Welcome Back: How to Make the Most of the First Month of School

August 31, 2026

September is here. And whatever this summer looked like for your family, restful, busy, structured, or unstructured, the school year has arrived, and with it comes a set of opportunities specific to this particular moment in the academic calendar.

The first month of school is one of the most important of the entire year. Not because the material is hardest (it rarely is) but because the patterns that form in September tend to persist. The student who gets off to a strong start in September carries momentum that compounds forward. The student who drifts in the first month tends to spend the rest of the semester trying to recover.

This final August blog post is our send-off to the summer and our welcome to the school year. Here’s how to make the most of what September offers.

Take the First Few Weeks Seriously, Even If the Schoolwork Doesn’t Seem Hard Yet
One of the most consistent patterns we see every fall is students who coast through the first two or three weeks of the school year because the material feels like review, and then find themselves struggling when the real new content arrives because they weren’t paying close attention during the review phase and missed the nuances that make the harder material accessible.

Every unit of new content is built on something that came before. The first weeks of school are when teachers deliberately build the bridge between last year and this year. Those bridges matter.

Encourage your child to take the first weeks of school as seriously as they take the stretch before a major exam: to show up engaged, to take notes even when the material feels familiar, and to ask questions even when they think they already know.

Establish the Routine Before It Gets Hard
September gives families a genuine gift: a few weeks of reasonable workload before the full demands of the school year kick in. Use this time to establish the daily routine (homework time, dinner, screen time, sleep) while the pressure is manageable.

Routines built under low pressure hold under high pressure. Routines improvised under high pressure rarely hold at all.

Watch the First Assessments Carefully
The first test, quiz, or project of the year is more informative than most parents realize. It’s the earliest signal of how well your child’s preparation is translating into performance and how the current year’s course compares in difficulty to what they’ve handled before.

If the first assessment goes well, that’s excellent information. If it doesn’t, that’s also excellent information, and now is the best possible time to address whatever it’s surfacing before the material has moved on without the student.

At Margot Tutoring, we always tell families: the time to reach out is not when your child is in crisis. It’s the moment you notice something that doesn’t feel right. The first assessment of the year is one of those moments worth paying attention to.

Stay Connected to the People at School
One of the best things any parent can do in September is establish a relationship with their child’s teachers before anything goes wrong. A brief introduction email, attending back-to-school night with genuine curiosity, and communicating any relevant information about your child early in the year all create a foundation that makes every subsequent interaction easier.

Teachers who know that a family is engaged, communicative, and collaborative are better positioned to reach out proactively when they notice something, rather than waiting until a problem has grown large enough that it can’t be ignored.

A Note from All of Us at Margot Tutoring
We’ve spent this summer writing about how to keep learning going, how to prepare for exams, how to ease back into academic life, and how to set habits that support a strong school year. All of it has been written with one purpose: to help every student in our community walk through the door in September with as much confidence and preparation as possible.

If this year includes a subject that’s challenging, a skill that needs strengthening, or a goal (like the SAT® Exam, the Regents exam, or the college essay) that needs structured support, we are here. We work with students one on one, in the subject they need, at the pace that works for them. And we work in partnership with families because we believe that the best outcomes happen when parents, students, and educators are all moving in the same direction.

Here’s to a wonderful school year. We’re rooting for every one of your students.