Health News Share Email Print Back to school: A parent's checklist You can help your child's school year get off to a good start. Well before the first bell rings, parents can get started on helping their child's school year go smoothly. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers these tips: Make sure that your child is registered and that you know the date and the time school begins. Know how your child will get to school. Go over appropriate safety precautions such as bicycle and pedestrian safety, bus safety, and how to deal with strangers. Decide whether your child will eat at school or bring a lunch from home. If your child will eat at school, make sure he or she has the money to pay for meals. Make sure you know any rules about appropriate clothing. Fill out and return all health forms and emergency contact information. Make sure the school knows about any health problems that could affect your child's school day. Be certain your child knows where to go after school and how he or she will get there. If you won't be there, discuss who is responsible for the child, what the rules are and how to get help in an emergency. Reviewed 12/8/2023 Source HealthyChildren.org. "Checklist for the First Day of School." https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/school/Pages/Checklist-for-the-First-Day-of-School.aspx. Related stories Health information main Health tools go Select a health topic ADHD Aging Alcohol use disorder Allergies Alternative medicine Alzheimer's disease Arthritis Asthma Babies Backs Bladder Bones Brain Breast cancer Cancer Cancer prevention Caregiving Cervical cancer Children and parenting Cholesterol Colds Colorectal cancer Coronavirus Dental care Depression Diabetes Disaster preparedness Down syndrome Ears Eating disorders Emergencies End of life/Palliative care Environmental health Epilepsy Eyes Fall prevention Family and relationships Feet Fitness and exercise Flu Food safety Hair Headache Health assessments Health calculators Healthcare Heart attack Heart health Hepatitis Hernia High blood pressure Hips HIV/AIDS Holiday health Hormones Imaging Incontinence Joints Kidneys Knees Leukemia Liver Lung cancer Lungs Medications Men's health Menopause Mental health Multiple sclerosis Nails Nose Nutrition Obesity Oral cancer Ovaries Pain Parkinson's disease Pets Pneumonia Pregnancy Prostate cancer Rehabilitation Reproductive health Safety School health Sexuality Sexually transmitted infections Skin Skin cancer Sleep Smoking Sports injuries Stomach pain Stress and anxiety Stroke Substance use disorder Summer safety Surgery Teen health Throat Thyroid Travel Vaccines Vascular health Violence Vitamins and supplements Weight management Winter health Women's health Workplace health Wound care i Events CPR Class i Providers Pediatrics RSS If you have questions or comments, please contact Randolph Health. Problems reading or opening a page? Legal restrictions and terms of use applicable to this site.