Organization & Planning Tips For Your First Week as a School Speech Therapist

Updated: Jul 16

Embarking on your first week 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 week with confidence!

Here are my tips for getting organized and planning for a great school year!

Start Here

🔴 Create a master SLP folder in Google Drive and or in a binder

🔴 Create a master spreadsheet with all your caseload information - e.g. students, teacher, service time, etc. (get one here)

IEP & Assessments

🟠 Print/create "IEP at a Glance" with student goals (i.e. summary of student goals and service minutes)

🟠 Ask SPED colleagues how IEP meetings are scheduled at your site (e.g. is there a master web calendar?)

🟠 Put IEP meetings for the whole year on the calendar marked "tentative"

🟠 Add triennial assessments for the whole school year to your evaluation log

🟠 Locate & organize assessment materials & protocols

🟠 Ask colleagues for list of all open & pending initial/triennial assessments

Therapy Schedule

🟡 Get the school's master schedule & specials schedule (e.g. library, music, etc.)

🟡 Create a first draft of your therapy schedule

🟡 Email teachers their student(s) time/days with *days/ times subject to change (you can also get a free printable schedule to share with teachers here)