8 THINGS TO DO ON EVE OF RETURN TO SCHOOL

Excitement is building. Kids are heading back to school, beginning Wednesday for kids in Bastrop, Lake Travis and a few other districts. Over the course of the next two weeks, school buses will be running again, and kids will be back to learning. Are you ready? The night before is a crucial time. Get all of your ducks (and kids) in a row with these tips:

1. Pack the backpack. Make

sure you have the basics: pencils, paper, house key (if kids come home before parents), phone (for older kids) and lunch. 2. Figure out where the bus

stops. Where it stops and when can change each year. Go to your district’s bus stop finder. If your district has an app to track the bus, download it.

3. If you get to school by car, make sure drivers know how the carpool lane works at that school. Don’t be the car holding up traffic. Look at the school’s website for clues

or ask a neighbor.

4. Make sure kids know where to go once they get to

school. Do they go to assembly or their classroom that first day? For older kids, are they heading to homeroom (or whatever newfangled name they have for it) or their first class?

5. Pack the lunch. Make sure to have healthy things, not just junk food. Or load up your school lunch account with dollars. 6. Pick out clothes for the

next day. It’s a big decision. Go for comfort and make sure it’s dress code appropriate.

Make sure you know where shoes are.

7. Set your alarm. Actually, set two alarms. We know you didn’t practice getting up earlier in the last few weeks. You don’t want to start the year by being late. 8. Get to bed early. Yep, we know it’s tough, and excitement is making everyone want to burst. You can do it.

RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL/AMERICAN-STATESMAN A school bus makes a stop at 11301 Farrah Lane to drop children off at their stop. Make sure you know where your stop is this year and what time the bus will be there.

JAY JANNER / AMERICAN-STATESMAN Joe Lee Johnson Elementary School Principal Gabi Niño, right, welcomes first-grader Zander Nelkin, 7, and his mother, Dora Nelkin, on the first day of school last year. Make sure you know where to go when you arrive that first day.

Heather and Wayne Dietz lead their 5-year-old son, Ian, to his first day of kindergarten at Joe Lee Johnson Elementary School last year. Figure out the route before you head out.

LYNDA M. GONZALEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN Pack backpacks the night before so you are ready to roll in the morning.