Running a parent orientation night

A parent orientation night gives families one evening to learn how your classroom works before their child starts. The ninety-minute agenda below covers the daily rhythm, your drop-off rules and how you'll share each child's progress during the year, with what to say in each block and what to prepare.

Hold the evening in the classroom itself, with the children's chairs pushed in and the shelves set up as they will be on the first day.

The agenda, block by block

6:00 to 6:10. Arrival and name tags. Put a table by the door with name tags, a sign-in sheet and a printed one-page summary of the evening. Ask each family to write their child's name on the tag under their own. A guide or assistant greets people at the door and points them to seats.

6:10 to 6:25. Welcome and introductions. Introduce every adult who works in the room, with one sentence each about what they do during the day. Then explain the words families will hear all year: guide, work cycle, practical life, prepared environment. For example: "The work cycle is the long stretch of the morning when children choose their own work and we give lessons to one child or a small group."

6:25 to 6:45. A walk through the day. Go hour by hour from arrival to pickup. Say what the children do, where they do it and what the adults do at the same time. Stand near the shelves you're describing. When you reach the work cycle, take a material off the shelf, such as the pink tower or a pouring tray, and show how a child carries it to a table, works with it and puts it back.

6:45 to 7:00. Drop-off and pickup. Be exact. Cover the arrival window, where cars or strollers go, the point where the parent says goodbye, and who is allowed to pick up a child. State the rule for late arrivals and late pickups. Show where the cubbies and hooks are and what the child is expected to do there alone, such as hanging a coat and changing into indoor shoes.

A script that works for the goodbye: "You'll walk your child to the door, say a short goodbye and leave. A guide will meet your child inside. If your child is upset, we'll stay with them, and we'll let you know how the morning went at pickup."

7:00 to 7:15. How you'll share progress. Tell families exactly how and when they will hear about their child. Name the formats: daily notes for toddlers, conferences twice a year, a written report, short messages when something comes up. Explain that a Montessori classroom records what a child has been shown and how they are working with it. Give one example of what a progress note looks like, such as "Presented the sandpaper letters for s, m and a. Traced them twice this week and named two."

7:15 to 7:30. Questions, then a slow exit. Take questions from the room. Then invite families to walk the shelves on their own while you and your colleagues stand near different areas of the classroom. Many parents won't ask a question in front of the group and will ask it standing by the practical life shelf.

What to prepare the week before

• A one-page summary with the daily schedule, the drop-off and pickup times, the main contact for the classroom and the date of the first conference.
• A sign-in sheet with columns for parent name, child name, phone and email.
• A short list of what to bring on the first day: indoor shoes, a change of clothes in a labeled bag, a water bottle.
• Forms that still need signatures, such as pickup permissions and photo consent, with pens on the table.
• Childcare, if your school offers it. If you don't, say in the invitation that the evening is for adults only.
• A few materials set out on tables for families to try after the talk: a spooning tray, a dressing frame, a puzzle map.

Running the room on the night

Start on time, even if some families are still arriving. Latecomers can catch up from the printed summary.

Speak to the whole room in plain language, and avoid naming individual children. If a parent asks about their own child's needs, such as an allergy or a separation worry, say: "That's a good one for us to talk about on our own. Can you stay a few minutes after, or I can call you this week?" Write the name down so you follow up.

Keep an eye on the clock for the progress block. If the walk through the day runs long, cut questions short before you cut this block.

Afterward, write down every question you were asked. The ones that came up more than once belong in your first-week letter.