Back to school

Learn

• Ask for a 504 review meeting

  New teachers, new classes, new routines. A lot changes at the start of the year, and your child’s 504 plan may need to change too.

  There’s no legal requirement to review a 504 each year. But it's a good idea to have an annual review meeting anyway.

  Key points to keep in mind:

  • The new school year brings a lot of changes for your child — like new subjects and schedules. There may also be changes in medication and new extracurricular activities, like sports and clubs. A 504 plan should adjust for these changes.

  • If possible, reach out to your child’s school before the start of the year to ask about a 504 plan review meeting.

  • If your child is starting at a new school, contact the staff person responsible for 504 plans. This person is sometimes called a 504 coordinator, but the title may vary by school. Once you get in contact, ask for a meeting.

• Review your 1-page summary

  You may be familiar with your child’s 504 plan, but is your child? Understood’s one-page “snapshot” can help kids understand their services and accommodations in school.

  The start of the school year is a good time to review this one-pager with your child. And if you didn’t make one after your last 504 meeting, now is a good time to fill one out.

• Send a back-to-school update

  When kids are going back to school, it’s an important time for families and teachers to connect. By working together, you and your child’s teacher can get a better understanding of your child. To help a new teacher get to know your child, you may want to answer a few questions about the last school year:

  • Was school stressful for your child?

  • Did your child make friends?

  • What helped your child learn?

  To help with this, you can download Understood’s one-page “Back-to-school update” to tell the teacher how your child is doing. You can fill it out on your computer or phone. Or you can print it out and fill it in by hand.

• Help your child write an intro letter

  One way to get the school year off to a good start is by helping your child write an introduction letter to the teacher. This kind of back-to-school letter can help the teacher get to know your child’s strengths and what your child needs help with.

  If you want to use one of Understood’s templates:

  • They’re set up in a way so kids can fill them out on their own (or with a little help from you).

  • There's one for older kids and one for younger kids.

  • You can also use the one for older kids as a guide to write a more traditional letter, if you and your child prefer.