Embarking on your first day as a speech therapist in a school can be both exhilarating and nerve-wracking.
Whether you’re fresh out of grad school, transitioning from a different setting, or moving to a new school, I've got essential tips and strategies to help you navigate your first day with confidence.
Let's kickstart your school year with ease and confidence!
Start Here
🔴 Locate your office or speech room
🔴 Get keys needed to access all staff locations on campus (e.g. school building, staff bathroom, speech room, etc.)
🔴 Get a map of the campus
Meet the Staff
🟠 Meet the principal, assistant principal, office staff, SPED staff, SPED director, etc.
🟠 Create a staff contact information log including phone extensions & email - or ask office staff if there is a school-wide/district-wide staff log
🟠 If it's a small school, you may want to walk around and casually intorduce yourself to teachers - if you're in a larger school, you may want to introduce yourself to the teachers in self-contained classrooms that you'll be working with (they will likely be case managers for the students you share so it's a good idea to have a good working relationship with them)
Technology
🟡 Get your email & office phone number
🟡 Get logins for your computer, Medicaid billing, IEP web program, etc.
🟡 Access your caseload
Email Teachers
🟢 Introduce yourself (check out this editable Meet the SLP resource)
🟢 Let them know how they can get in touch with you
🟢 Notify them that first draft of therapy schedule will be emailed by the end
of the week and that it is *subject to change
🟢 Communicate the speech evaluation referral process (e.g. Google Form, RTI/MTSS) - if you're not sure yet, or you still need to set this up, then create a draft of your email so it's ready to send later in the week once you've figured out the referral process
I hope this has been helpful! 😊
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