A fresh start is a good thing. A new year promises an exciting learning journey, months of building relationships, celebrating milestones of achievement as well as living the challenges, joys, and ups and downs of daily life in school. Spending time organizing, freshening, cleaning, and designing learning environments for a new year is one of the ways that we, as teachers prepare to greet our students, set the stage for expectations, and create irresistible and welcoming places to read, make, share, gather, wonder and discover. Earlier this month, Ashley and I spent several afternoons helping our daughter-in-law, Caroline Cadwell, as she prepared a new classroom in Brookline where she will teach first grade this year.

In the last week, we have received several images of newly prepared and reorganized classrooms from friends and colleagues. Here is the newly reorganized atelier at The College School in St. Louis that Sarah Hassing atelierista posted on Instagram.

The last image features a fresh organization of the first grade classroom that Amena Zavery designed at Buckingham Browne & Nichols.

For helpful resources and inspiration for classroom design and organization, see this article from Edutopia and related links sent to us by Anthony Reppucci, Assistant Director of the Lower School at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols.

We know that many teachers and students start back to school this week and next and that some have been back in school already for some time! Organizing and refreshing a classroom to be a learning home for the year is an on going, daily process and part of the culture that builds with the classroom community. These images are all linked to the websites of the schools where they were taken: IPS/Butler University Laboratory School, Public Schools of Brookline, The College School, Buckingham Browne & Nichols,

We wish you all the best for a stellar new year in spaces that you and your students continue to create, enjoy and care for.