Summer vacation flies by, and—brace yourself!—it’s already time to start getting your classroom organized and ready to go for the first day of school. If you find yourself with less of a back-to-school budget to spend on supplies, classroom packs of everyday essentials can save the day. We’ve got class packs with many of your favorite brands, including School Smart, Sax, BIC, Dixon, Flipside, Crayola, Sharpie, Expo, and Elmer’s!
Ordering in bulk gets you the best deals, but you must also manage the materials throughout the year. Here’s how to get what your students need for less and make your supplies last all year.
Getting the Cash
First, talk to your school’s administrators about ordering supplies in bulk to save money. Most are motivated by hard numbers, so make sure you have them. Visit the School Specialty website to see all our classroom packs, then put together concrete numbers of how much the school will save by buying supplies upfront.
If your school doesn’t have the back-to-school budget space to spend on basic supplies, try getting parents involved. Send a letter explaining that instead of having everyone bring in their own supplies, you’d like to go in together on class sets of supplies. Then suggest an appropriate contribution. If you present this as a way for parents to save time and money on school supplies, you’ll get them on board!
Making It Last
Once you’ve ordered your classroom packs of supplies, you’ll want to ensure they last throughout the school year. If they were gone by November, you wouldn’t have saved any money! Instead of dumping all your supplies into one shared bin, try rationing them. If your students sit at a table, place limited supplies per student in bright, divided caddies to keep things orderly. You can do a quick visual check on Friday afternoons to replace items as needed. This will help your supplies last a lot longer.
Keeping It Neat
Many classroom packs come pre-sorted by color to make it easy to get what you need. If you plan to give students access to these large boxes, color the bottom of each divided section with the appropriate shade. This lets students know where to return supplies when they’re done. Color coding is a teacher’s best friend, and students love it, too!
Leave a Reply