The first day of school for most students in Minnesota, traditionally, was the Tuesday after Labor Day. In many districts, it’s no longer that straightforward.
Sixth-graders in the Wayzata school district are headed back to school that day, but not for a business-as-usual block of classes. Dubbed “Day Zero,” the day is reserved for welcoming the preteens to middle school, giving them time to walk through their schedule and practice their locker combination without having to jostle for hallway space among hundreds of seventh- and eighth-graders, who will log into classes from home that day.
“We talk about going slow to go fast,” said Meagan Bennett, principal of East Middle School in Plymouth. They get to spend the day establishing routines and building relationships. “Kids know what to expect and they can go into their classrooms and engage in deep learning.”
The majority of suburban districts now stagger start dates to allow for such orientation days. The idea isn’t a new one: Schools have long invited students in to walk through their schedule and grow accustomed to new routines. But before the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those sessions occurred the week before the first day of school. Now, as school leaders look for ways to rebuild a sense of community and reduce anxiety among students who lost years of in-person learning, they are carving out more time for the transition from summer break.
South Washington County schools also reserve the day after Labor Day for just sixth- and ninth-graders adjusting to middle and high school. They made the switch for the 2021-2022 school year and it has proven popular among students, families and staff, said Shawn Hogendorf, the district’s director of communications.
“We were seeing that transitional students had anxiety and they were stressed,” he said. “This was one way to reduce anxiety and build connections. … The overall idea was to make a large place feel smaller.”

Principals report that the onboarding days also seem to reduce anxiety for parents, Hogendorf said.
“Parents want to know that their kid knows how to find the bathroom, how to do their locker and who to go to if they are in trouble,” he said. “When they can go through those routines to practice, it sets parents at ease.”