Most of the main offices in schools across America lament the school families that miss deadlines. Schools request B6T forms here in NJ (a busing form required by the district) and have to nag families over and over again to get them all in.

Same for doctor physicals. And permission to publish forms. And on and on...

I think that we, the schools, may be a part of the problem.

At our recent Town Hall Meeting, we honored various kids and their many accomplishments. We also announced two new contests and several deadlines. To be honest, it got hard to keep up as the meeting went on. I wondered how the average student could remember all of the information that we provided!

Just apply that to the "average" set of parents and it might shed light on why so many deadlines are missed. Our school's newsletter is nearly 8 pages long which is an amazing accomplishment. On the flip side, only an organized parent can process all 8 pages and then follow up with efficiency.

Most families are just overwhelmed and a bit disorganized. Maybe it's time to simplify our communications home and help families stay on top of the most important bits of information.