

Seating chart templates for rows, pods of four, a U shape and tables are ready to print, or build one on screen with the seating chart maker.

3 Systems students use every day

These are the routines students use in the first hour of the first day. Set up the place for each one now, so you can teach it on day one.

• A turn-in tray or folder for finished work, one per subject or class.
• A place for unfinished work, so it doesn't disappear into desks.
• Table supply caddies, or a central supply shelf, with labeled bins.
• A pencil system: one cup for sharp pencils, one for dull, and a set time for sharpening.
• A hall pass and a way to sign out, such as a hall pass sign-out board or printed hall pass signs.
• A classroom jobs chart with a job for every student.
• An attention signal, posted on an attention signals poster.
• A posted list of what to do when you finish early.
• A place for the absent folder, where you put handouts for students who were out.
• A lost and found box.
• A spot for take-home folders and notes from families.
• A timer on the projector for transitions, bookmarked and ready.

Label every bin and shelf with the classroom label maker, so students can find things and put them back without asking you.

For each system, decide now exactly how it works and write it in one or two lines: where the thing lives, who uses it, and when. You will teach these in the first week, and the same lines go straight into your sub folder. A system you can't describe in two lines is usually too complicated for students to run on their own.

4 Supplies

Count what you have before you buy anything. Many schools supply the basics, and some families send supplies in the first week. Use a classroom supply checklist to see what is missing.

• Pencils, erasers and a sharpener that works.
• Crayons, colored pencils and markers, sorted into table caddies.
• Glue sticks, scissors and rulers, with enough for every student at once.
• Lined paper, plain paper, construction paper and chart paper.
• Folders and notebooks for each subject, labeled before day one if your school supplies them.
• Whiteboard markers, erasers and mini whiteboards if you use them.
• Tissues, hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes your school allows.
• A basic first aid kit, if your school wants one in each room. Follow your school's policy on what it may contain.
• Spare supplies for students who arrive without them, kept in a box nobody has to ask about.
• Extra copies of the first week's handouts.

5 Paperwork and information

These need answers from the office, your mentor or your team. Ask about them early, because people are busy in the last week before school.

• Your class list, and any updates expected before the first day.
• Which students have plans the school must follow, and how you get that information. Follow your school's policy on who may see it.
• Allergy and medical information, and what you must do about it in class. Follow your school's procedures.
• How each student goes home on the first day: bus, pick-up, walking or after-school care.
• The bell schedule, your lunch and recess times, and any duties.
• The emergency plan for your room, the exit route and where your class gathers outside.
• How to take attendance in the school system, and the morning deadline.
• The grading policy and the report card dates for the year.
• The curriculum materials for each subject, and the first unit's pacing.
• Contact details for the office, the nurse, your mentor and the teacher next door.
• A first version of your sub folder, using a substitute info sheet.

6 Technology

A projector or a display that doesn't work on the first morning can derail a whole day. Test everything in the room, with the cables you will actually use.

• Your school login works for the computer, email, attendance and the grade book.
• The projector or display turns on, shows your computer and can be read from the back row.
• Sound works through the speakers, at a volume the back row can hear.
• Your printer or copier access works, and you know how to send a job to it.
• Student devices, if your class has them, are charged, counted and stored with a charging routine.
• The classroom phone works, and you know how to call the office and the nurse.
• Bookmarks for the tools you will use daily: a timer, the Peabody Board, a name picker.
• A backup plan for a day the technology fails: a read-aloud, a whiteboard activity and paper copies.

If your school uses online tools with student accounts, use only the ones your school or district has approved, and ask how accounts are set up before you create any yourself.

7 Walls and displays

Walls come last. Put up the things you will teach from in the first week, and leave the rest of the space for student work. A room with some empty space feels calmer than one covered from floor to ceiling.

• A class rules poster, or space for rules you will write with the class.
• The day's schedule, where everyone can see it.
• A voice levels poster near the front of the room.
• A calendar, if your grade uses one.
• The alphabet, a number line or a hundreds chart for younger grades.
• Word wall headers, ready for the first words.
• A space for each student's work, labeled with a heading and nothing else yet.
• A welcome door sign with the class name and grade.
• Your emergency route and procedures posted by the door, if your school requires it.

Hang print at a height students can read from their seats, and check from the back row that the most important posters are readable.

8 The first-day kit and the week before

Put everything for the first day in one box or one spot, so you aren't searching for things with a room full of students.

• Name tags or desk name plates for every student, plus blanks for new arrivals.
• A task waiting on each desk as students arrive, such as an all about me page.
• A read-aloud for the first day, chosen and practiced.
• A getting-to-know-you activity and a short game.
• The first week routines checklist, with the routines for day one marked.
• A short note or newsletter for families going home on day one.
• Extra pencils, a spare set of supplies, and a few spare snacks if your school allows food in class.

A countdown for the week before

1. Five days out: finish furniture and the floor plan; ask any paperwork questions still open.
2. Four days out: set up systems and label bins and shelves.
3. Three days out: test the technology and make copies for the first week.
4. Two days out: put up the walls you need for week one and pack the first-day kit.
5. One day out: walk through the first day in the empty room, then go home early.

Whatever isn't finished by the first day can wait. Students won't notice a bare bulletin board, but they will notice a teacher who knows their names, has a plan for every minute and keeps calm when something goes wrong. Spend the last evening resting rather than laminating.