The last day of school. It brings out all the feels if you are a teacher. If you had a pretty decent year, you might be celebrating and making sure to get those last special moments with your kiddos. If you had THAT year (yeah, you know the kind of year I’m talking about), you’re hanging on by a thread and just trying to do the best you can until you hear the dismissal bell ring one last time.
…and it won’t be the one you expect! There are some kids you know who are going to have trouble at the end of the year…the overly emotional ones, the ones who don’t have a guaranteed breakfast or lunch all summer, the ones who need routines to function. You’re prepared for these kids to be a little out of it, and who can blame them? Being a kid these days can be pretty rough.
However, think about your little angel child. The student who does everything that is asked of her with a smile on her face, who never says boo to anyone without permission.
Yeah, there’s a really good chance she’s gonna have a full-on Real-Housewives-of-Atlanta-Reunion-Episode-3 meltdown right before dismissal.
Why? Who knows? I just know that I personally have had this happen at least 5 times in my career, always on the last day. Once I broke up a name-calling, hair-pulling, legit fistfight between two of my girls (mind you, these are 3rd graders we are talking about), who were lifelong best friends. Next year, it was like nothing happened between them. Kids are weird, man.
There will be some type of catastrophe
Over the years I have had the following things happen on the last day: cafeteria fire, lockdown, projectile vomiting, broken bones, and the above-mentioned Cuckoo Bananapants moment, among other, smaller incidents. It’s just part of the experience at this point! I’ve learned to roll with it.
Dismissal will be a nightmare
If dismissal normally takes ten minutes, on the last day it will take 30. There’s a good chance you will get accosted by Sally’s mom who doesn’t appreciate Sally’s “C” in reading (yet hasn’t responded to any of your calls or emails the past two weeks). If you do early dismissal, you already know half the parents are going to be all “Oh, I didn’t see that notice,” leaving you stuck with a ton of kids when carpool is over. You know they want to try to squeak in those last few moments of peace!
You will get stuck at school until the last possible second
Keep in mind, there is nothing you can do about this. You can have everything done with all “i”s dotted and all “t”s crossed, and you will end up at school way past when you expected to leave. It’s just how it is. You might be waiting for an email, someone will call and say so-and-so left his jacket in the room, the person you need to turn keys into will take a 90 minute lunch…there’s always SOMETHING.
My advice? Don’t even think about pools, pedicures, or slushy beverages with little umbrellas floating in them, because the more you do that the longer you end up staying. It’s a scientific fact.***. Treat the last day like a visit to the doctor’s office- be prepared to wait! Bring your Kindle, download something off Netflix, anything to pass the time. If you’re feeling some Good Samaritan vibes, go help out a fellow teacher who’s moving rooms or leaving the school. Not only will you reap the benefits of good karma, you won’t be stuck watching the clock.
You will forget something you really need to take home with you.
Finally, freedom! You’re 3 exits away from home and…@#%$^$%! This is the summer you were finally going to get organized and you left the 500 pack of sheet protectors you needed in your class. Or your hole puncher (I always leave my hole puncher).
Oh well. At this point, what’s another Amazon Prime click going to do?
Here’s wishing you the smoothest last day of school ever! What’s your craziest end of school story? Let me know in the comments!
