Gearing up for Summer

School is out today or tomorrow depending on the school. The students are excited and the teachers are excited and I'm bracing myself for summer.

Summer is good. The sun shines for long hours, it's warm, there are flowers, and it's a great time to drink iced coffee. Summer at work, though, is a bit more challenging. The students are there all day: 10-2 and 4-8. I get a bit of a break in the middle to catch up on stuff. Some centres are open 9-1, 1:30-3:30, and 4-8. I have no idea how they cope with no down time (yes, they get 30 minutes twice a day, but between students who are picked up late and students who leave early, that's not really any time).

So far summer is looking very quiet this year. There aren't a lot of students coming during the early times, which is odd. Usually evenings are quieter. We haven't had a lot of calls about new students yet either; usually that's started by now. It's left us wondering what is happening out there and if we're going to get swamped next week. Usually the first couple weeks of July are wild with testing new students.

I am considering reading comprehension skills for some parents. These would be the ones who haven't returned their summer schedules despite a May 30th deadline, the words "I need the schedule even if your child is keeping the same schedule in the summer" and regular emails. The other parents are the ones who get the schedule and ask to come from 2-4. Is it really to difficult to understand that we're closed then?

Right now we're waiting to see what summer will bring. Will it stay somewhat quiet, or is everyone waiting until the weekend to start calling?